Pet-friendly apartments are becoming the norm, especially among younger renters. Millennials are now the biggest market for pet ownership. Property managers and owners need to stand out and make their complexes more unique and attractive with pet amenities. But have you ever wondered what your pet might want in their new apartment? The secret life of pets may open new ideas for property owners across the country. Let’s look at this from the pet’s perspective and what they want to see when they tag along on a tour of your apartment complex. The perfect perks for pups Dogs are excitable, sociable, friendly, and have lots of energy. Since dogs are so social and energetic, an on-site dog park is essential to earn five stars from Fido. Something that would be large enough for them to spread their paws and has lots of green grass. Yappy Hour at the complex dog park would be an attractive resident event that you can hold monthly. During Yappy Hour you can provide some refreshments and picture ops to boost your property’s social media accounts – some of your resident dogs may even be Insta influencers! However, some dogs are not too keen on shared space. Grassy areas with walking trails around the complex are another huge plus for all pups and their parents. Whether you have walking trails or not, strategically placed poop bag stations are a must for any pet-friendly property. Post-pandemic, return to the office is starting to make a comeback. A dog door leading out to the balcony or patio is another awesome option for pets and owners alike. That way Barkley can lounge on the balcony and not have to be stuck inside all day while their human is working eight hours or more....

RentCafe CRM IQ is the latest innovation from Yardi in customer relationship management solutions for multifamily. It puts your customer at the center of the relationship to seamlessly manage prospects, applicants and residents for the entire leasing and resident journey. CRM IQ also provides a platform for centralized leasing offices and enhances the capabilities of other centralized property operations. Built into Yardi Voyager and the RentCafe product suite, CRM IQ has enhanced features that benefit site teams, owners, managers and their customers. Keep reading to explore what customer-centric innovation from Yardi can do for your business. What makes CRM IQ unique? Your customer is more than a renter, and your CRM system should reflect that. CRM IQ doesn’t stop prioritizing your prospects once they convert. Instead, CRM IQ manages your customer interactions through every stage of the leasing and resident journey. With robust features designed to support the full customer lifecycle, CRM IQ is built to guide your prospects into applicants, and your applicants into satisfied residents, ready to renew. The result is a better customer experience made possible by customer-centric software. What’s new with CRM IQ? With features that automate communication and improve visibility across prospects and residents, CRM IQ is a one-of-a-kind solution in the multifamily industry. Here are more details that make it even more unique: Enable centralized leasing office (CLO) processes with customer-centric views and site clustering. CRM IQ has intuitive features that aggregates properties within a central view and shares activities across regional attributes. Save staff hours by helping prioritize the most valuable tasks and utilize remote and clustered staffing offices.Prioritize higher-quality leads and automate lead nurturing with event-based AI. More leads don’t always mean more conversions — this is why CRM IQ prioritizes prospects at every stage of...

Common onsite amenities available to occupiers of commercial and residential properties are widely known: gyms, laundry service, parking spaces, pet services and clubrooms, among others. But there’s a special location that can provide a key differentiator in the competition to attract and retain occupants: the roof. “Today, particularly at higher-end properties, unique rooftop amenities have proven to be a deciding factor in community selection for future residents,” says Brandon Reed, chief visionary officer at Salt Lake City-area rooftop amenity designer Loft Six Four. Moreover, they offer revenue opportunities like higher retention rates, higher rental yield and sale prices per square foot. “Once a forgotten space used only for cooling towers, water tanks and elevator machine rooms, or private amenities to attract tenants, building rooftops and setbacks are getting long overdue appreciation. Rather than being a sign of exclusivity, these rooftop spaces are becoming an essential part of any well-positioned office building,” adds Ambrose Aliaga-Kelly, a technical director for global architecture, design and planning firm Gensler. Popular rooftop amenities include safe play areas for children; swimming pools; gardens; lounges; outdoor kitchens; putting greens, games, yoga studios and lockers; outdoor TVs, Wi-Fi, USB ports, charging stations and other technology; and pet amenities like dog parks and washing stations. Aside from being space-efficient, an especially important consideration in high-demand metros with low vacancy rates and limited space for extras, rooftop amenities offer something that isn’t available at lower levels: a view. “A roof terrace with breathtaking city skyline views can be a major draw for potential tenants and buyers,” according to Reed. And there’s an energy angle too. Repurposing roofs on older residential and commercial buildings can reduce their carbon footprint. Green or planted roofs can help lower a building’s energy consumption by insulating it and providing a...

Even with multifamily rents continuing to rise nationwide, property owners still need to work to get people into their units. At the height of the pandemic, some renters in metros like Los Angeles, Boston and San Francisco relocated to lower-cost communities, prompting landlords to adopt creative measures to attract and keep renters. “Incentives are not what they used to be, primarily because market conditions and expectations have shifted, and offering the right incentives for lease renewals is more important than ever to capture the attention of today’s busy renters,” according to Zillow. Here are some ideas that can help property managers attract prospects and maintain high-quality residents, courtesy of Zillow, Multi-Housing News and other industry sources: Upgrade inside and out. Paint or landscaping improvements and new appliances, flooring and furniture can make a property more attractive to residents and prospects. There’s also the option of offering renewing residents a menu for choosing the services or upgrades they value or need most, whether it be a ceiling fan, new shelving on the walls or a better stove. Let free stuff ring. A period of free parking, cable service, laundry or dry cleaning, storage space or Wi-Fi is always appreciated, as is a temporary or permanent suspension of amenity or pet fees. Gift cards for ride-sharing services, food delivery services and more provide other options. “Free parking is the most common perk this year, but there are many ways to engage with renters in ways that are important to them,” ZillowRentals reported in its Consumer Housing Trends report. Amped-up tech. Cutting-edge technology like high-tech door locks, thermostats, tablet devices or smart home automation devices save property owners time and money and make a favorable impression on today’s tech-savvy renters. See how RentCafe Home IQ attracts prospects...

Figuring out how to best design your website can be a daunting task. This summer, REACH by RentCafe surveyed more than 12,000 people on RentCafe.com to learn more about their website design preferences.Read on to see the survey results and learn more about the most popular website design trends of 2022. Survey says… Which color schemes do you prefer? Calm and soothing: 73.5%Dark and moody: 15.2%Vibrant and bold: 11.3% Which two design concepts do you prefer? Soft, curved edges and shapes: 33.6%Plant or earth-inspired prints: 21.4%Subtle textures: 20.1%Sharp geometric shapes: 15.8%Colorful floral patterns: 9.2% How would you decorate your apartment? Clean and minimal. I like things calm, simple and purposeful: 59%Dark backgrounds and a roaring fireplace. I love a cozy library vibe: 16%Romantic countryside. I want to feel like I’m in a whimsical cottage: 15.7%Lots of patterns and colors. I like to bring laughter to life, the more the merrier: 9.3% I’d be most excited to live in an apartment that: Embraces a soft, relaxing atmosphere with calm colors: 47%Is sleek and modern: 29.5%Emphasizes sustainability in the design: 12%Has chic outdoor spaces: 11.5% When viewing a design, how do you want to feel? Calm: 68.6%Excited: 14.2%Intrigued: 13.5%Amused: 3.6% Japandi and minimalism Kicking off the top design trends of 2022 is Japandi. Neha Marathe, design manager at REACH, defines Japandi as a hybrid that’s “a brilliant fusion of Japanese and Scandinavian styles which are anchored in minimalism, clean lines and neutral colors.” Japandi design celebrates a blend of simplicity, functionality and intentionality, and it’s on the rise. In fact, between 2020 and 2021, Google searches for Japandi increased by 1,217%. An important element of Japandi is minimalism, which celebrates clean lines and uncluttered surfaces while avoiding excessive ornamentation. More and more, people are gravitating towards...

The national outlook for the multifamily sector remains positive through the end of 2022, with asking rent performance expected to have increased by around eight percent by year’s end. That’s according to the latest U.S. Multifamily Outlook report released today by Yardi® Matrix, a leading provider of data and analysis on most real estate verticals. The report examines the state of the economy, including ongoing inflation and recession concerns, but concludes that though rent growth is slowing down, gains are expected to continue. Average national asking rents increased 5.7 percent in the first six months of the year. Year-over-year rent growth at the year’s midpoint was 13.7 percent, down 100 basis points from the end of 2021 and 150 basis points from the February peak of 15.2 percent. “While growth is moderating, we expect gains will continue to remain well above trend, with average asking rents increasing by 7.9 percent nationally by the end of 2022,” states the forecast. However, the increases are far from 2021’s record 14.7 percent increase. Property fundamentals continue to be exceptional, with demand driven by robust household formation, job growth, migration to suburbs and secondary markets, and the inaffordability of single-family homes for many would-be buyers. More than 900,000 new multifamily units are under construction nationally, with 420,000 expected to be delivered this year. Gain more insights about expectations for the remaining months of 2022 in the latest Matrix Multifamily Outlook. Yardi Matrix offers the industry’s most comprehensive market intelligence tool for investment professionals, equity investors, lenders and property managers who underwrite and manage investments in commercial real estate. Yardi Matrix covers multifamily, student housing, industrial, office and self storage property types. Email [email protected], call (480) 663-1149 or visit yardimatrix.com to learn...

What do you call a group of diverse digital natives and entrepreneurial decision-makers with the ability to change the multifamily industry? This title belongs to Generation Z, the largest and most tech-savvy group of renters yet. Last summer, REACH by RentCafe conducted a survey to better understand Gen Z’s search habits, but members of this generation are now a year older. This means they’ve lived through 365 days of new experiences, changes and adventures. It also means that they have had a whole year to refine their online search behaviors. This summer, REACH wanted to investigate where this generation stands a year later when it comes to their online search habits and how best to win their attention. To do this, we interviewed over 12,000 members of Gen Z to gain insight into how to best attract members of the youngest, biggest and perhaps most important renter group yet. Here’s our Gen Z update: What are Gen Zers looking for? Findings from this year’s survey confirm that, once again, many Gen Zers don’t yet know what they’re searching for. This year, 41% admit that they’re still figuring it out when asked what they’re looking for in an apartment. This data tells us that the apartment search starts early for Gen Zers. At this stage, they’re probably using an ILS to shop for and compare apartments. On the other hand, 59% of Gen Zers know more about what they want, including apartment size, price, location and desired amenities; a full 26% of Gen Zers say they have all the information needed to make a purchasing decision. These renters are ready to take the next step, using long-tailed search terms to find the specific apartment that meets their needs. So how do you market to the...

Online apartment reviews are an important way for potential renters to get a feel for your community, and it’s critical to have them on your website. In addition, reviews directly impact how your website appears in a search. In fact, it’s estimated that reviews account for 17% of the ranking factor for the Google 3-pack of local listings! A June 2022 survey from RentCafe.com revealed that over 60% of Gen Z renters consider ratings and reviews most of the time when searching online. But it’s not just Gen Z. The NMHC 2022 Renter’s Preference Report found that 69% of prospective renters looked at ratings and reviews when searching for an apartment community. A solid reputation management strategy impacts three areas of your business: marketing, leasing and customer service. Read more to understand the importance of reputation management throughout the renter lifecycle. How does reputation management impact marketing? Good apartment reviews lead to good search signals, which will boost your community in search engine results, helping you get found by more prospective renters. But there’s more to it than simply collecting a few good reviews. A solid reputation management strategy focuses on four key components when it comes to reviews: Quantity – How many reviews do you have compared to your competitors? More reviews mean more visibility and greater reach.Quality – How good are your reviews compared to your competitors? Positivity and honesty are important when it comes to creating quality reviews.Recency – When were your latest reviews posted? A review from one month ago will carry much more weight than one from six months ago.Responses – Is your business responding to every review? 46% of renters expect to see responses to all reviews, so it’s important to follow up on both good and bad...

Rents in most American cities continue to rise slightly each month but are not duplicating the rapid escalation rates exhibited in 2021. But given ongoing gains, Yardi Matrix has revised its end-of-year projections upwards for most markets in a new special report. Average month-over-month asking rents increased by 1.1 percent in May compared to the one percent month-over-month increase in April. However, year-over-year asking rents decelerated, from 16 percent in April to 14 percent in May. “While we are seeing the usual seasonal increase leading into the summer months, 2022 does not look like a repeat of 2021 even though rent growth remains elevated,” state Matrix analysts. Asking rents fell in only six markets: the gateway markets of Queens and Brooklyn; small Southern markets Macon, Ga., and Jackson, Miss.; and tropical Honolulu and the Southwest Florida Coast. Conversely, 84 markets experienced greater than one percent month-over-month increase, and seven markets saw month-over-month growth that topped two percent: Charleston, Knoxville, the Bay Area-South Bay, Miami, the Urban Twin Cities, Wilmington, N.C., and Portland, Maine. Most markets received an increase to their end-of-year projections in the newly released Matrix report. The biggest increases were concentrated in markets that continue to outperform expectations, with Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Wilmington, South Bend and Spokane all seeing a more than five percent increase for year-end 2022. The nation’s economic outlook plays an important role in rent forecasts. That outlook has become increasingly tumultuous, with inflation at a 40-year-high but unemployment historically low. Analysts are continuing to keep a close eye on the market and monitoring the impact of the Federal Reserve’s approach to combatting inflation as well as the war in Ukraine. “The Fed will likely ramp up its pace of rate hikes and quantitative tightening, increasing the chance of recession for...

Are you ready to drive results that matter? Property marketing spend can significantly impact NOI — in a positive way — but only if you know what questions to ask your marketing team. It used to be hard to see and understand property marketing results. Marketers had a hard enough time tracking which leads came from where, let alone which sources brought in leases. ILS and lead journey data was incomplete, and it could be hard to tell which budget items resulted in returns. If you were outside of marketing, perhaps working in operations or another adjacent department, understanding marketing spend could be even trickier. Fortunately, with better technology comes better data. Today, it’s easy to see exactly where a lead first became aware of your brand and at what point they converted. It’s also easy to see how much you’re spending per lead and lease. In fact, you can calculate how much you’re getting back for every $1 of advertising budget spent (keep reading to find out how). When you’re looking to guide your marketing team and help drive results that matter, here are five questions you should ask. 1. What is our current marketing mix, and is there data to support it? Marketers should know how the marketing budget is organized and why. Your corporate and regional marketing strategy should be based on historical conversion data and — if including a new technique or source — industry research and case study data. Marketing sources should include a balance of traditional ILS advertising and director-to-renter marketing. ILS marketing is critical for the awareness phase of the renter journey, but it doesn’t also get you the most qualified leads. Director-to-renter marketing, such as SEO and PPC advertising, sends renters directly to your websites where...

The unprecedented socioeconomic events of the last two years and subsequent impact on multifamily rents is examined by a new bulletin from Yardi® Matrix now available for download. The publication breaks down the traditional drivers of multifamily rent growth—economic measures such as employment and population growth, and property fundamentals such as supply and changes in occupancy—and details how each impacted the highs and lows rents exhibited from March 2020 to April 2022. The analysis is broken into two periods: the four quarters following the start of the pandemic (2Q20 to 1Q21) and the four quarters of the recovery and rent surge (2Q21 to 1Q22). “Drivers of rent growth have changed not only once, but twice, in the two years post-pandemic. Each time was distinctly different,” states report author Paul Fiorilla, director of research for Yardi Matrix. “The period from April 2020 through March 2021 was marked by massive job loss, sheltering from home and migration from gateway markets to the Sun Belt. The April 2021 to March 2022 period was characterized by a booming pent-up demand and massive recovery across the entire country.” If you’ve been following the apartment industry closely, the general narrative of the pandemic is clear: motivated by remote work options and changes in life circumstances, many renters abandoned high-cost urban gateway markets in favor of more affordable cities with more room to breathe. Major cities like San Francisco, Chicago and New York saw rents drop dramatically and vacancy rates increase. After vaccine availability brought stabilization of the public health situation and widespread economic recovery ensued in 2021, return to gateway markets began and rents across nearly all markets were driven up by new household formation, low vacancy rates and easily obtainable employment. “Pent-up demand, strong consumer balance sheets, migration to...

As the stock market rocks and rolls, inflation becomes a fact of life and many Americans continue to relocate, what’s in store for the multifamily industry? Answering that big question was the goal of a recent Yardi Matrix webinar presented by Jeff Adler, vice president of Matrix, who presented fundamentals, economic indicators, geographic trends and much more. If you missed the presentation, you can view the recording and slide materials. Additional multifamily insights are available in the latest Yardi® Matrix Multifamily Report, which reported this week that the average U.S. asking rents rose $15 in April to an all-time record $1,659. Multifamily asking rent growth measured a record 14 percent increase in 2021. However, that performance is expected to moderate during the remainder of 2022, due to multiple factors. “I do expect the economy to continue to grow – at a slower rate. I do expect multifamily to continue to grow – at a slower rate. Bottom line, it is going to be bumpy,” Adler said. On the plus side, multifamily fundamentals are strong, and the sector should remain resilient during the next year and beyond. Beyond external factors like inflation, rising interest rates and economic volatility, there are many trends impacting housing that investors and multifamily professionals should make note of. They include: Ongoing population migration: “The hybridization of the work force and the ability to work from anywhere has enabled a spreading of the population,” said Adler. That has been beneficial for secondary and tertiary markets over gateway markets. Find out which ones in the presentation materialsLease renewals: While multifamily asking rents have jumped 20-25 percent over the last year in most markets, lease renewals are more likely to ask for about 10 percent more per month, Adler stated. That means many...

Prolonged inflation and the war in Ukraine are beginning to impact U.S. economic growth and rent performance as well, according to the latest Yardi® Matrix Multifamily National Report. Average U.S. asking rents rose $14 in March to an all-time high of $1,642. However, year-over-year growth dropped 50 basis points to 14.8 percent – an indication that rents are beginning to slow after 2021’s record-shattering performance. “Rent growth is unlikely to keep pace with 2021, as last year’s explosive movement started in the second quarter,” state Matrix analysts. Rents for single-family rentals continue to rise month-over-month, but growth is also decelerating in that subsector. The average U.S. single-family rent rose $14 to $1,999 in March, while year-over-year growth dropped 90 basis points to 14.1 percent. Rent growth continues to be led by population shifts to the Southeast and Southwest. Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Las Vegas and Phoenix all recorded asking rent increases of 23 percent or more in March. “The big picture that emerges from March multifamily data is that the market remains healthy, though signs point to the inevitable deceleration in some markets,” states the report.  “Meanwhile, economic conditions and global events contain headwinds that justify the expectations of moderation and caution.” Gain additional insights from the Yardi Matrix Multifamily National Report. Join Matrix on Thursday, May 12 for a deeper dive into the current state of the multifamily market. Get more details and sign up...

You never want things to go wrong, but when they do, you want to be prepared. In many cases, property management tech can help. When news broke of a resident in distress and it seemed like they could injure themselves or others within a quiet New Jersey apartment community, police were quick to arrive on scene to alleviate the situation.   But things escalated when the issue couldn’t get resolved. As police arrived to assist, residents in the apartment complex were asked to shelter in place. “We had to immediately communicate to our residents not to leave their apartments due to the fact that police were active on the property,” said Jack Linefsky, vice president of Value Companies. Value Companies owns more than 3,200 multifamily units in New Jersey and New York. They’ve been a Yardi customer for over 30 years, but they’ve never had to use Yardi technology the way they used it that day. As law enforcement entered the premises, Linefsky and the Value Companies team took advantage of RentCafe to communicate with residents and help authorities. First, they leveraged the RentCafe resident portal to quickly get a message out to residents.  “We were able to send voice messages, text messages and emails to all residents,” Linefsky said. “We crafted it on the go and made sure everyone was aware of what was happening.” When authorities needed a visual guide to help navigate the property, Linefsky knew exactly how to assist. “The police needed our floor plans, so I was able to easily pull it up on our RentCafe website,” Linefsky continued. “I just showed them the plans on my phone, and they were able to take action.” After an hours-long standoff, the situation was resolved peacefully. Linefsky and his team then used...

The largest Multifamily Social Media Summit ever brought more brilliant suggestions to multifamily marketers on Thursday at the Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif. REACH by RentCafe is the social media, photo booth and platinum exhibit sponsor of the 10th anniversary event, which concludes today. Andrew Davis, acclaimed marketer, best-selling author and filmmaker, opened Day Two of the event with a humorous and engaging talk about how constraints – as small as technology challenges and as large as a worldwide pandemic  – ­­can breed creativity for any business. “I started to realize that this was really an unexpected experiment that we had been gifted,” Davis said of the unforgettable global events of the last two years. “It allowed us to ask: What happens when every business in the world is faced with the exact same disruptive forces?” The solution to extreme disruption, as presented by Davis, is to forget the adage “think outside the box” and instead go INSIDE a box that he calls “The Cube of Creativity.” Read on to learn how the Cube works and glean more takeaways from this trend-defining marketing event. The four sides of the Cube of Creativity Davis presented two dynamic case studies from non-housing businesses that faced extreme challenges during the pandemic. One was a flower delivery service that had to relocate its distribution channel to Ecuador because of California’s non-essential worker shutdown. Another was a sustainable farm that previously relied on in-person events for its livelihood. 1. Eliminate the unnecessary: Taking on dynamic new initiatives means that some existing work will have to drop off. “Ask yourself, what are we going to drop doing in order to pursue this brand new initiative,” Davis said. “Every time we take on something new, we have to kill...

Multifamily asking rents picked up another $10 in February to reach a national average $1,628, and year-over-year growth recorded a 15.4 percent bump, according to the new Yardi Matrix Multifamily National Report. Single-family rentals also continue to surpass past performance, SFR rents increased by 14.9 percent year-over-year through February. While most anticipated that the steep upward trajectory for the rental sector would have moderated in the first quarter of 2022, the market continues to surprise. Of the top 30 metros tracked by Yardi Matrix, 90 percent saw double-digit rent growth year-over-year. “Rent growth is likely to start decelerating soon relative to the big increases that began in March 2021, but demand shows little sign of slowing,” say analysts. Nationally, occupancy rates are up 120 basis points year-over-year. Occupancy upticks are particularly strong in Texas and Florida metros, but also in gateway markets that lost residents during the pandemic. New York, San Jose and Chicago are among the cities seeing renters return. Underlying the headlines are the effects of a long-term national housing shortage, notes the report. In January 2021, occupancy rates were 95 percent or higher in just 13 of the top 30 markets, but a year later only two of the top 30 are below that level. In another telling indicator, single-family home sale prices were up an average of 18.8 percent last year. Learn more in the latest Yardi Matrix Multifamily National Report. Yardi Matrix offers the industry’s most comprehensive market intelligence tool for investment professionals, equity investors, lenders and property managers who underwrite and manage investments in commercial real estate. Yardi Matrix covers multifamily, student housing, industrial, office and self storage property types. Email [email protected], call (480) 663-1149 or visit yardimatrix.com to learn...

Should you grow your own team or hire an outside firm? Explore the pros and cons. Multifamily marketers have spent much of the last two years evaluating, reevaluating and adjusting to the changing behaviors and needs of our renters. How can we reach them? How can we engage them? What do they want from us? (Functioning websites, accurate pricing and anytime communication, for starters.) With a new year comes a new set of opportunities. Ideally, we’ll all take the lessons learned during the pandemic and continue to improve on our marketing. But realistically, do we have the time? Imagine, your company has just unveiled exciting plans to grow the portfolio. Better still, it recognizes the importance of a strong digital marketing presence when it comes to attracting prospects. As the marketing manager, you have an important decision to make: Do you grow your in-house team or hire an outside agency? Both options are common in multifamily marketing, as is the choice to use a combination of the two, with the in-house team managing one set of projects — such as creating lease-up flyers — while an external agency oversees other projects — such as managing SEO and PPC ads for the lease-up. If you’re struggling with this decision, or wondering how to find the right balance, it’s important to consider the strengths of each approach, as well as the budget and bandwidth of your operations. When to keep marketing in-house (or not) Wondering if your in-house team can meet the needs of your properties? Digital marketing can be like a web, as you layer additional strategies, the overall strength and reach should increase. That begs the question, if you build your in-house team, how many people will you need? Will you hire generalists and/or...

Reputation: It’s created from what people think and, more importantly, say about your communities. “Negative or false comments about your building can affect how others view your site, sometimes even before seeing it in person,” says Kings III, a Texas-based provider of emergency communication service solutions for property managers. That perception can translate to lost traffic, prospects and, ultimately, money. “Put yourself in your tenant’s shoes. What will you do when looking for a property? You’ll aim straight for online reviews and social media pages to see what you’re getting into. You’ll be turned off if you find one-star reviews and inactive/barely active social media accounts. The same applies to your prospective tenants,” notes the Los Angeles Property Management Group (LAPMG), which serves commercial and residential property owners. Industry research bears out these sentiments. For example, 69% of respondents to the 2022 Renter Preference Survey Report said they referenced property ratings and reviews in their most recent rental-home search, while 79% said ratings and reviewed stopped them from visiting specific properties. Recent reviews and an active, updated Google Business Profile can help place communities in the Google Local 3-Pack and rank them higher than competitors in search engine results. In fact, according to search marketing research groups Redshift and Moz, 15% of the ranking factors that determine whether you get into the “Local 3-Pack” — the listing of three businesses you see first in the results of searches using keywords — come from the quantity, quality, recentness and response to reviews. About 25% of the weight of your Local 3-Pack ranking signal comes from your Google Business Profile, so it’s important to optimize and maintain it. Here are a few tips from LAPMG and other experts on the best ways to, as Kings III...