Reputations matter.
And bad ones, especially online, can spread like wildfire.
More than 71% of prospective residents use a property’s online reviews to decide whether they want to even visit much less choose to live in an apartment community, according to J Turner Research, a multifamily housing industry research firm.
J Turner Research gathers reviews and star ratings of more than 122,000 properties nationwide using an online reputation assessment or “ORA,” which analyzes the data through a statistical model and scores each property from 0 to 100. Its “2020 Elite 1% ORA Power Ranking,” showcases 1,303 properties throughout the U.S. featuring the best online reputations last year. Companies don’t pay for the score or to be in the rankings.
The list includes 49 apartment communities from Virginia and 18 in Hampton Roads.
Barry Tomlin, vice president of Breeden Property Management, was delighted to have two of the company’s 50 properties on the elite list: Aqua on 25th Street in Virginia Beach and Parkside at Charles Street in Newport News.
It’s not the first time Breeden has been recognized in the top 1% and he said he feels honored each time. The reviews, Tomlin said, include “the good, the bad and the ugly.” Getting properties in the top 1% is an accomplishment, he said.
“It runs the gamut, especially when you have a resident survey,” Tomlin said. “We want to know it all, because we can’t make changes or improvements in a timely fashion if we don’t know what’s going on in a resident’s apartment.”
“The way the internet is now, most of our prospects are coming through some form of listing service, and when you see glowing reviews on ratings platforms, it really helps drive those calls and visits into the offices,” Tomlin said. “We’re not perfect; we strive to be, but we’re not. Anything we can learn from our residents, we take it and run with it.”
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