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Article:
The Triple Play: How To Tackle Tough Vacancy Problems by: Dan The Roommate Man Every property manager knows apartment vacancy rates are a little bit like the weather: everybody talks about them, but no one ever seems to do anything. Sometimes the usual combination of advertising and tenant incentives doesn't work and something more is needed to give the properties with vacancies an immediate and sustainable booster shot. After months of struggling to find the right formula to attract renters, we came up with what might be called a Triple Play for owners. Here's how it works. About 55 percent of the renters in our market area need some kind of help to close a lease, a statistic which will vary in other communities. Renters with good credit histories may simply need an incentive to help them make the choice; renters with impaired credit may need a little more extensive accommodation. This situation is exacerbated in areas that, for whatever reason, have trouble attracting renters. The Triple Play addresses this problem by applying a series of three successively more aggressive incentives to difficult properties until they're finally rented. If a property is not renting, the first stop of the Triple Play is the Freebie, a month's free rent or a free television to the prospective tenant. In about 50 percent of the cases, this is the only incentive needed to fill up a property. Freebies are fairly common in the property management industry, and this tactic usually works well at second-tier properties with fewer amenities or less desirable locations, say units away from employment centers or core shopping districts. If the Freebie is unsuccessful, the next stop is try the Diminishing Lease. Typically entered into for one year, the Diminishing Lease incrementally reduces the tenant's rent each quarter until the lease expires. For example, if a two-bedroom apartment normally rents for $675 a month, a Diminishing Lease cuts the rent each quarter as follows: Months 1 - '3
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