While Google search terms are trending around everything happening in the world today, it's also told quite the story around the multi-family industry as well. The week of March 1st - google searches for 'apartments' were on the rise in an upward trend as one would expect for than beginning of the spring season. However, by the week of March 15th, things had dramatically changed. In alignment with 'stay-at-home' orders issued across the country, the searches for "apartments" fell drastically. Through the end of March, April and May however the trends started to rebound. By the end of May, trends started to resemble what 2019 looked like.

In the past 2 weeks, as the country has opened up, the increased awareness of sanitization is evident everywhere. I go to the grocery store and the cart is wiped down for me before I take it through the store. I go to order take out and the menu is sanitized before it's handed to me and after I hand it back. Those are just two examples of how serious businesses are taking the safety of their patrons.

Now that Rent Ready is offering sanitization services and we know the difference between sanitization and move-out cleaning, it might be helpful to explain the sanitization process being used to safeguard onsite staff and residents. To deliver this service safely and efficiently to your community, Rent Ready will employ an electrostatic disinfectant spraying technique to thoroughly sanitize all surfaces.

In a time when 'personal space' means more than it ever has in the past, the way we live our lives and do our jobs have been tested. One of the things in this industry that has become difficult for leasing professionals is giving tours. How are you expected to give prospects a great experience and walk them through what could be their future home if you're not supposed to shake hands or even be within six feet of one another? Well, only one option: virtual tours.

Virtual Tours: The Future is here

Maybe your community is already doing them and you have mastered the art. However, some communities probably haven't been able to practice this in the past, for those, here are some platforms that you can use to get some virtual tours recorded:

Your office is closed to the public which in turns results in fewer distractions throughout the day. In a role that has mastered the ability to multi-task and handle interruptions like a champion, it might feel like a surreal reality when you have hours of uninterrupted time. But now the question becomes, what do I do with this extra time? What things have I put off that I could refocus on? Well, we’ve come up with some items that you and your team might be able to concentrate on and finally check off your list:

One of the bright spots of living in an apartment community is the ability to really connect with the community and gather, laugh and bond. Given the recent 'Shelter In Place' orders, being within 6 feet of people or having more than 10 people together isn't allowed for the health and safety of the public. This hinders onsite staff's ability to bring people together - no movie nights, no happy hours, not even high fives in the breezeways.

During the new Socially Distant era, everyone is finding new and creative ways to get the job done while ensuring we are thinking about the health of all parties involved. Understanding the importance of social distancing, we have some suggestions on how to continue to work with vendors while remaining socially distant...