Happy Residents are the Key to Successful Communities.
Happy residents can make or break a community. After all, even in this digital age, word of mouth is still the best marketing tool. In fact, most people now turn to online groups and forums for advice rather than advertising, marketing, friends or relatives.
For a manufactured home community owner or operator, this is more important than ever. Resident satisfaction should not only be measured, but evaluated on a yearly basis. It should be done with a tested tool, such as the Insight Track Survey (TM), which was developed by Newby Management and the University of Florida.
As a property management company, we measure our success on a number of factors, but one of the biggest is resident satisfaction. Each year, our team sends out postcards to residents in each of our communities across Florida, giving them a code to sign in anonymously to an online survey.
From there, we ask residents to indicate on a scale from 1-10 how satisfied they are with several aspects of the community, including:
- Community Appearance
- Community Management
- How Safe They Feel
- The Value They Receive
- The Amenities They Enjoy
- Whether They Would Recommend the Community to a Friend
- Space for Free-form Comments
Our team works diligently to complete the surveys in February while our winter visitors are still here. This gives us as many responses as possible so we can analyze trends and look for actionable items. It allows us to work with manufactured home community operators to improve their communities in ways that will matter most to residents.
Today more than ever, residents expect a quality experience. This is especially true for residents who are looking for adult living communities. These are not the retirees of the past. The expect a wide range of activities that vary from bingo and shuffleboard. They are younger, more vibrant and more technology-friendly. For adults 55+, a community should be an experience, not just a place to live.
For the younger generation, they are looking more and more to non-traditional housing. In the past, young adults generally didn’t consider the idea of living in a manufactured home. Today, they are seen as viable and affordable housing options for a generation that is struggling to enter the housing market.
As we watch the manufactured housing industry grow and change, it’s important to stay on top of what consumers want. As manufactured home community owners and operators, we understand that finding the time to assess these trends can be daunting. That’s why we developed and utilize the Insight Track Survey (TM) on a yearly basis to help our communities be as successful as possible.
The attainment of our approach can be seen in our current resident satisfaction. At Rolling Greens, a 55+ golf community in Ocala, Florida, residents are happier than ever. With the help of ownership, we have taken on numerous capital improvements to the community, including a new clubhouse, new pools, better roads, tree trimming and new 2016 model homes.
“We think Rolling Greens is the nicest manufactured home community in the Ocala area, “said Phyllis & Bob A, Rolling Greens residents. “Many upgrades to the facilities have been completed & are continuing to be made. New homes now are offered, older homes are being updated, & the old deteriorated homes are being removed. We’re very happy we bought a home here.”
Comments like these can be found at our communities across the state. Stay tuned this month as we discuss the different ways we handle resident relations at Newby Management. If you’re interested in our other property management services, please email us at info@NewbyManagement.com. We look forward to making better communities together.
