Why is it that when a shop for houses, or Apartments always require you to set an appt. with a specified named agent? What usually happens is that said agent, or receptionist will ask why you want this particular agent. Twice at two different developements, I've come up with the lame scenerio that I got the agents name from a coworker. When I'm asked, "Oh nice, what's that coworkers name so I can send him/her a thank-you" I responded something like,"Gee, you know what I don't know their last name." Does anyone have a better reason for getting the agent you're assigned? I'm not sure I can remain annonymous with that explanation. The last time I tried it, the agent said he couldn't remember seeing anyone by even the first name I gave them (Sam). Any help would be appreciated.

This is a really good reason not to do these shops. There is no really good answer when they ask why and that is why they know you are shopping them and very likely not to appear for the appointment because they got "called away" and somebody else is there with a happy smile to greet you. Your shop doesn't count if you shop them, yet if you don't work with them you are pretty readily identified as a shopper. These folks are shopped way too much and they aren't stupid.

The best I could ever figure is that "hubby's co-worker Rosie's sister worked with you 5-6 months ago and found you were easy to deal with." Of course I could perhaps come up with Rosie's last name, but a sister would have a different last name but you think her first name is Jane or Julie. The other possibility is if there is a list on the internet that is publicly available of agents, you want to work with him/her because your best friend had the same name and you have never met somebody with that name you didn't like.

I've done a lot of apartments and have never had anyone answer the phone but the person I'm to shop if there is particular one named to shop. Most are "shop anyone".

I'm always asked "how did you find out about us?" I always make sure they have a web site. If not I look in the phone book. I have always been able to come up with a "how I found them" answer to the question.

In the apartment shops you are most often shopping the Manager of the complex. When someone answers the phone I ask for the Manager. Then when they come to the phone if they don't give me their name I ask.."and your name is?" somewhere in the converstation.

I would like to do apartment shops. dCan anyone give me a good mystery company to go through?

I do mine through Ellis. They pay every 2 weeks and are "johnny on the spot" with your payment.
And the pay is good. Typically the pay for a routine apartment shop is $25. Apartments they have difficulty shopping can be as high as $60 per shop.

A little word of caution about apartment shops. Some of these shops are tax exempt or section 8 apartments. Be prepared when you call to be able to give an accurate income. If you don't fall into the income requirement you won't be able to shop the apartment.
My assignment sheets tell me what class of shops I'm doing.

Be prepared!! Check and see what the income requirements are for Section 8 housing and tax exempt housing is in your area.

And if you are of an age you have a better chance of getting great apartment shops. There are University housing shops. These have to be done by either someone young enough to be in college or old enough to have a child in college. These are hard to schedule and usually come with a $15-20 bonus attached.

And the reports are lengthy. A lot of narrative is required.

I have never done them and have them offered to me all the time,they seem like alot of work for the $40 they offer. Is it a lont time once you found your target person that you are on the shop and looking at apartments, and to give out your personal information is alot to me,they have a call back number that you must follow up on also as a requirement. I dont like giving all my info out, but it seems that that is a requirement and that keeps me from taking these jobs. What does everyone feel about that...

I do every apartment shop I can do. The target person is always the manager of the complex and most live in the complex...it's a "perk" for being a manager. Finding the manager is not a problem. It's rare that I have to shop one single person..most of mine are "shop anyone"
The only personal information is the information you "make up" to qualify for the shop to the manager over the phone. Once you get to the shop they will ask for your driver's license before the tour.
I do however give them my real name and telephone number. It's not a requirement they call you back but you give them 7 days to call back to complete the shop.

The most important thing about an apartment shop is your story. I tell them I am selling my house and expect the sale to be soon and am interested in checking on the apartment complex and viewing an apartment. I found the complex on the Internet if they ask how I heard about them. But you have to be sure they have a web site and most of them do. If not I say I was driving by and noticed the complex.

So to answer you question Gold you are not really giving out accurate personal information. They never ask for your SS number and never get to the point of a "credit check".

The survey can be a little hairy but they are all typically the same questions. Get the first survey under your belt and you will find they get easier as you do them and much quicker.

On occasion I will do 5 of these a day. And I go to another city and do 5 a day. If I leave my immediate area to do apartment complexes I always get bonus money.

As far as looking for the apartment complex the assignment sheets give you mapping of the location. Not a problem.

When I do these shops I call but I do not asked for the target if they do not answer the phone then I just hang up and call back in 30 Min. That has worked for me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2008 08:03PM by terryervin2000@gmail.com.

So far I've never had to call back. I just ask for the manager since I assume I'm shopping the manager. Who else would be able to give me all the details of the apartment complex, do the paper work should I decide to rent an apartment and take me on the tour?

Of all the shops I have done no one else was around but maintenance men and I suspect I would never shop a maintance man. :-)

I've done a couple of apartment shops for different companies, a phone apartment shop, and several real estate agent assignments. These are all usually in the big city which I don't visit much anymore because I get enough work nearby. My husband went with me on a recorded new home shop and thoroughly enjoyed himself. I thought he would think he was wasting his time, but he asked a lot of questions and enjoyed carrying the hidden recorder.

Several of the real estate agent assignments were for the same company. The scheduler was extremely patient with me as I took days to get over the nervousness of a new kind of assignment where I had to shop a person. I had the same kind of questions some of you did on how do I pull that off, but they all worked out all right.

To answer a question about a scenario, a real estate agent asked how I heard of the place and I said that a woman specifically mentioned him at a party, which pleased him immensely. I told him that she was a friend of my sister's at my niece's party, and that her first name is Susan (a common name) but I couldn't remember her married name. He never even asked for her maiden name or when she got married or if she had been there after she got married, or her husband's name. He just looked puzzled and said, "There are a lot of Susans."

Hi - when asked how I found the apartment, I say "the internet". They usually ask me if I remember which site. I check before I do the shop on www.rent.com and www.apartmentfinder.com. I can usually find the apartments in one or both sites. If I am having a hard time, then I go to google and type in the apartment complex name and city,state.

As for the shopping a target, I call and if I don't get the person I just ask a question like how late are you open today? Are you near the airport (since I live near two major airports) etc.

For apartment shops I always say "an internet forum for apartment talk"
(actually there is one for the area in which I live).

Then they ask what the site is, and I name a major apartment developer (which is true) or I act confused ("internets" "internet is a series of tubes" duhhh)
But the point is there are forum on practically every topic so it is very reasonable to say that local people will give opinions about different apartment communities and housing.

good luck!

Me too pretty much Gosh. The internet is very useful when apartment shopping. And the newspaper. I always look to be sure they are listed in the newspaper before I make the call.

I pretty much stick to the truth when I'm doing apartment shops. I may fib about my income to do a tax exempt or a Section 8 apartment complex. I know the "allowable income" for these apartments so it's not a big chore to "spout out" my income as it would fit these shops.

...

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2009 04:04AM by surveygrrll.

I have done other types of target retail where provided with a schedule only to discover that the schedule was changed around at the store and my target was actually on a 2 week honeymoon. Duh . . .

It all depends on the MSP you are working with and their relationship with the client as to whether the shop is abandoned or re-targetted or 'speak with any sales person' once it starts to fall apart.

I like the apartment shops and I have done several where the target is anybody who answers the phone or whoever helps you when you walk in the door. The ones that require you to somehow find a specific target are not ones I will take. I tried it and it was a nightmare finding that one specific person out of a staff of 10 without asking for him and without blowing my cover with frequent re-calls. I take the jobs that I like and that are fun to me - unless they pay a REALLLY lot of money - so these specific target shops are on my don't-take list. And it's actually a short list - the only 2 jobs I've come across that I don't like are these specific target apartment shops and my BIG HATE: the grocery comparison, where you have to locate specific items and write down their price.

AM, I haven't done many apt. shops as I most here are privately owned and not corporate entities. However, I only do the type you like. My time is way too valuable to spend time chasing down someone whose schedule I am not allowed to know and whom I am not allowed to call directly and make an appointment.

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Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2009 04:02AM by surveygrrll.

Apartment and new home shops are good paying gigs and I enjoy them. The models are beautifully decorated. Most of the ones I do are target specific. I've always had a long enough window to reach the target by phone. Only one time did I show up at the appointed time and place and the target was a no-show. Bad on her. I got paid half the fee. Recently, I had a different scenario where I was in the beginning stages of house hunting and I was to meet with the target, collect brochures, etc., and make my exit within 15-20 minutes. Future shops, in logical sequence, will follow with this target.

Now THAT is a reasonable gig. At least it will be reasonable until the targets learn there is a sequence of visits.

What then? I'm marked as a shopper, possibly. The sequenced shops are reflective of the home buying process. I can see two more shops before serious suspicion sets in.

Yes, unless the client is very discrete in how much they share with the target and the location. That, of course, we have no control over. I have been a little aghast on reveal shops to discover that a full copy of my report was forwarded to the location and on my next rotation I was not only greeted but told, "I've been waiting for you because I wanted to ask you about _____." They whip out the report and ask about what I meant or, even worse, they whip out somebody else's report and ask questions.

Mert Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
Recently, I had a different
> scenario where I was in the beginning stages of
> house hunting and I was to meet with the target,
> collect brochures, etc., and make my exit within
> 15-20 minutes. Future shops, in logical sequence,
> will follow with this target.


That one I would enjoy more. :-)

Who besides Ellis does a lot of apartment shops. Who does shops that are not targeted agents and not recorded? I am on vacation in two weeks and one of my goals is to get the nerve to try an apartment shop. I would like it to be a pain-free as possible.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, unless the client is very discrete in how
> much they share with the target and the location.
> That, of course, we have no control over. I have
> been a little aghast on reveal shops to discover
> that a full copy of my report was forwarded to the
> location and on my next rotation I was not only
> greeted but told, "I've been waiting for you
> because I wanted to ask you about _____." They
> whip out the report and ask about what I meant or,
> even worse, they whip out somebody else's report
> and ask questions.


I don't know what I would do if this happened! Keel over and play dead? :-)

Luckily I had a pretty cool scheduler. I felt very comfortable telling her both about the folder of shop copies and about the questions about the other shopper's work. The other shopper had obviously shopped the gas station across the street and had talked to the female CSR (no females at the one we were supposed to shop) and photos that were definitely the store across the street. The scheduler told me they had only been alerted of the problem two days before and the other shopper was about to do a 'redo' of the shop. (It had taken them a month to discover the error based on client complaint despite the requirement to send in legible receipts.)

I have also had a CSR tell me they liked the photo I took last time, could I give them a copy. I hesitated on that one because the photos I submit as a part of a shop I perceive as being no longer "mine" to give. But each shop I take 2 or 3 cashier photos with some of the 'hams' who actually are super with customer relations and customer service. I felt comfortable emailing the guy the two photos I did NOT use for the report. Apparently his mother in India was just delighted, so on a separate, non shop occasion I stopped by and took pictures of him, his wife, his sister and an assortment of kids that he emailed on to India. I was in and out of the store all the time, so he never quite knew when I would be doing a shop, but he never treated me any different than other customers.

Here's 2 good companies to do apartment mystery shopping ($25+):

Ellis Partners Mystery Shopping, www.epmsonline.com

Full House Marketing, [fullhousemarketing.clientsmart.com]


Mention that you heard from shopper, Jennifer Jones, Pflugerville, TX

I think I've mentioned this trick before but I've fine tuned it even more.

When a complex shows up and there are more than one target at the same place, I use my own phone number and dial *67 to call the complex to see who answers the phone. Then I accept the shop for the person who answered!!! Then I use the "recorded line" to get back to that same person and am able to complete the shop within hours instead of trying to track someone down for days.

This *67 method also works if there is only one target at the place. I use that method. If the target doesn't answer, I ask for the target by name. I either find out they are there or not that way. I can tell the "wrong person" that I got the person's name from an acquaintance at church or something but that I'm new in the area. You can make it believable if you work at it. lol Then when I do get the target on the phone, I suddenly get "disconnected". When I call back on the recorded line, the target person has ALWAYS answered and I apologize for the disconnect and pick up like nothing happened. This method doesn't always get the shop done in a day if the person isn't onsite, but I can almost always find out when the person will be available and then shop the apartment in the same day.

Now what do you do with the recorded line?? I'm a little confused.

Most of the shops I've done with Ellis require you to use their special phone line that records the telephone call to the target. I don't like to have to keep calling that line so I use my own phone until Iknow the target is in. Then I call to record the call. I keep the company updated as to when the target is expected in.