Attention: All Associates

Last week, a change was made on our website in how pricing is displayed. The “Starting From” price now reflects the lowest rate available and will typically match the “Best Available Pricing.”
 
What Is the “Starting From” Price?
The “Starting From” price on our community web pages is the first price a prospect sees after selecting a floor plan. In most consumers’ minds, “Starting From” means the lowest price. However, on our website, the “Starting From” price was usually not the lowest price and was higher than the “Best Available Pricing.” This caused much confusion.
 
How Does Our Website Pricing Display Work?
When a prospect selects a floor plan, for all available apartments surfaced, the only price shown is the “Starting From” price. No lease terms are shown. When the prospect clicks “View Pricing Options,” the view expands to see “Best Available Pricing” for that move-in or make-ready date. “Best Available Pricing” also includes the lease term and move-in date associated with the price. This has not changed.
 
What Has Been Changed?
The location of the “Starting From” and “Best Available” prices have not changed. However, the “Starting From” price is now the same as (or in rare cases, lower than*) the “Best Available” price. Now prospects truly will see the lowest price at first glance.
 
Clicking on “View Pricing Options” will still show the “Best Available Pricing,” which explains the lease term and move-in date that applies to this lowest price. This encourages the prospect to consider these terms.
 
*Occasionally a longer, lower-priced lease term will be offered for a specific floor plan, but not for other floor plans in that community. In this case, the “Starting From” price will be lower than the “Best Available” price for other floor plans, as this longer lease term is not displayed as an option in the “View Pricing Options” expanded view.
 
If you have additional questions, please contact marketing@essex.com.