We continually make strategic adjustments to our ILS spend that will provide more support for those communities truly in need in the portfolio.  We make changes to our ILS listings every month based on community ATR, occupancy and availability with the specific criteria outlined below.  The list of ILS additions, upgrades, downgrades and removals are sent to the RPMs every month.

Please email marketing@essex.com if there are any questions or issues related to an ILS.

Additions
If their ATR is more than 5% and they have more than 15 available units, or is a community highlighted on the weekly BI snapshot report, we will add them to the Gold package.

• They will typically stay on Gold if their ATR is more than 5% and they have more than 5 available units.
• (Note: The available units were adjusted to more than 15 units, where we were previously using more than 10 available units as a guideline)

Upgrades
If their ATR is more than 6% and they have more than 30 available units, and is highlighted on the weekly BI snapshot.

• Communities will be upgraded to the Diamond package if they are a lease up, or for other special high priority reasons.
• (Note: We adjusted this to more than 30 available units, where we were previously using more than 20 available units as a guideline)

Removals
If their ATR is 5% or less, and their 30 day occupancy is more than 95%, or has 8 or less units, we will remove them from Apartments.com

• (Note: we adjusted this to an ATR of 5% or less where we were previously using 2% or less, while we are now using 8 units or less where we were previously using 5 units or less as a guideline)

Downgrades
If their ATR is 6% or less and they have less than 20 available units, and their 30 day occupancy is more than 95%, we will downgrade them from Platinum to the Gold package.

• Downgrades from Diamond to Platinum are evaluated and based on factors such as a lease up moving into a stabilized status, or if a community ATR and occupancy has shown great improvement.
• Typically we will only downgrade one level package (So it will always go from Diamond > Platinum, or Platinum > Gold, or Gold > Removal, but never Platinum > Removal)
• (Note: We adjusted this to available units of less than 20, where we were previously using 10 available units or less)

Prior to adding new communities, we review overall community performance (ATR, occupancy, ad ranking, closing rate, available units, etc.) to ensure that we optimize our Zillow listings with the communities that have the strongest need.  Some of the guidelines we try to follow are below:

Additions
A community is added to Zillow if they have more than 35 units available, more than 7% ATR and less than 95% occupancy, and is highlighted on the weekly BI snapshot.

• Communities will typically stay on Zillow if they have more than 25 units available, more than 7% ATR and less than a 95% occupancy. At times, if they have less than 25 available units, we may keep them on longer and monitor performance.  Other factors also include region/market need, length of time on Zillow, etc.

Removals
We will remove a community from Zillow if they have less than 15 available units, less than 5% ATR and more than 95% occupancy (we will sometimes keep them on longer, even if they meet this criteria, if the community has been known to move in and out of struggling status. Sometimes we’ll monitor performance for a few weeks prior to removing them)

Other factors that are reviewed prior to adding to Zillow:

• Ad source ranking:  How they have performed historically on Zillow, and if there are any ad sources (Craigslist, Website, etc) that have been successful for that community.
• Apartments.com - We will upgrade the community onto a larger package on Apartments.com before adding them to Zillow.
• Property Minimum & Budget:  We have a limited budget, while also having to maintain 25 minimum properties.  With the 3-month minimum timeframe and 25 property minimum, we have to carefully review all properties that are added to Zillow.  With the minimum timeframe of 3 months, we need to ensure that a community listed on Zillow will not stabilize within weeks of being added.
• Community Marketing:  Requests from the Community Marketing team also get factored into the selections, and at times, we will swap out one community for another (even if their criteria does not fit into one of the above)
• Community # of Units:  Communities with less than 150 units will not be considered for addition to Zillow, unless there are special circumstances or high priority focus on the community.

Note:  Zillow does not have free listings, and Zillow Rent Manager individual postings are only available to communities with less than 50 units.  Communities that try to post on their own and have more than 50 units and did not go through marketing, will get flagged as fraudulent and could hurt our overall listings.

All communities are included in ABODO/Rentable listings.

All communities are included in Zumper listings.