New Study Shows Transparency Appeals to Prospective Residents

The resident’s customer journey is being turned on its head during the unprecedented Covid-19 circumstances. Apartment marketers are faced with new challenges on how to “set themselves apart” from the competition.
Sure, social media and other marketing trends continue to evolve, but when it comes down to the resident signing the lease, it’s the pricing action for the apartment home that drives their decision to lease.
Transparency of this information is quickly moving up the chart of desirable data points that prospective apartment residents seek, according to a recent national poll of 500 residents, the plurality of them who pay between $500 and $1,500 in rent, earn $25,00 to $100,000 and live in a mid-priced apartment with modest amenities, according to independent survey firm Digible, who conducted the survey in 2020.
Taking out the obvious factors – rent rate and location – many multifamily operators are surprised that security deposit (66%) and move-out charges (56%) rank third and fourth, respectively, in these residents’ minds, in terms of information the resident would use to decide where to rent.
However, the security deposit amount and move-out charges are typically undisclosed by apartment communities. What if this weren’t the case? There are platforms that make this information available to prospective residents, and score it to give prospects a greater sense of their overall rental expenses. It’s a tact that residents say they prefer:

83% said that knowing deposit and expected move-out charges would be very influential when deciding which apartment to rent.
58% said it would influenc……