Do you really know who your residents are? And if you do, are you taking the time to log that resident's interests, likes, and dislikes? Taking the time to keep notes of that type of information is key to maintaining a strong connection with your residents, and is the key to February's Blog of the Month winner, Toni Blake, who also wins a $50 gift card of her choice, sponsored by RentWiki!

Heart Marketing: Note Worthy Details of Life for Meaningful Resident Relations!!

We also want to take a moment to thank RentWiki for sponsoring the Blog Of The Month Contest! They have been a fantastic sponsor for MFI, so please take a moment to click on their banner and check them out!

One of the main goals of Multifamily Insiders is to enhance the relationship between property management professionals and vendors in the industry.  We are big believers that vendors should be seen as partners in profit, but we also recognize that it's not always convenient to talk to a vendor at a particular time or in a particular way.  And it seems as though every person has a unique preference on how they like to be contacted by a new vendor.  For example, some appreciate a phone call, others an email, and in some cases you better be ready with a glass of wine!  So in an effort to make these communications a little more smooth, we have a small addition to our profile pages! 
 

To set your contact preferences, just edit your profile (click on the "Profile" tab) and at the bottom, select how you would like to be contacted!  You can select multiple options by holding down the control key and clicking several options.  (You can see how it looks on my profile)
 

We hope you enjoy the new profile addition, and if you feel we need to add any other options, please let us know!

• If the modifications are unsightly
• If the modifications can be easily restored
• If the modifications interfere with the next resident's use and enjoyment of the community
• Never; the handicapped person does not need to restore modifications to the community exterior or common areas

"According to Fair Housing law, the handicapped party cannot be required to restore modifications to common areas or to the exterior of the apartment. They are, however, responsible for making reasonable restorations to the interior of the apartment to return it to its original condition if the modifications will interfere with the next resident's use. "

• Can be left up unless someone complains
• Can contribute to a hostile working environment and lead to a complaint of sexual harassment
• Are protected as freedom of expression under the First Amendment
• Are nobody's business but Howie's

"The nude calendar images could be a form of "hostile work environment" sexual harassment. As defined by harassment law, a hostile work environment is one in which unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature creates an uncomfortable work environment for some employees."

You can't just put out a print ad that looks like all the rest and call it a day. What exactly do you want to accomplish with your ad? How can you make sure a page-flipper is actually going to stop and take notice? And once they take notice, what do you actually want them to do? Taking a step by step approach, Daisy brings fresh life into print advertising, and for that, she wins the Blog of the Month and a $50 gift card of her choice, sponsored by RentWiki!

Apartment Marketing: Print Advertising for Dummies

We also want to take a moment to thank RentWiki for sponsoring the Blog Of The Month Contest! They have been a fantastic sponsor for MFI, so please take a moment to click on their banner and check them out!

• On-Site Topics
  • Apartment Marketing
  • Resident Retention
  • Customer Service
  • Apartment Jobs (i.e., Career Advancement, Interview best practices, HR issues, etc)
  • Accounting
  • Social Media
     
• Apartment Maintenance  (Any maintenance topic including best practices, purchasing, etc)
   
• Corporate Issues  (Anything regarding multi-site management, 3rd party management contracts, training, or any other issue that is handled by the corporate office)
   
• Developer Forum  (We're not sure if we are going to separate out this into subcategories, but here are the general topics of interest)
  •    Multifamily Construction and Renovation
  •    Multifamily Acquisition and Sales
  •    Financing
  •    Other
     
• Vendor Lounge
   
• Industry Trends

• Why do you need our assistance picking up your trash?
• Are you disabled?
• Can you please verify in writing that you need this accomodation because of a disability?
• None of these; the community staff may not ask any questions about an obvious disability

"According to the U.S. Department of Justice and HUD's joint guidelines, if a person’s disability is obvious, or otherwise known to you, and if the need for the requested accommodation is also readily apparent or known, then you may not request any additional information."