De-Mystifying the Apartment Locators Myth

 Myth:  free service must mean they work for free. 

“FREE” Apartment Locators Service!  Our Apartment Locators Service is “FREE” to you!  And, remember, Our Service is “ALWAYS FREE!”  These are statements you hear from apartment locators [apartment finders, apartment hunters] in the United States in some parts of the country – mainly in the South, Southwest, and Midwest.  Generally, in the Northeast and far West, apartment locators charge the prospect when they find them an apartment home.  The companies that offer our services for free are, of course, telling the apartment prospects that we do not charge them a fee, but we do charge a fee to the apartment communities for our services.  The apartments consider this part of their advertising budgets. 

In other words, apartment locators DO offer free service to the prospects looking for apartments, but, we do not work for free – that would be absurd!  I say this because our work is important, and we need for you, the apartment prospects that we help find apartments, to be loyal to us.  When you come to us to help you find an apartment home, we go to work for you.  We get specific information from you on your needs and wants; we contact the properties that we feel best fit your needs to get their availability, prices, and specials; we give you this information and either refer you to those properties or, if you prefer, actually carry you to those properties.  This is our job, and it is work!  It takes time, knowledge, and effort, and it is what we depend on for our livelihood.  In return, we ask that you tell the apartment communities that you worked with us, so that we can get paid – loyalty.  We ask that you contact us back and let us know where you leased and that you did, in fact, tell the apartments that you worked with us – loyalty.  We ask if we schedule an appointment for us to carry you to look at apartments that you contact us to cancel or reschedule if you can’t make it – common courtesy.

 Myth:  contacting different sources means receiving different results.

‘Comparison shopping’ is human nature.  Some people think that they will get different information if they go to different apartment locators or other apartment sources.  However, this is not the case IF the requirements you give to all you contact are exactly the same.  ‘Apples to apples’ not ‘apples to oranges’ is the only way to get a true comparison, and, if the requirements are the same, the results will be the same in the apartment finding industry.  Therefore, we need to know if you have contacted other apartment locators [apartment finders, apartment hunters], apartment communities on your own, or have looked at apartment websites or books for information so that we may choose not to duplicate others’ efforts – loyalty.

 Myth:  apartment locators must be mind readers.

 Apartment locators [apartment finders, apartment hunters] are human beings, and we need feedback.  We need to be told if you don’t like something so that we may find something else.  We actually need to know if other companies that you may have contacted have offered you some additional incentive that we may not have thought about or offered.  We may choose to match or even increase that incentive.  If you contact an apartment locators [apartment finders, apartment hunters] service to help you find an apartment and ask us to work with you, then give us every opportunity to do just that.  We need honesty from you in order to do our job to the best of our ability – loyalty.

 Myth:  free service must mean paying more to the apartments.

 This is definitely not true!  Apartment locators are ‘extensions’ of the apartment communities and help the properties lease their apartments.  Savvy apartment communities appreciate our service and gladly pay us as part of their advertising efforts.  Working with apartment locators [apartment finders, apartment hunters] in NO WAY affects your rental rate.  As a matter of fact, sometimes apartment locators may be able to get you specials that other sources [even yourself] may not!! 

To sum things up – free apartment locators [apartment finders, apartment hunters] are people working for a living.  We offer our services to you for free as the apartment communities pay us for assisting them in leasing their properties.  It is important for you to be honest and loyal to us so that we may help you find the right apartment homes as well as being able to support ourselves.

 Thank you,

Sharon Ann Hilson

President

www.LeasingLuxury.com