Targeting a Specific Renter Profile

[Chris Jensen]

In business strategy, one of the first and most important activities is to define your perfect (target) customer and gather as much understanding as possible about what that customer values.  With a target customer segment in mind, then you set about developing a product or service that your customer is willing to pay for that consistently meets their needs better than the competition.

When we bought our two SF rentals, I used that same approach.  We first identified our target renter profile.  In our case, it was a young professional family with 1-2 children and maybe a dog who care about high quality schooling and a family-friendly home and neighborhood.  Then everything we did was focused on that renter segment, from deal searching to refurbishing to pricing to marketing.  That approach worked out extremely well for us, and we plan to use it heavily in future investments, especially as we move into MF properties.

So my question to the BP community is this: how have you used that approach, and how has it worked out?  I'd love to hear specific stories and examples.  Thanks!