1. LINCOLN PROPERTY COMPANY
SITUATION ANALYSIS
BY CHANEL BEDROS

2. COMPANY
Lincoln Property Company is considered the 2nd largest management company in the nation, for
office buildings and residential apartment complexes—specializing in market rate and luxury
high-rise, mid-rise, garden-style, and loft-style homes. Lincoln was founded by partners
Trammell Crow and Mack Pogue on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday in 1965 in Dallas, TX. The
company quickly began to grow and spread to cities throughout America, and even overseas.
Now Lincoln has over 5,000 employees and profits about $1.76 billion per year. The company
introduced top-of-the-line amenities such as resort-style swimming pools, large dog parks,
picnic areas, gazebos, ponds, 24/hour gymnasiums with state-of-the-art equipment. Lincoln
also outfitted luxury homes with spacious balconies, walk-in closets, garden tubs, high-speed
internet access, designer appliances, and genuine granite countertops complementing modern
floors. The company is known for exceptional customer service, creating an atmosphere for
residents to feel a sense of community and pride with friendly and professional staff members,
and engaging resident events. Committed to excellence, Lincoln Property Company strives to be
true to its reputation by demonstrating client relationships and exceeding expectations on a
day-to-day basis, pursuing the highest standard of quality.
COLLABORATORS
 Marketing Partners – Lincoln Property Company employs several third-party marketing
companies (Modern Message, Lease Labs, etc.) that print out brochures, set up
websites, program software, and help promote the properties.
 Locators – The company pays a percentage of the first month’s rent to any locator (U
move Free, Apartment Locating Specialists, etc.) who helps a client who is looking for an
apartment find and lease with one of our properties.
 Suppliers – Lincoln works with certain companies (Wilmar, HD Supply, etc.) who supply
the maintenance teams with the tools they need for property upkeep.

3.  Venders – The company also relies on another set of business-to-business companies
(Craig’s Carpet Care, Busy Bees, Beautiful House Cleaning, Southwest Floors, etc.) in
order to provide service to turn apartments when one resident moves out and a client is
planning on moving in.
 Alliances – Lincoln leasing agents use service providers (AT&T, Green Mountain Energy,
Assurant, etc.) to help set up their clients with the utilities they’ll need in their
apartment.
CUSTOMERS
 Leasing an apartment is not an impulse buy—it takes research. Most clients start their
research by driving by an area that they would like to live in, asking for referrals from
trusted friends and family, and searching the internet.
 Potential clients can gather their information from the property website (as well as
websites like Apartment Finders, Trulia, etc.), emailing or calling a leasing agent, and
stopping by the community in person for a tour.
 The benefits that a customer is looking for would be the amenities the community has
to offer, professionally inviting staff members, and resident events that they can
participate in and have fun for free.
 A customer is motivated by an upscale apartment with a comfortable price point within
their budget.
 The frequency of purchase depends on the lease terms a property has to offer, which
typically ranges in-between 3 and 12 months and is leased one at a time.
 The trend of apartment leasing is heading towards less person-to-person interactions
and leaning towards virtual tours, online applications and lease signing. More and more
clients are wanting a modern look to their home, as well as prefer to live in the newly
built communities.

4. COMPETITORS
 Grey Star is one of Lincoln’s top competitors locally in the industry. They also have
extremely luxurious apartment homes, as well as a friendly staff. Their weakness is that
the value of their product and services surpasses what most clients are willing to pay,
given that they are very expensive.
 Camden is another one of Lincoln’s competitors. Their appeal is comfortable and
affordable. Although a client won’t find hardwood-style flooring or stainless-steel
appliances, the price will be cheap. A customer looking to pay a little more for fancy
home they want to take pride in will not lease with them.
 JRK is one other competitor that Lincoln has. Their apartments are very similar to ours,
but a couple years older—therefore, a little more reasonably priced. Although they may
not have the top-of-the-line appliance, they are still upgraded. They even have very
intriguing amenities such as a popcorn machine and cinema room. However, the
weakness this company has is their customer service. They lose a lot of potential clients
and current residents due to the staff alone.
 Lincoln Property Company has a reputation for being affordable, luxurious, and
friendly. A client will always be welcomed and guided to find the apartment they love
at the price they want.
CLIMATE
 The political and regulatory environments takes effect on the apartment leasing
market. Every resident must go through the legal documents and agree to the terms
outlined in the Texas Apartment Association contract. These policies get updated about
every year or so. A property will also have its own specific addenda for every resident
and their guests to comply by (animals, occupancy, paid utilities, community policies,
etc.). Also, certain cities have their own regulations for apartments to follow based on
address. For example there is a City of Fort Worth Ordinance stating that no grills or
barbeques are to be used or stored on balconies. They must be 10 feet from the

5. building, or be subject to a fine of $2,000. Also, if property tax goes up, so will rental
rates.
 Economic environment also takes effect on the business run by Lincoln. Buying houses
plays a big part in the rental industry. If it’s a buyer’s market, people will take advantage
of it and move out of their apartment to live in a house. Also, more clients will be in the
market for a house rather than an apartment. If it’s a seller’s market, people will take
advantage of that and sell their homes to move into an apartment. More clients will be
in the market for renting an apartment, rather than buying a home at a bad price.
The skill level of the workplace varies and depends on the position within the property.
A leasing agent does not need to have any prior experience to lease apartments. They
must, however, go through a week’s worth of training—especially for Fair Housing.
Leasing Managers, Assistant Managers, and Business Managers can work their way up
by putting the time and effort with Lincoln—and a degree wouldn’t hurt. The entry-level
position for maintenance is a Porter who just keeps the grounds clean. The Maintenance
Technicians must have experience and be very knowledgeable in order to fix functional
equipment that is required in each home.
Inflation take its part in renting apartments just like it does in any business selling a
product. If minimum wage goes up, the price for food goes up, the cost of living goes up.
Apartment prices tend to go up for spring and summer because these are when Lincoln
gets a higher volume of traffic coming in to tour and looking to move. Its nice weather
and the kids are out of school. In the winter, prices are typically lower. No one wants to
move in the freezing cold—or even snow, and yank their kids out of school at an
inconvenient time in their learning.
 Social and cultural environment is a huge factor for Lincoln. Just like trends and
fashions are changing, so are the preference that clients want in their apartment. For
example, no one wants carpet anymore—it’s outdated. Everyone is looking for

6. hardwood or even stained concrete. It’s easier to keep clean, cools the apartment—
therefore saving money on A/C in the Texas summer heat, and looks nice.
Lincoln also has to adjust to the demographic in the area. Since the property that I work
at is in Texas, we play country music in the lobby. If a burly man comes in for a tour, I’m
going to show him the model with the leather furniture that creates a bachelor-pad feel.
Lincoln’s employees also have to pay attention to the events and outreach to focus on
like nearby schools if the property has a high percentage of children. Culture plays a big
part as well. A lot of Indian clients do not have or even like dogs as pets and might not
feel comfortable with a community that is really pet friendly—drawing more dog
owners to live there. Health attitudes and environmental consciousness needs to be
kept in mind as well. The Lincoln property that I work at offers a free personal trainer
and picks up recycling every Wednesday.
 Technological environment is playing a bigger role in the leasing industry as technology
advances. Online applications, leases, and renewals are being developed for the
convenience of Lincoln’s clients and residents. The company’s property websites are
also becoming mobile friendly, with resident portal applications you can download on
your phone to pay rent and request maintenance.
 Globalization. Lincoln’s products are distributed the most by word of mouth, referrals,
and reviews. With everything being online, information from start to finish can be
accessed from anywhere. Lincoln has to be diverse in their marketing strategy as they
need to appeal to hundreds of different types of people throughout America, and in
different cultures in Europe.