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! Revenues Increased 3.8% ! Marketing Expenses Reduced 56.3%

! Occupancy Increased from 96.2% to 99.9% ! 850-Unit Portfolio

! Results Tabulated December 15, 2009 – May 1, 2010

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Multifamily Housing Internet Marketing 5-Month Case Study

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Company A Portfolio Statistics Dec. 15, 2009 May 1, 2010 % Change Number of Properties 9 9 Total Units 850 850 Occupancies 818 849 Occupancy Rate 96.2% 99.9% 3.85% Average Monthly Rent $1,000 $1,000 Monthly Revenues $818,000 $849,000 3.80%

Multifamily Housing 5-Month Case Study: Revenues Increased 3.8%; Marketing Expenses Cut 56.3% By Michael Menche Managing Director, Axiom Media Service

On May 1, 2010, Company A, an owner/manager of

multifamily housing in the Northeast, reported one

vacancy out of 850 units, down from 32 vacancies on December 15, 2009.

A 99.9% occupancy rate is remarkable in any market, but it is especially so in this economic climate. In the apartment industry, vacancy rates track with the unemployment rate. In the First

Quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate was 9.7% nationwide and 9.8% in New Jersey, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor. New Jersey’s rate

was just off a 33-year high of 10.1% in December 2009.

Reports on vacancies vary. National vacancy rates in the first quarter

2010 were 10.6 percent for rental housing, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Reis, the New York research firm, announced that

nationally, the apartment vacancy rate stayed flat at 8%. Reis added that apartment rents rose during the first quarter, ending five straight quarters of declines and signaling the worst may be over for the hard-hit sector.

This gloomy environment begs for an analysis of Company A, which increased its monthly revenues 3.8% in less than five months. Here is

a snapshot comparison of the portfolio’s performance: Table 1

Company A increased its occupancy rate from 96.2% to 99.9% and cut its marketing expenses by 56.3%!!

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Integrated Internet Marketing

“The Internet has emerged as the primary tool consumers use to find their next apartment,” said David Cardwell, National

Multi Housing Council Vice President of Technology and

Capital Markets. “More than 70 percent of renters begin their apartment search online, and many firms now report

more than 50 percent of their leasing activity is coming from

online sources.” This observation dates from April 2008. Since then Web 2.0

technology and social media platforms have exploded in

popularity and accelerated consumer’s online activity. Facebook alone has gone from 60 million users to more than 400 million users as of February 2010.

Like any other business reliant on consumer search, an

apartment owner/manager must optimize its Internet presence to avoid competitive irrelevance and prohibitively expensive catch-up in the future. Web 2.0 is becoming 3.0;

Internet search is becoming mobile and personal. Social media networks are impacting organic search engine

rankings.

Company A chose to leverage its existing strength to the Internet, hiring Axiom Media Service to conduct an

integrated program to boost occupancy and reduce the cost of tenant acquisition.

Craigslist & Paid Search

In December 2009, Axiom Media Service initiated its craigslist program, featuring V-flyers, which are enhanced templates with

photos and descriptions. A pay per click campaign with hundreds of

keywords was begun via Google AdWords.

In two weeks, eight units were rented at one property. As a result of the occupancy upswing, the company received an FDA $5.5 million refinancing loan that it had been in danger of losing. Directory Listing & Content Repurposing

Axiom Media Service created or edited each of the nine communities’

profiles—with key words, photos and links as appropriate—in dozens of search engine directories and third-party sites.

Like any other

business reliant on consumer

search, an

apartment owner/ manager

must optimize its Internet

presence to avoid

competitive irrelevance

and prohibitively expensive

catch-up in the future.!!

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All suitable community and corporate promotional literature was

repurposed for SEO visibility, tagged with keywords, and hosted on the Axiom Media Service platform, with links to Company A’s website.

Social Media

For middle-market housing stock such as Company A’s,

social media supplements marketing indirectly by facilitating leads and improving SEO rankings through link-building. Axiom Media Service created community pages on

Facebook, to be used as multimedia bulletin boards for

tenants and local businesses, and on other platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

Reducing the Cost of Tenant Acquisition

The demonstrable success of the integrated Internet marketing campaign allowed Company A to slash its marketing expenses by more than half.

Table 2

Conventional media were weaned from the marketing mix and replaced by lower cost online sources. With its apartments almost entirely leased up, Company A now has a larger referral base for

future rentals.

Company A’s accelerated web presence continues to attract more qualified traffic. The company now maintains a waiting list at every

property. The strong will get stronger.

Company A Monthly Marketing Expenses Dec. 15, 2009 May 1, 2010 Change % Change ApartmentGuide.com $7,020 $7,020 Newspaper $6,000 $1,600 ApartmentFinder.com $5,220 $0 Realtor (one month rent) $3,666 $0 Apt.com $1,790 $0 Rent.com (avg. 4 leases/mo.) $1,556 $0 Axiom Media Service $0 $1,250 Google Paid Search $0 $1,176 V-flyer $0 $95 Total $25,252 $11,046 -$14,206 -56.3%

As a result of its Internet

marketing campaign,

Company A reduced its marketing

expenses,

increased its occupancy and received

a $5.5 million refinancing loan.

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Axiom Media Service: Experts in Online Residential

Management We take on only one property or portfolio per market so each of our

clients dominates its niche on the Internet. Our service is remarkably

affordable and takes less than a month to implement. To schedule an introductory office visit or web demo, call us at (201) 348-8998, or visit www.axiommediaservice.com. !

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