Bringing Clarity to Build-to-Rent Terminology for Greater Appeal

The wording used for homes that are built to rent can be unclear and inconsistent, which affects acceptance of this housing type. To address this and create alignment around build-to-rent terminology so it reaches the broadest audience, members of John Burns Real Estate Consulting's New Home Trends Institute’s Build-to-Rent council met to create some guidelines. The hope is that this will attract consumers, help build-to-rent projects appeal to municipalities, and create alignment in expectations around future build-to-rent developments. It should also help optimize search engine visibility.

The Build-to-Rent council offers guidance on which keywords to emphasize and which terms are preferred, such as:

Use build-TO-rent (BTR), instead of build-FOR-rent (BFR), since build-to-rent receives more traction on multiple fronts: Google traffic, #hashtag followers, and citations in the press.

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