Apartment Trends Magazine March 2017 | Page 19

MAKING YOUR CURB APPEAL WORK AS A CLOSER

By Christopher Abernathy , RedPeak and Amy Gillaspie , Legacy Partners st

In this competitive Colorado rental market , your curb appeal could end up being your best closer ! How is this possible ? Remember that 90 % of the transmitted information to the human brain is visual . The appearance of your community could prove to be more effective at closing the deal than the most eloquent pitch from your best leasing agent .

Curb appeal and overall appearance throughout the community are crucial . Below are some ways that maintenance can be a difference-maker in a competitive market . We discovered that there are some differences between downtown / city communities and suburban communities , and have divided the discussion accordingly .
CURB APPEAL IN THE CITY
With virtually no landscaping to deal with in Downtown Denver , how do you spruce things up ? You have to look at maintenance of the building itself . Remember that people downtown will often retreat inside instead of outside to “ get away from it all .” This makes the maintenance of the apartments and building interior paramount to future residents having a positive experience . Here are some keys to curb appeal success in the city :
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Add your own landscaping in the form of planters or flower beds . These will have to be maintained meticulously by your Maintenance Team to be attractive and free of debris . Be sure to budget for replacements — plants can sometimes find themselves as souvenirs in the hands of downtown partygoers .
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Create a regular power-washing schedule for the sidewalks and alleys and make sure that your team sticks to it . You don ’ t want gum polka-dots making your sidewalks look like they have the measles !
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Make sure that your lobby and common areas look brand new at all times , because they are a brand new experience for the prospect . Consider adding a housekeeper to your maintenance team or utilizing a cleaning crew for upkeep of these areas . Relying on an office team can be problematic , in that the team can often be busy for long stretches of time and unable to attend to these details .
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Focus on detailed turns and cleans of vacant units . This , of course , applies to both downtown and suburban apartment communities . A little bit of dirtiness in a vacant apartment could be the differencemaker when competing with a spotless apartment at your competitor . The prospect could , at least subconsciously , take this as a representation of your team ’ s lack of attention to detail and wonder if they would also be cared for poorly . www . aamdhq . org MARCH 2017 • TRENDS | 17