Who said that social media is a waste of time? Well, I strongly believe if used in a way that helps all who are connected to the community or vehicle being used to EXPAND, then hey get with the program :-). At anyrate, I wanted to focus this post on my awesome introduction to your community (multifamily insiders). I gather that my participation will continue to be an enlightened one with great comments and I hope some that will challenge me to GROW and get better as a marketer to this industry from the 24 Hour Emergency Services (which is so broad and can be disected in so many ways, but that's another post all to itself).

Thanks to Chrissy S. who spoke directly about her experience as the person on the other end of my phone calls -- You're on point! and I will take that bit of information with me from here on out!

Bill & Brent -- thanks for the open response -- hope to hear more great pointers from you two.

What an Introduction. KUDOS to Multifamily Insiders!


Monique Wilson
www.disasterservices.com

I started in this business (Disaster Preparedness/Services) in April 2010. You would think that's enough time to start breaking down some barriers to entry in this market --however; that hasn't been my luck. Honestly, from the business development side of things it's hard work and to add to the pot -- I'm female, in an industry that is predominantly male and caucasian, and here's another kicker I'm African American -- go figure.

No stranger to building solid relationships -- I can say that's my strength. But reality is that breaking new ground in a new industry which thrives on long term relationships, has proven to be a challenge. Now I mentioned my ethnicity because I'm mature enough and have the professional experience to note that there are issues from time to time. We live in a society where it's life. Whether just or in-just doesn't It should matter. I'm just looking for an education -- but I'm not far away from asking for the sale! I think vendor to organization (business to business / business to consumer) we've got to start being a little more open to just hearing each other out! Yes we all have to sell because we all have to stay in business. Our economy speaks volumes to that respect.

I'm just opening up dialogue with the hopes that we just stop hanging up the phone on folks who are calling on you whether for information or business. There is a "nice" way to say no people. We all have our daily crazy routines, but I've been in sales and customer service long enough to know that being OPEN can bring benefical rewards from time to time. How would you know if you don't remain OPEN.

I'm on my soapbox folks, but I hope you really hear me out. Comment here or just sound off on my email -- would be interesting to here your comments.

Until my next post...



Letters from an Outsider
M.L Wilson
www.disasterservices.com
mwilson@disasterservices.com

Increase apartment rental rates in a recession? Preposterous, you say! Yes, it is - IF you have not been keeping up with the maintenance needs of your tenants and over all customer service. If your property management company has not been responding to the everyday ebb and flow of maintenance and upkeep of your investment property, than you can rest assured that when you post that 30 or 60 day "Change of Rental Terms" notice, that a series of "30 Day Notices" from your tenants will soon follow.

What is the answer to raising rents in a tough apartment market such as Los Angeles? Responding to maintenance requests. The residents of your investment properties will always appreciate quick turn around of their maintenance requests and will remember such service when the it comes time to keep rents up to market. I am not talking about a super significant raise here folks - just a gentle increase to help you, the landlord, keep your NOI through these trying time. In my experience here at First Light Property Light Property Management, Los Angeles, a resident seldom moves out of a building for a subtle increase of 3% to 5%. Early on we did, however, find that if we as a property management team happened to have overlooked a resident's maintenance request, that this overlooked request was the FIRST thing they brought up when the rate increase letters went out. The outstanding issue was promptly resolved, but it would have been much easier on to have handled it within the first 24 hours and exceeded the expectations of the renter.

Is it good business practice to raise rents in a bad economy? My opinion is yes, but only if your property management has kept a very tight ship with customer service to tenants and have kept up with their maintenance needs. If your investment is providing superior service to your tenants then it deserves to be compensated. What do you guys think: raise or sustain? What are you doing in your communities?

If you have vacant apartments, and thinking about modeling an apartment, you're probably thinking, can you afford it?

You can't afford NOT to have a model!

CONSIDER THIS:

"Forget about fictional, glitter-skinned teen vampires. You’re far more likely to have your blood sucked by bed bugs." So says Lynn Bruno, of MSNBC.com.

CHEEZ'N'RICE!

The story captured my attention when I was listening to the news this morning, and my interest was piqued because I've chuckled every time I've seen  a reference to "BedBugs" in property management. I know this is not my usual topic, but wow...Victoria's Secret has bedbugs? That's just freaky and thought it would spark some interesting chatter on the matter..

Affordable Housing: What is it? How can we, as vendor/ associates, better serve the needs of these managers?

Recently, during a conversation I was having with a new Atlanta Apartment Association member, I was asked what exactly it means when someone refers to a Community as Affordable or Tax-Credit. This individual was under the impression that these properties were essentially low income properties in undesirable neighborhoods with like deferred maintenance issues! I am familiar with many communities which fall into the Affordable Housing category that are newer, attractive A properties in very desirable locations. I hope to shed some light on this important component to our industry.

The difference between these Affordable/ Tax-Credit properties and their Conventional Market-rate competitors is that the developer/ owner of the property will receive a Low Income Tax Credit Benefit to provide housing to those earning below a certain wage. There are many variations of this; some properties may be 80% Affordable Units and 20% Market Units. Some properties may receive Government subsidies for the rent as assistance to its residents.  These communities are heavily regulated by HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) and by DCA (Department of Community Affairs) for their compliance within the legal guideline of the program.

Do you think your day was stressful? Let’s stop for a moment to consider those extreme situations some property managers find themselves in. It’s often hard to personalize truly disastrous situations but when you think about it, there were faces behind those properties that were destroyed during natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the raging fires that ripped through Southern California in 2007. While it’s likely you will never find yourself or your property in such extreme situations, there are lessons in both of these cases that can be taken and applied to more run-of-the-mill property management situations.

Hurricane Katrina and Insurance
We are all familiar with the images of the destruction Hurricane Katrina left in her wake—thousands of homes and buildings completely demolished and the families who lived in them homeless, with all of their property destroyed. Good thing insurance exists … right?

Well, according to an October 2007 article in National Real Estate Investor Online, one of the many hurdles which New Orleans faced in its ongoing rebuilding process was the fact that insurance premiums went through the roof, completely out-pricing many property managers when it came to getting back in the game. Not only did insurance premiums go up in New Orleans, says the article, but also “In coastal areas from Texas to Boston, insurers have raised premiums.”

Recently, I had the privilege of being asked to shop my sister’s property’s local comps.  I was extremely excited because I am always interested in borrowing new ideas and seeing how others do their job which in the end can improve mine.  Unfortunately, this was not the case; I was sourly disappointed with my findings and somewhat shocked.  I thought it would be a great idea to share my findings with all of you to see how many of you are guilty of these findings (hopefully none of you) and to show how important it is for owner’s or management companies to stay focused on getting their own apartments shopped every year.

The phone calls:  I called 10 different comps in the area to set up appointments, my findings:

·         Out of the 10 called only 3 answered my call.

Everyone seems to be experimenting with social media in some way, shape or form these days (regardless of whether you think it's working or not). But one thing that many people seem to struggle with is how to manage their brand's presence across so many different platforms.

After Jonathan Saar from the Training Factor posted their own case study sharing their successes with social media, we asked him to join us on last week's #AptChat for a discussion on the topic. As it turns out (really no surprise here), you all have great ideas and examples to share. Here are the highlights from the chat:

How do you manage the time commitment? It seems to be HUGE time sucker in our office.

• David Kotowski: If you get into the habit of checking in it becomes routine and doesn't take up much time.
• Jonathan Saar: Time and discipline go hand in hand. There must be a routine or else you are lost.
• Kim Cory: I set time aside each day just like I would reviewing reports, statements, plans, emails, etc. must make effort.
• Mike Whaling: Focus your efforts. You don't need to be on every site.
• David Kotowski: Let's face it. Your employees are ALREADY checking their personal accts and sending texts during the day. Get them involved.
• Mike Whaling: Set routines based on goals. 1 routine for monitoring sites, 1 for creating content, etc.
• Jonathan Saar: Make sure you give yourself an "off" time -- that comes from my wife :)
• Erica Campbell: Use Web analytics 2 determine what sites r converting best 4 u. Look @ referring sources of traffic & inbound links.
• Mike Whaling: Take the time to set up alerts, feeds, etc. It makes the process much easier once you get into it.
• Erica Campbell: Use RSS & automation properly & u can have some big wins w/ time. Also, believe it or not policies & procedures save time.

What social media tools do you find to be the best for managing your presence?

• David Kotowski: Google Alerts is tha jam! Whenever our name is mentioned I find out automatically through an RSS feed to Outlook.
• Sam Gainous: For our company it is Facebook along with a bit of Twitter.
• Mike Whaling: Try HootSuite or Postling. Multiple users can manage multiple sites ... all browser-based, so no downloads.
• Matt Hendrick: Twitterfeed is a good tool to automate RSS content, but use wisely (& sparingly) - & only from blogs whose content u count on.
• Sam Gainous: I use TweetDeck and HootSuite and prfer TweetDeck for monitoring our "brand"
• Ryan VanDenabeele: Our blog and facebook seem to create the best results. By results I mean traffice/leads/questions.
• Erica Campbell: Twitter doesn't even deliver a noteworthy amount of guest cards but FB does so we spend more time there & YouTube.
• David Kotowski: I recently started using @SproutSocial. I can track FB Fan Pages, Yelp reviews, and Foursquare checkins in one place.
• Mike Whaling: Most important tool for managing your presence: A smartphone. Preferably one that allows you to download apps.

What are the "top three" social sites I need to be on for my property? (And why?)

• Mike Whaling: #1 site is always your own.
• Elysa Rice: Sites properties should be on: Facebook & Yelp; should at least be monitoring Twitter & Foursquare.
• Jonathan Saar: 1- Facebook 2- Foursquare 3- Twitter
• Meredith Mobley: I think this answer will vary depending on your audience.
• Kim Cory: I believe it is all about where your audience is hanging out. Know your customers & where they are.
• Gillian Luce: Think Facebook is a safe bet 4 most demographics!
• Mike Whaling: Collect emails. Plug them into a tool like Flowtown. That will give you a good starting point.
• Rosa Green: We use mainly FB, some twitter, just starting Foursquare & Youtube. FB by far the most interaction!
• David Kotowski: Whatever 3 sites are most popular with your residents. Ask them.
• Erica Campbell: FB (clean interface, comes w analytics, no brainer), YouTube (Google Juice & analytics) & have a blog (links, traffic).
• Mike Whaling: Check out other local blogs. Start following them & leaving relevant comments. Get involved.
• Heather Kattelman: From our exp, FB generates the most interaction w/ pros/res - leasing & res retention

How do I create content that doesn't s*ck? A lot of what I see out there is lousy. I want mine to be the best.

• Frederic Guitton: The OODA loop (for observe, orient, decide, and act) This is what web analytics, SM and all marketing is all about.
• Jonathan Saar: Start with google alerts folks.
• Sarah Cooley: PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! you won't know what's good until you get out there, start creating content and see the response.
• Ryan VanDenabeele: We create content that is a value to our residents. Put yourself in their shoes. What do they like. If you don't know. Ask.
• Christian Flickinger: If you talk to me and sound like a salesman, a big douche, or a robot - you've lost my attention.
• Matt Hendrick: Decide if the "contrarian" route is for you - it can sometimes provoke more discussion than simply playing it safe.
• Mike Whaling: Check local trends on Twitter. See what's popular now, then share your own spin on those topics.
• Erica Campbell: Mix it up & get outside writers every once in while like mommy bloggers, consumers, partners etc gives new perspective.
• Resite Online: When it comes to SM content its really trial and error. Keep trying until you find topics that people react to.
• Erica Campbell: Also look in ur analytics 4 top referring keywords for suggestions and ideas.
• Mike Whaling: Comment on other local blogs, share them w/ your audience, then write a post on the topic w/ your own viewpoint.
• Heather Kattelman: We do Weekly FB Plans to help with ensuring creative & interactive content is posted on the pages.
• Rosa Green: We partner with local businesses for giveways/prizes, residents love it and its FREE!
• Ryan VanDenabeele: Humor is good. It shows people that a real person is behind the message.

How can I delegate this effectively? How can I train my staff to do this so I can focus on managing the property?

• Elysa Rice: Use a service like CoTweet or Hootsuite that allows for collaboration of team members.
• Sam Gainous: Assign staff writing assignments, get them to research for new relevant content that can B used on all your SM outlets.
• Kim Cory: Why not get them involved w/u in the 1st place. Give them freedom 2 explore & show interest & encourage them.
• Erica Campbell: Turn to the industry 4 assistance w training. Create modules, checklists & documents that can be used even w/ turnover.
• Eric Brown: Why would we ever think that apt site staff are writers, they could be, but not typical.
• Sondrah Laden: Maintain a policy on communication - avoid FH issues. HUD is watching SM.
• Heather Kattelman: Got 2B careful here - U can only give this 2 some1 that WANTS 2B the Social Voice otherwise it be really bad.
• Jonathan Saar: Make sure SM does not become the marketing teams responsibility ... collaborate.
• Gillian Luce: Gotta have someone u trust 2 speak on behalf of the brand! Someone who can interact w/the audience & is easy 2 relate 2!
• Jonathan Saar: Social media can help connect your depts and make that internal culture grow.
• Mike Whaling: Make sure you measuring the right things. If resident retention is the goal, then don't measure by # of new leases.

Good quotes and tips along the way:

• Jonathan Saar: Social media has been the main direction TTF has been using to connect with its customers and reach out to new ones.
• Matt Hendrick: Don't try to be everything to everyone. Find your audience and target them accordingly.
• Jonathan Saar: Avoid syndicating the same content across your channels (this is not a time saver)
• Mike Whaling: Focus less on the tool. Focus more on doing things that get people talking. The content will follow.

So what did we miss? What would you add? If you're struggling to find success with social media, where are you having the most trouble? If you're finding success, what tips or examples can you share with the rest of us? Thanks again to everyone who joined us for the discussion, especially Jonathan!