Even in the best real estate markets, certain floor plans have a tendency to be overbuilt and have a higher-than-average annual vacancy rates. In particular, 1 bedroom apartments are unusually susceptible to vacancy fluctuations, since the cost per resident is higher in 1 bedroom apartments than in multi-bedroom floor plans. 1 bedrooms apartments are also easily impacted by overall market changes and economic fluctuations. As unemployment rates rise, many renters choose to get roommates to share the cost of their apartment and utilities, leaving 1 bedroom apartments unrented for months on end. 

But there are some tips that apartment marketers have learned to keep their 1 bedroom apartments and townhouses fully leased. Kelly Klein, an apartment expert at Trimark Properties in Gainesville Florida, shared some of her tips for increasing occupancy rates that she learned while marketing 1 bedroom apartments in Gainesville Florida. 

1. Create a Relationship with Residents

Most 1 bedroom apartments have just one resident living in them, which means that there is often just one decision maker when it comes to the renewal. Create a supportive, professional relationship with this resident. Consider offering a welcome bag when the tenant moves in with simple, inexpensive supplies that he/she will need in the new apartment and during the move: toilet paper, bottled water, a granola bar, coupons for nearby restaurants, and most importantly, a hand written note offering your services during the move. Be sure to include hours that the office is open and the number to call if there's an after-hours emergency. Follow up a few days after the resident moves in to ask if maintenance can come by to help hang any pictures. These early, supportive conversations will make your future renewal calls much easier, and you can casually ask about the resident's long-term plans. 

2. Ask for Early Renewals in 1 Bedroom Apartments

Consider changing your lease constract for 1 bedroom apartments to include a longer notice for non-renewal (or require renewal notification earlier in the season). This allows you to put apartments that do not intend to renew onto the rental market earlier, thus increasing your chances of finding a new tenant for the 1 bedroom apartment prior to the original tenant moving out. 

3. Leave Apartment Brochures with HR Professionals at Nearby Top Employers

If your apartment complex is located near high-growth companies, the HR people may be your best sales people for your 1 bedroom apartments. They frequently recruit new employees to the area, and they often give new recruits advice on where to lease. Strike up a relationship with any HR people who work at companies that are hiring a high number of employees, and check in often via email and hand written notes. Taking them out to lunch once per quarter helps keep your apartments in their mind when they are helping new hires find new apartment homes. Keep in mind that many times, when people move into a new city, they rent 1 bedroom apartments while looking for a house to purchase or while their signficant other finishes up commitments in the original town. It's also not unusual for companies that are hiring lots of young people to rent 1 bedroom apartments as permanent corporate units in order to give new recruits a short-term housing solution.

4. Use Apartment Signage to Advertise your Available 1 Bedrooms

Don't be surprised if renters say that your apartment signage was the number one reason for their walk-in tour. Many busy professionals don't have the time or resources to find apartments online and instead, they simply drive around the neighborhoods where they'd like to live. To create the biggest call to action, be sure to put up signs that advertise availability with verbiage like "1 bedroom apartments available for immediate move in!"

With a few easy marketing steps, you can keep your 1 bedroom apartments fully booked all year. 

5. Create Video Tours for all 1 Bedroom Apartment Floor plans

Many renters who lease 1 bedroom apartments do so before moving to a new city. During these moves, they often don't have enough time to come see the apartments in person. It's therefore critically important that you have great photos and videos for your apartments. Don't have a budget for high-resolution videos of all of your floorplans? Consider one of the free online solutions that allow you to turn virtual tours into .mov or .mp4 videos that can be uploaded to Youtube, like the 1 bedroom apartment tour below:

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