Metonic and Apogee focus on curb appeal on the first day of an acquisition. A terrific property appearance is a good first impression for the current residents and gets our investment off to a fast start.
The primary method for a renting prospect to find their future home historically has been by “driving around” to locate a property in a neighborhood in which they desired to live. Rental prospects will make a decision to inquire about meeting the leasing agent and viewing the inside of an apartment within the first 10-seconds of seeing the exterior of the property.
Consistently, properties with strong “curb appeal” have better occupancy and higher rents. Renting to people who will be great residents is the entire residential real estate ballgame. Great residents are attracted to great properties and great properties present the best from the curb in 10-seconds or less. Attracting great residents = achieving great investment returns for our partners.
Today, accelerated by COVID-19, consumers are touring properties by “driving through” more than ever. Consumers who are shopping for an apartment to rent, a house to buy, or an Airbnb to vacation in will be attracted to well-kept properties that present well from the outside, and they will pay more for it.
Regardless of the type of tour a consumer is conducting, it is a bad investment to spend money on the inside of a property without a willingness to do the same to the exterior. When budgets are tight, the first casualty is often the exterior of the property. The property owner might want the manager to hire the cheapest possible groundskeeper and not allocate sufficiently to the landscaping and exterior cleanliness of the property. Any property in this condition will surely underperform, and these underperforming and uncared for properties can be great properties for Metonic to buy, and make vast improvements to!
Curb appeal is not expensive or hard if the elements of the exterior are maintained on a regular schedule. Fresh mulch, pruned trees, trimmed bushes, and a few colorful potted flowers make a world of difference to prospects looking for a nice place to live in the summer time. Managers that seasonally adjust curb presentations nearly always beat their competitors.
The Metonic and APOGEE teams are strong believers in excellent curb appeal. The presentation of the property from the curb is the first thing we tackle, and it is paying off for our partners with better than market performance and very happy residents who will pay more and live in our properties longer as a result.