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15 Holiday Ideas For Apartment Communities

December 8, 2011

This is typically the time of the year that many apartment communities begin to count their losses and plan on having a “slow leasing” season.  Less outreach marketing is usually executed, because it is viewed as being done for nothing and fewer resident events are planned to work towards resident referrals, since no one is looking to move.  These thoughts are huge misconceptions and can be detrimental to the upcoming productivity an apartment can see come the early spring time.  Just because it is cold does not mean that there are not people moving, because there are always individuals looking to move all year long!  If anything there should be a boost in outreach marketing during the winter time, not only to capture every piece of traffic possible now, but also to begin laying the foundation for the spring leasing season .  There should be more resident events planned, so residents will be more inclined to invite potential prospects to boost resident referral move-ins.  With that being said I have compiled a list, with the help of Resident Events, Multifamily Insiders and Rent Soda, of great holiday community ideas to keep those residents happy and keep that traffic flowing all through the holiday season:

 

1. Post holiday door hangers on each residents door wishing them a Happy Holidays

2. Schedule Christmas caroling gatherings for residents

3. Have volunteer Christmas present wrappings in the clubhouse for those that are wrapping challenged individuals

4. Hold a kid’s night in the clubhouse to allow parents to finish their Christmas shopping in the early evening and not have to worry about getting a baby-sitter

5. Host a resident Christmas dinner in the clubhouse, in which every resident brings some sort of food

6. Sponsor any kind of community service project (i.e., Clothing drive; food drive; toy drive; blanket drive; Salvation Army bell ringers; soup kitchen volunteers; etc.)

7. Instead of just accepting packages in the clubhouse, deliver the packages to the residents in the evenings as a little gift
delivery

8. Offer doorstep recycling pick-up for all of the empty package boxes and used wrapping paper

9. Turn the clubhouse into the North Pole with a visit from Santa for any children looking to have their picture taken

10. Put-on a cookie exchange social or a pie mingle, in the clubhouse, in which every resident brings a dozen cookies, or pie, of their choice and have eggnog for the adults

11. Hold a Christmas card contest for all of the children in the community

12. Have a “decorate your balcony” contest

13. Put-on a wreath making event and invite all residents to the clubhouse to learn how to decorate/make a wreath

14. Holiday movie night in the clubhouse/movie room showing any Christmas movie favorite; incorporate your community Facebook Page with this one and have residents vote on Facebook for what movie they want to see

15. Have a tacky Christmas party in the clubhouse

 

These are just a few ideas to help drive the holiday leasing season traffic, but I am sure that there are many others!

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