Your old road is rapidly agin’... the times they are a-changin’.” Bob Dylan’s 1960s song talks about changes that have occurred, more on the horizon and how people must prepare or be swept aside. This song captures how I felt when reviewing the results from the 2015 revisit of our 2011 “Today’s Online Renter” study.

The new study revisits attitudes and behaviors including how prospects shop, what drives their rental decision, the impact of ratings and reviews, social media and more. Today’s renters behave differently from the past: The times they are a-changin’. 

Shopping, Rental Decisions, Brand and Trust 

• 60.1 percent of apartment shoppers used a smartphone or tablet in their search, up from 2011’s 26.3 percent, and 78.3 percent visited a community’s website before contacting the office. Therefore, it is critical that sites utilize Responsive Website Designs (Google began favoring them in April 2015, boosting rankings for those sites with RWD) and HTML5 coding, which is how Apple products read websites; permits for ideal viewing on smartphones, tablets and laptops.
• The top five sources used in searches changed compared to 2011. The significance of reviews continues to grow, with this source moving into the top five; 45 percent of shoppers now using review sites supports why managing the resident experience and one’s reputation matter more than ever.
• Prospective residents focus on the basics regarding what info is desired during their search: photographs, floor plans, rents, specials, availability and features/amenities/services/location. However, ratings and reviews are now rated as very important, too (4.18 on a five point importance scale), because they offer the transparency desired.
• Factors with the greatest impact on rental decisions related to transparency and the basics. The highest rated was being able to view the actual apartment home available to lease; this has implications on the market-ready process and raises questions about how much to invest in models (ranked No. 12). Consistent with importance of transparency, focusing on the resident experience, perceived quality customer service and unfiltered ratings and reviews were rated second and fifth, respectively.
• 24.4 percent reported their rental decision was impacted by the management company brand name. So, because 75.6 percent of decisions are not affected by brand name, communities must focus on the resident experience and service delivery as this will impact their online reputation.
• Regarding trusting “sources,” 74.4 percent trust friends and family. At 67.7 percent, ratings and reviews had the second highest score; sites offering reviews typically rank high in Google searches, therefore this points out how important it is to deliver a quality resident experience and then leverage this feedback online. Residents do not trust ads (second to last, 11.8 percent) and quite interestingly a community’s social media efforts ranked last (7.1 percent).
• When asked if they trust websites where most or all reviews are positive, 49.7 percent said they would not trust that site. Negative reviews are as important as positive ones; therefore resist the temptation to cherry-pick reviews to post on the sites that permit this. Negative reviews present the opportunity to respond and show what your community is made of.

Ratings and Reviews

• 61 percent of residents shared that they were willing to post a positive review, however, only 16 percent said they have ever been asked by the property (double the 2011 result of 8.8 percent). Additionally, a majority of residents reported that they were “very likely” to post comments or reviews online. These findings present a clear marketing opportunity.
• Residents have strong feelings regarding community staff responding to reviews. Some 51.7 percent felt that the staff responding to reviews communicates they provide great customer service, and 48.9 percent felt it shows that the staff truly cares about its residents. Only 11.1 percent reported that they did not care if the staff responded. And a majority of residents reported that the staff not responding to reviews created a negative impression of the community. People want to see how much the staff cares and what level of professionalism they exhibit.

Social Media

• Consistent with 2011, only 11 percent reported using social media as a “source” when shopping, and social media earned a low 2.27 on a five-point importance scale regarding impacting rental decisions; therefore, there is a small niche where social media can play a role, but keep in mind residents reported that social media is not a “trusted” source.
• Renters do not follow apartment communities or management companies on most social media. While 20 percent reported following a community on Facebook, less than 3 percent reported following a community on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

Key Takeaways

Transparency. Prospects feel empowered and want transparency so they can make informed decisions. They want to know what it’s really like to live at a community via unfiltered reviews, to tour vacant apartments available to lease.

The Basics. Achieving success continues to have its foundation in the basics. And the basics are more critical than ever as they drive satisfaction with the resident experience, which drives one’s online reputation.

The times, they are a-changin’. The more we know about today’s online renter, the better armed the industry is to navigate this ever-changing landscape.

Doug Miller is Founder and President of SatisFacts Research. Previously Miller was Director of Marketing for several national and regional property management firms. He can be reached at by email. A follow-up to this report that will focus on retention will be published in units Magazine this summer.