Mystery shops for apartment complexes and model homes have their own unique challenges. Often you are asked very specific questions by your salesperson up-front as they try to determine if you are a qualified customer for them to spend their time with. On your end, you likely will be required to ask for a specific salesperson to complete your shop on, which inevitably looks suspicious unless you have a good excuse on hand for why you are requesting that salesperson. With the lengthy reports these mystery shops require you to complete, you may question whether all this hassle is worth the effort. If you are prepared with the right answers up-front, these shops can be just as easy as other mystery shops.
He’s My One And Only. When you call ahead to a model home or apartment mystery shop to make an appointment a specific salesperson, the person answering the phone is likely very curious as to why you are requesting him or her. Likely, they are also salespeople who wanted to gain some new business for themselves. They may question you in an effort to determine if they can help you instead of the person you are requesting. On the other hand, model homes and apartment complexes often have low turnover in their sales staff and if they have been the target of a mystery shop previously, they may be on the lookout for the likes of mystery shoppers like you.
So have a good reason ready for why you are requesting that specific person before you make the phone call to schedule the appointment. Keep in mind that this top of business inevitably gets names and numbers of all of their customers and likely sees much lower customer volume than a retail store or restaurant. So if you say, “My friend Jim suggested I talk to that salesperson,” be prepared for the next question asking what Jim’s last name is. It will be far better to say someone at a party or a friend of a friend suggested them, and don’t you know that you just happen to be terrible with names. “The only name that pops into my head is John (or some other common name), but I just don’t know if that’s correct and never got his last name. Is this a problem?” With a statement like this, you give them a reason why you don’t have a name, and you answer the issue of them not recalling that particular person coming into their office. With the question at the end of the statement, you also move them off the referral issue because you get them into the line of thinking that it’s not that big of an issue that you don’t have a specific name.
Are You Qualified? A salesperson does not want to spend his or her time showing you apartments or driving you around to open houses if you are not qualified to purchase them. A skilled salesperson will be very good at asking you veiled questions to dig into your personal financial situation. It may seem as though they are getting to know you, asking what you do for a living and where you work. Or it may seem as though they want to help you determine how large of a home you need by asking how many children or other relatives will be in the home or apartment with you. Some people, especially if you are in a lower income apartment complex that works with Section 8 (government subsidized) housing, may directly ask you how much money you earn annually.
Do some research before you even make the call to schedule the appointment. Check out the apartment complex or the model homes online to determine the price range and if they are suited for low-income housing. Then prepare yourself to give appropriate answers that will show you are a qualified customer for those apartments or houses.
Is It Worth It? You can see that mystery shops for apartments or model homes require more up-front preparation. Unfortunately, once you get to your scheduled appointment to complete the mystery shop, the actual mystery shop may take longer than other types of mystery shops as you are driven around to tour different homes or apartments, review floorplans, and so on. The news doesn’t get any better with the reporting either. The reports for this type of mystery shop tend to be rather lengthy, with much more narrative writing required.
The good news, however, is that the pay for many of these mystery shops is considerably higher, often in the range of $30-40. You may also be able to get additional bonus pay as well. Consider an estimated two hours of work for $40 of pay. Most mystery shoppers would consider $20 per hour a fairly decent pay rate. So don’t shy away from these types of mystery shops when you see that additional work is required to complete them, because in most case you will be compensated for your additional effort.
- pay is good, although may take awhile longer to complete, large bonuses, $20-40 or more, but lengthy reporting
- section 8 requirements – low income housing, they try to qualify you right off the bat, dress appropriately
I would like to hear from some of you that have completed these type of shops. I have considered them, but have some reservations as what is mentioned above. Since college, I have not gone apartment shopping and that is over 20 years ago.
I have done several apartment shops for more than one company. I only have one issue with what was said in the article. If you are to shop a specific person, ie a targeted shop, you are not allowed to ask for the person by name on the phone. This means you have to listen carefully when the phone is answered to see if they are the correct person and if they are not you have to make the excuse that you have the wrong number and hang up. Then you have to try calling again later to see if you can get the right person to answer the phone. This may take a couple of days. I actually enjoy these shops though even though they take a little more work. They usually pay better and you don’t have to use your money for a test purchase. Just be sure to read your instructions several times so you know what to notice.
I have completed many apartment shops as well as home builders. Most times I have a target I have to reach and I cannot ask the name. I have had someone else call for me and ask if they are there and tell me. Sometimes I have disguised my voice and said the phone reception is horrible I cannot hear can you repeat that? I enjoy apartment shopping and video is really interesting. The pay is usually better than most shops. I try to do a few a week and it makes a nice little pay day.
Does anyone have company names to apply to in order to get considered for these shops? I have not run across any in my area or with the companies I currently shop for. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanx!
I have only ever found five or six apartment shops, and would like to find more. I enjoyed doing them and did not mind doing the reports. They paid $40.00 each.
Kimmerz,
Try Ellis Property Management Services or EPMS.
http://www.epmsonline.com/About_Ellis.htm
You may also want to join mystery shop forums like Mystery Shop Forum
http://www.mysteryshopforum.com/.
A lot of valuable info and insight there. Just don’t let some of the more sarcastic members get under your skin.
Good luck!
My problem is shopping the “target”. Sometimes it’s next to impossible to get them to answer the phone, since I can’t ask for the person. I also have asked the scheduling companies if they know if the location has caller ID. No one ever knows that answer, though. I do try to use different phones whenever possible. I had one due Fri. and had to ask for an extension because I couldn’t reach the target. Makes me worry that the scheduling company will think I’m not reliable (I AM!), but this is my first shop with this company.
One of the big drawbacks of apartment shopping is that the company I shop for will only allow me to shop a community every 18 months. When I started out there were many shops but now I have covered most of the apartments. I could find shops that are farther away but that requires a lot of travel.
Hi
What are the names of apartment shops other than Ellis?
RE: hiding phone identity; use *67 to hide your phone number. Incidentally, EPMS recommended that in there information.
I did a new home mystery shop for a company that refused to pay me because I didn’t ask for the last name of the salesperson. She happened to have the same first name as the person I was supposed to ask for. The company refused to pay me even though I explained I thought that would reveal my identity as a mystery shopper. I sure won’t shop them again!! Be cautious when reading the fine print on the shop.