As owners and managers adjust to today’s circumstances, they look to convert challenges to opportunities by focusing on resident renewals during this unprecedented demand for apartment living.
And the journey a customer takes to find their new apartment matters. Prospective renters are looking for new ways to find their next home, enhanced by technology. Leveraging video tours, for example, enables leasing teams to sell their apartments in untraditional ways.
IDM Companies is an established developer and property manager with 27 communities in Arizona, Oregon and Washington. Its current partners are helping to improve the resident experience by remaining engaged in day-to-day operational philosophies that have led to great success.
Technology Brings It All Together
Partner and Chief Operating Officer Jason Larson talked about the company’s successful formula, which has been applied for three decades and includes personal responsibility, entrepreneurial spirit and concierge services.
“I look at ourselves as a forward-thinking tech company,” Larson says. “We’ve been using technology tools since even before the pandemic. We’ve learned a lot along the way and have been able to strengthen our operations and the customer experience in many ways.”
For example, Larson’s staff has leveraged iPads and iPhones to help residents tour over FaceTime or however they wish to conduct virtual tours. For current residents, he took advantage of video-conferencing channels to arrange for social events such as paint parties — something that continues today.
“We delivered everything our residents needed to have fun to their doors,” he says. Instead of sticking to their traditional indoor Taco Tuesday resident events, his communities arranged for individual pizza parties, buying hundreds of pies from local restaurants and delivering them to their residents’ doors. They also scheduled outdoor, socially distanced meet-and-greets for residents and their pets.
Renewal Rates Ahead of the Market
Larson said his renewal rates have been stronger than the market in part because today’s growing work-from-home contingent is finding Internet connectivity critical and his communities are delivering it.
His management team also addresses each community’s individual needs. “Our entrepreneurial spirit means we’re not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ company,” he says. “We empower feedback from our on-site staff and customize the solutions. This attitude starts from the top. Being a developer, our philosophy is to always be managing for ourselves [and not having a quick resell of the property driving operational decisions].”
And it’s paying off. IDM received two awards this year from the 29th Annual Arizona Multihousing Association Tribute Awards, of which Cox Communities is a title sponsor and co-host. IDM won The Developers Award for Best Community Design Garden Style for their Acero Cooley Station. In addition, one of their Community Managers, Troy Row (NALP), won Leasing Consultant of the Year.
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