My 9-year old daughter, Emme, decided she wanted to have a family “Thanksgiving Trivia” game this year. She dutifully came up with some questions about the holiday that we’ve celebrated every year. Just through osmosis, I figured that the adults would know most of the answers. How hard could it be? I pictured Pilgrims eating turkey and corn with the natives while celebrating the bountiful harvest together with some boats in the background. That’s at least the sanitized version of events I thought we’d cover. And it would be multiple choice! How hard could it be?
Well, she didn’t take it easy on us. Some actual questions:
- How many women were the first
Thanksgiving? (5, 7, or 10?)
- How long did the first
Thanksgiving last? (3, 5, or 7 days?)
- How long was the Mayflower’s
voyage from England to America? (66, 77, or 81 days?)
- How many countries celebrate
Thanksgiving? (11, 16, or 20?)
As each person filled out their trivia sheets, it became
apparent that we didn’t know Thanksgiving quite as well as we may have
thought. Our ancestors would not have
been very proud!
It made me think of how well we really know our rental
homes. Sure, we may know how many
bedrooms and bathrooms they have. The
advanced landlords may know how many square feet and how large of a lot it has
off of the top of their heads. But what
about the aspects that would really make people interested in it?
One of the key aspects of marketing is differentiation. Why would a potential renter pick one 3
bedroom / 2 bathroom house with a .25 acre lot over another with the same features? Most of the rental homes in Charlotte were
built in subdivisions that offer a large degree of uniformity. Why would one cookie-cutter home be more
desirable than another cookie-cutter home?
Price and availability are certainly two differentiators. If one home is on the market for $2,000/month
and one that is close to the same is $1,800/month, the $1,800/month house obviously
presents better. Or if there is only one
house available in a desired subdivision, that would also work well- one can
only take what they can get!
But if there are five rental houses in a subdivision that
are available and priced similarly, what would make one stand out?
As a Charlotte property
manager, one of the questions we ask our new clients is what made them buy
their house in the first place. What were
the special characteristics that made them want their house over all the others
that were available? Some have some
great insights on why and that really helps in marketing; usually they had lived
in it at some point. Others don’t know.
For those that don’t know, that’s okay. But as the people who are responsible for positioning
their home in the marketplace, we need to come up with this differentiation. What’s special about this rental home that we
want potential renters to focus on that other rental homes don’t have? “This home’s large, manicured backyard boasts
a built-in, outdoor gas BBQ and covered back patio making it perfect for
outdoor gatherings with friends!” is an example.
This also plays into what type of home renovations to do between
renters. Do we want to focus repair
dollars on the making the kitchen really nice so we can use something the effect
of “Enjoy the smell of simmering cocoa on the new stainless steel stove while
leaning against the new granite countertops in your spacious gourmet kitchen!” I remember picking a hotel to stay at in the mountains
during one winter that highlighted the “recently renovated bathroom with heated
bathroom floors” as its point of marketing emphasis. It sold me on an otherwise non-descript room.
To consistently succeed in a crowded rental market, smart
landlords will know their rental home well enough so they can highlight point(s)
of differentiation to entice prospective tenants. It’s tough to win the Thanksgiving trivia
contest by only knowing the basics of the holiday!
By the way, the correct answers to the trivia questions above
are respectively: 5, 3, 66, & 11.
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving & Happy Landlording!
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