We are often asked by our Clients what marketing efforts they’re obligated to perform as part of signing a new Service and Marketing agreement. Of course, it depends on the type of agreement you have in place but whether it’s a Non-Exclusive Marketing, Exclusive Marketing or Access Agreement, no Service Provider may prohibit another from direct marketing (via mail, phone, email, or other off-site methods). However, there are usually some general obligations of the Owner that are permitted, such as:

• Door-to-door marketing – usually limited to specific hours or only if authorization is provided by the Owner or on-site staffs
• Periodic on-site marketing events – may be limited to quarterly events, and typically require pre-approval by property staff
• Common area marketing displays
• Tech events – where a technician is available to answer resident’s technical questions
• Print Marketing – materials supplied by the Service Provider and passed out to residents either in Move-In Packets, countertop, or door hangers
• Digital marketing – includes online resident portal or website

In new construction, we’re also seeing some Service Providers request stickers to be placed near the media cabinets, or on a designated outlet cover listing the Service Provider’s name. In addition, a Service Provider may […]

What will work for your communities?

Property owners have choices to make when working with Service Providers (of Television, Internet and Phone services) on their apartment communities.  On a simple level, property owners need to choose from having Service Providers serve their communities on a retail basis or on a bulk basis.

In a retail scenario, your residents can choose to subscribe (or not to subscribe) to one or more Service Providers available at your community.

On the other hand, in a bulk scenario, services are purchased in bulk by the property owner to provide one or more services to all units at the property (regardless of occupancy).  Bulk arrangements are where we will focus in this post.

Bulk arrangements are not new, in fact Service Providers have been offering bulk agreements for decades.  Initially the arrangements included only Television.  Later on Internet was added as an option together with Television or on a standalone basis.

You may find yourself hearing a lot about bulk services from Service Providers.  While there are many benefits with bulk services, Service Providers can paint a rosy picture that only speaks to those benefits, including increased/improved amenities, streamlined resident connection process and added revenue (to name just a few).  […]

With the incredible growth of Airbnb, and resident demand for alternative living situations, our clients have been finding new ways to manage and lease their apartment communities.  While short-term rentals, or “STR’s” have been around for many years, RealtyCom has recently been working with some of our Developer-clients to find ways to provide secure and ubiquitous broadband solutions for non-traditional rentals that allow both flexibility and ease of use.

Some of our clients already operate highly successful programs aimed at corporate and student populations, but transient housing for hospitality and workforce housing are largely new concepts.

Having limited knowledge on this subject personally, but lots of interest, I asked Dennis Cogbill from the new Flexible Rentals Investment Conference (“FLEX”) for his thoughts and how the landscape for traditional leasing is changing.

Cogbill points out that implementing STR’s in existing communities can present some challenges.  Lender covenants or municipality restrictions could apply (lenders traditionally have a cap of 5% of the units to be allocated to corporate/alternative housing and each municipality has different rules and re-permitting can be costly). There is also the question of what strategy an Owner-Operator should adopt. Should you build it yourself? Use […]