02 Apr Make Your Model a Strong Selling Tool

The model apartment is an important selling tool that highlights the day-to-day experiences of living within your community. As the industry leading model design service provider for the apartment industry, the Model55 team spends a lot of time evaluating how communities can improve their existing models for faster sales and higher occupancies. One critical element of successful model apartment staging is the level of detail and customization that goes into the design of the model.

If you’re considering making improvements to your model apartment, but aren’t ready to invest in an entirely new design plan, here are some easy tips for customizing your model apartment that you can apply right away:

#1. Show Off the Social Aspects of Your Community

If you’re thinking about making some changes to the details in your community’s model apartment, consider starting with your current residents. Chances are, you and your staff spend a lot of time organizing events that help to make your community a truly connected space. We suggest that you take the opportunity to market such events in your model. Take photographs of community activities and floor parties to frame and display within the model. Put pictures from your dog park on the refrigerator, as well as any bulletins advertising upcoming events. Not only will this serve as a great talking point, but it will also give a realistic glimpse of what life is like within your community’s walls. This is guaranteed to add a detailed touch that your prospects will gravitate to.

By making your model apartment reflect certain aspects of daily life as members of your community, you are showing rather than telling about important details that will make your community stand apart from the competition.

Just to give you a general idea of why this kind of customization is so important, check out the following stat from LifeLearn about visualization in marketing:

“Research has shown that when people hear information, they are likely to remember only 10% of that information 3 days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information 3 days later.”

#2. Highlight Memorable Selling Points

How does your community differentiate itself from the competition? Any savvy property manager will agree that it is critical to have differentiators established and marketed on every level. We recommend that you take those elements that make your community to enticing and highlight them in a variety of ways throughout your model apartment. For example, if your community uses the best and most updated technologies, make it a point to incorporate tech-savvy items throughout the model. Or, if your community boasts that you are the most pet-friendly apartment complex in the neighborhood, be sure to incorporate leashes, beds and pet dishes throughout the model.

Is there a bike path that runs parallel to your property? If biking to work/ town is important to your residents, set up a bike in your model. Not only do these touches show your prospects how they can use spaces in the apartment to their benefit, but they also give your sales people excellent talking points to note on every tour.

y incorporating the value added aspects of your community into your model, you can create any number of memorable details that can attract residents to your community.

#3. Keep Your Model In-Season

Perhaps one of the easiest and most effective ways to customize your model apartment is to tailor its look and feel to national and local events your potential community members can relate to. An obvious example would be to decorate your model for the holiday season. If you’re not sure exactly how to go about creating an impactful winter wonderland, pull inspiration from social media sites like Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter. These sites are great for novice decorators looking for inspiration because they are searchable by phrases and hashtags.

There you have it, a few simple ways to customize the look and feel of your model apartment. Remember, keeping your model current, clean, and customized are important elements for creating a strong selling tool. If you are interested in learning about more ways to customize your model apartment, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at hello@model55.com – and thanks for reading!