The Company
Based in Canada and headquartered in Edmonton, Westcorp Property Management Inc. is an owner and manager of revenue-producing real estate. It creates, invests in and manages residential, commercial, hotel and mixed use properties. For more than 35 years, the company has focused on spaces and places that bring out the best in people. Westcorp operates in Edmonton, Calgary, Kelowna and Bonnyville, as well as in Michigan in the U.S.
The Challenge
Missed Opportunities
Westcorp had many successful rental properties that it advertised on internet listing sites (ILSs) and a company website, but the decentralized web presence and renter application process, resulted in missed leads and expensive, time-consuming conversions. The marketing and leasing teams were minimally using technology, making it hard to consistently track and engage with prospects and residents.
The Solution
RentCafe
RentCafe is a marketing, leasing and resident services platform designed to manage the entire renter journey. It includes high-performance property marketing websites and convenient prospect and resident portals. RentCafe makes renting easier with online leasing, rent payments and maintenance requests.
The Story
Centralized Leasing, More Leads
When Westcorp started using RentCafe, it initially served just as a portal where residents could check their ledgers and submit maintenance requests. “We weren’t doing online leasing yet, and we weren’t really doing resident engagement,” said Uryelle Dimailig, marketing manager at Westcorp. As features evolved and became more robust, the team at Westcorp realized they could leverage RentCafe technology to do much more, including updating their property websites to virtually show vacant units along with the community brand.
“A marketing website is an essential tool in today’s rental marketplace,” said Dimailig. “Since switching over to a RentCafe website, we can instantly show availability and current rates. Prospects can apply online now, which they couldn’t do before. In fact, our agents direct in-person guests to apply online rather than on paper. We’re doing paperless applications, and all the information appears correctly in our backend.”
Before its RentCafe websites, Westcorp relied heavily on ILS listings for leads. But converting ILS leads became more difficult and expensive as online marketplaces became increasingly crowded and competitive. Now, the Westcorp marketing team focuses on driving traffic to its website where it can more effectively track and capture leads.
“We’ve built a digital presence — through SEO, social media and Google Ads — that drives renters to our site. Weekly reporting shows that 60-70% of our leads come from our top RentCafe websites. That’s more return on our investment than all our ILS listings combined,” shared Dimailig.
Better User Experience
RentCafe integrates seamlessly with the other Yardi solutions that Westcorp uses, increasing transparency and efficiency for renters and staff. Per Dimailig, “Because our RentCafe websites automatically pull accurate rates and availability from our Yardi database, it saves our teams hours of manual data entry.”
Website leads instantly appear in RentCafe CRM, enabling leasing agents to immediately follow-up, aligning perfectly with Westcorp’s high customer service standards. Additionally, staff can communicate with current renters and share renewal offers through the resident portal in RentCafe, making it easy to stay connected in any situation.
“We really like learning and applying everything RentCafe can do. It allows us to be more responsive, provides an exceptional customer experience and engages our residents,” concluded Dimailig. “This technology allows our team to confidently support one another.”
