Overview of Business Model

Moving to a new city is never easy. Everyone needs a place to live, but not everybody has the time to look. This is a problem that is being solved by many businesses in major cities across the world. Many savvy individuals are launching their own apartment locator Web sites and are turning quite a profit from doing so.

Your main source of income will be referral fees from rental offices of apartments, condominiums, and other real estate structures. You could also charge a fee for sublets, apartment sharing, and private rental listings. Requests are sent via e-mail from those seeking an apartment to you, the site administrator, with a description of the desired apartment location, size, necessities, and so on, that the individual is looking for. You then take the request and find the best possible location to suit the person’s needs. Once you have found a match, you set up a time for your client to view the apartment. You collect a referral fee if the client signs a lease.

Another way to run this type of business would be to set up a searchable database. Those with apartments to rent or sublet would pay a fee to add their listing. People looking for an apartment would search based on specific criteria such as location, maximum rent, number of bedrooms, etc.

Skills Needed

This business is great for someone with a thorough grasp of the available living space in the local area and basic Web publishing skills. You should be a clear communicator via e-mail and phone with your clients and the owners of rental buildings so they take you seriously.

Cost to Start This Business

Costs associated with starting this business range from $1,000 to $5,000. Initially you will have to pay to design and develop your Web site along with all costs associated with this (e. g., hosting service). If you want to develop the database, there will be additional costs involved—the amount will be determined by the level of sophistication, the number of fields, and the number of searchable

Fields. Additional costs associated with opening this business include online advertising costs and any offline promotion that you may implement.

Number of Employees Needed to Start

Typically this business can be run by one individual to start and will increase depending on the volume of referrals.

International Potential

Although people from other countries may use this service if they are moving to the country, city, or state that you represent, this business generally has national and regional potential.

E-Business MODEL/Payment Processing Method

E-business level 1 or 2 would be most appropriate for this type of business—level 1 if you are providing hands-on services and level 2 if you want to go the database route and have the site run itself. For more information, see Part 1.

Important Business Issues to Be Addressed

Although you want to receive as many referrals as possible, it is important not to let the apartments that you represent take advantage of your site as a free advertising opportunity. To avoid this problem, don’t list the specific names or addresses of the apartment complexes that you represent. You can provide pictures, and general location information. If you give the specific address of the suggested match, your client may go directly to the apartment without even using your service. Of course, if you run this Web site as a database, this will not be an issue as you will be paid up front for all listings.

Collection of referral fees is an important issue. Ensure that you have contracts in place with the apartment owners and safeguard procedures that help you to keep your incoming fees organized.

Your Web site Has to be Constantly updated and maintained. When an apartment is rented through you, make sure to show this on your site. When an apartment is no longer available, remove it immediately from your site.

Online Marketing Techniques

• Develop links from as many Web sites and meta-indexes as possible that target your geographic audiences.

• Purchase banner ads on geographically targeted Web sites (e. g., if you represent apartments in New York, purchase a banner ad on a Web site about living in New York).

• Participate in sponsored listings with the search engines by bidding on appropriate keyword phrases.

• List your site in the classified ad section of nearby online newspapers.

• Participate in real estate or geographically specific mailing lists with a cleverly designed signature file.

For a more detailed description of these techniques, along with many other effective online marketing methods, I recommend the companion book 101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site. You can also find tons of free resources at Http:// www. susansweeney. com/resources. html.

Additional Income

You should consider partnering with businesses that could benefit from your referrals. For example, local moving companies or furniture rental businesses could benefit from your referrals, since you target the same market. This could prove to be quite profitable for your business. An alternative to this would be selling advertising to these businesses on your site.

Online Examples

Sami-Apts. com

Http:// www. sami-apts. com

This is a great student apartment locator service.

AOK Apartment Locators

Http:// www. aokapartmentlocators. com

A dynamite apartment location service in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area.