My sister is a leasing consultant for a gorgeous  apartment  neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina.  I have always been a bit envious, because I feel as though she works in paradise.   It seems every time I go to see her at work, the sun is beaming brighter than ever.  The complex has intricate  landscaping, floral arrangements and countless palm trees.  There are 2 swimming pools – one being  an innovative salt water pool – and a state of the arts private gym.  And not to mention the first class staff she works with…they’re incredibly helpful and friendly!

If I didn't already own a home, I’d rent there in a heartbeat.  I’d feel like I was on vacation every day!

But contrary to my assumptions, my sister and her staff were struggling to keep the complex even half full.  And they simply couldn’t figure out why!  They were paying for daily commercials on the radio, were listed on all the rental websites, and posted to Craigslist daily.  

Plus, it seemed like everyone who actually scheduled a tour of the facilities signed a lease, so the problem wasn’t in the complex itself.  It was simply a matter of spreading the word and getting more people onto the premise.  So my sister and I sat down one night to devise a plan.

And a grand plan, I hope!

Though the apartment complex is situated in a very popular part of town, it’s not very visible from the street.  In fact, that is part of the appeal, as the bunch of trees that surround the facility silence outside noise and keep things quaint and quiet.  But these trees also hide this gem from the public eye.

Our plan for spreading the word was to design a custom sign and display it out along the main road that you turn off of to enter the complex.  The custom sign design simply featured the complex name and a gorgeous photo of the paradise-like neighborhood.

And to her delight, before she knew it, the telephones were ringing off the hook, and people were signing leases like crazy!

So why do custom signs work so well, compared to radio ads and internet listings?

With a custom sign, your potential tenants are right outside your front door!  We soon learned that with radio ads, even people who were planning to move in the near future were tuning out real estate advertisements if they weren’t interested in living in that part of town.  That is wasted advertising coverage!

And while rental websites and Craigslist allow you to specify your neighborhood of choice, photographs and descriptive summaries can’t sell the way seeing the place in person can.  Plus, nothing is more convenient than stopping by for a tour when you’re already just outside the door.

And here's what surprised us the most:  While people looking on rental websites are usually searching because they have an instant rental need, my sister suddenly had a whole new market of people touring her facility.  This market was comprised of people who were not actively searching for a new place to live yet, but since they knew their lease was running out in several months, and they knew they wanted to remain in that same neighborhood, they were motivated to check out the apartments as they were passing by the custom sign on their way out to run errands, go to work, grab a quick dinner etc.!

My sister was now actually having people request rental reservations a whopping five months in advance!

So now my sisters is not only is my sister lucky enough to have a work environment comparable to paradise, she’s also lucky to have a job where a custom sign can do all of the work!

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