Going Mental with Property Rentals
Get a glimpse into Uplancer’s common sense approach to solving a web design and development problem for Murlin Realty
The Background
Residential rental property is a $280 billion industry booming across the United States. We’ve seen this in Columbus, Ohio, where gaining visibility while focusing on quality renters is a challenge for every leasing operation. With interest rates decreasing and an influx of businesses and people moving into Columbus, the number of renters in the market is climbing. Evan Murlin, owner of Murlin Realty LLC, wanted to position his company for this growth and provide renters with a place they could call home within the flourishing city of Columbus.
The Problem: Establishing a Realty Brand in Columbus, Ohio
As the demand for rental property increased, Evan needed to ensure that his brand, Murlin Realty, was ready for this growth. He faced the following problems:
- A Brand to Match: Murlin Realty is not a new company; it has been around for over a decade. Evan has a deep property management history with 24 rental properties across Columbus. He had to tie everything together in a brand that captured his unique story.
- Lack of Visibility: As an established property manager in Columbus, Evan listed his properties on sites such as Zillow, Apartments.com, and Realtor.com. Other realty companies in the area are doing the same. As a result, renters aren’t aware of brands like Murlin Realty that provide exceptional renting experiences. In fact, renters associate his properties with Evan, the person! He needed to change that.
- A Seamless Rental Application Experience: Paperwork is the bane of many tenants and property managers. A considerable time commitment is needed to collect and process rental applications: the applicant has to apply with accompanying documentation and fees, a cosigner (if required) has to complete their application, and Murlin Realty has to process all of them. There needed to be a way to automate the collection of forms and fees during the applications.
- Website Hosting: Murlin Realty is an expert in real estate. They aren’t one in tech. They expressed concerns around setting up, hosting, and managing their website. They also had concerns around communicating with tenants without using their personal emails.
The Solution: Localized Web Design & Development
Evan needed a new way to increase the visibility of his properties while positioning his company at the forefront. Uplancer helped him with web design and development, and automation.
- Branding Playbook: To complete his branding, Uplancer developed a branding playbook that included his brand new logo, typography, and color palette, which could be used throughout his marketing efforts. This playbook also dictated the design and creative direction of Evan’s website.
- A Columbus-Focused Website: Using Evan’s subject matter expertise, the Uplancer team leveraged his roots in Columbus, Ohio, to design and develop his local realty website, murlinrealty.com. Copywriting was pivotal in making his website unique and local.
- Digitizing the Whole Rental Journey: Keeping KYC compliance in mind, Uplancer converted all physical forms to fillable online ones. Automation was used to generate the document signature workflow and notify all involved parties to complete the form, such as the applicant, cosigner (if required), and Evan. Additionally, all applications were aggregated under one system for simplified access and management.
- Uplancer’s Website Hosting Service: With this service, Murlin Realty’s website is covered for everything: Ongoing Security Maintenance, Cloud Server Updates, Cloud and Local Website Backups, WordPress CMS Instance Updates, Plugin Updates, SSL Certificate Management, Integrations with WordPress Instance, Web Traffic Scalability, Web Domain Management, Website Performance, and Email Server Management.
The Result:
Evan was now set with a fresh brand that represented who he is as a realty company. He established his digital footprint in Columbus and lets his website do the heavy lifting in renting.
- A Brand True to Murlin Realty: The playbook allowed Evan to extend his company beyond his website. Everything he created for Murlin Realty – documentation, swag, signs, and other marketing collateral – stayed within his new branding guardrails.
- Customer Association with Murlin Realty: Tenants can now associate his properties with Murlin Realty instead of himself or the other listing companies. Additionally, when you search Murlin Realty, you find Murlin Realty on the search engine results page. SEO is definitely doing its work!
- Less Time Managing Paperwork: Evan could now let his website manage the rental applications. His follow-up went from being heavily involved with a ton of physical paperwork to only contacting applicants who’ve successfully applied online and are serious.
- A Fully Managed Website: The Uplancer team is monitoring, securing, and patching murlinrealty.com 24/7. Evan has peace of mind knowing that his website concerns are a thing of the past!
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