Apartment Industry

Managing any property requires a true commitment from the on-site team. There are so many responsibilities involved that many Managers simply burn out and try to ride it out with their heads buried in so-called busy work each day without any regard for tackling the tough management issues.

One of these tough issues is also somewhat controversial, considering what is going on with the Martin case in Florida and the Price case in Ohio. However, it is an important issue to discuss and understand. Many crime-ridden properties face the issue of trespass every day and Managers should be well versed in this subject. I feel issuing Civil and Criminal Trespass Notices can work very well for addressing unwelcome people who enter your property.

Unfortunately, it’s sort-of a part of my job description to monitor Twitter activity surrounding industry conferences in far away, sunny places and look with envy upon attendees’ waterfront-hotel-“look at my awesome view!” instagram portraits. But last month, as I watched the pictures, tweets, and facebook updates roll in from the Texas Apartment Association Education Conference, I became increasingly convinced: these guys got game. I’ve seen industry conferences of national audiences that struggle to get this sort of online buzz. And here this conference in San Antonio was the talk of the town — because you see, if hashtags were municipalities, #TAA2012 was booming like Skagway during the Klondike great gold rush.

Well, curiosity got the better of me. Using online stalking skills innate to all people under 30 — with maybe the exception of those associated with amish communities — I got in contact with Joel Nihlean, TAA’s Marketing & Communications Manager, who generously agreed to an interview. As I anticipated, Joel’s a social media rock star. With a strong background in event management, web writing, public relations, and graphic design, he has successfully planned, managed, and implemented the association’s marketing programs and e-communications since he started working with them in 2010. Also, he’s an unabashed, self-professed nerd; so we were fast friends and he taught me the secrets to becoming a pinball wizard (step 1: kicka%^  Alf tattoo)

What can you do to show you appreciate someone, your residents, your family, your friends, or the person on the street you just passed?  As we learn and use the wonderful features of technology and social media, we tend to not interrelate like we once did.  We have all emailed the person in the next cubicle or office, and texted someone when we could have called them. What three things can you do on a daily basis that makes a difference in how people connect and react to you?

Everyone has three things they can do to let others know they matter.  I recently sent an email about this to my fellow teams. Incidentally, I received more replies than normal and I would like to share some of the unedited feedback.

1. Smile and compliment them.
2. Make them feel welcome; tell them they have been approved for their new home.
3. Ask them “How can we help”?
4. Tell them you appreciate them, maybe bring them a coffee and tell them one nice thing! Or just give them a big hug.
5.  Listen, people want to be heard and know that what they have to say matters, and it shows you value them, as well as what they have to say.
6.  Speak directly to them, look in their eyes, and be attentive.
7.  Use their name when you talk to them, it makes them feel important and gets their  attention.
8.  A simple acknowledgement, “Great Job”.
9.  To a stranger driving and trying to get in your lane, “Just wave and let them in”.
10.  Stand up and greet them when someone walks into your office. Tell them how special they are every time you see them. 

This is timeless and relevant in this exciting and incredibly busy life we share.  Our lives are increasingly demanding, and the technology creates more texting, emailing, posting, tweeting, and less opportunities for those random meetings.

By Jo-Anne Oliveri, ireviloution intelligence, Brisbane, Australia

There are many reasons why we need to recruit. We live in a world where there are unlimited opportunities for advancement and success. So, it stands to reason that your team members come and go based on their own personal career aspirations and opportunities that present themselves.

It’s always wise to know individual team member’s personal goals. You should ask them what these are at the initial interview and then discuss it at monthly one-to-one meetings. By knowing what your team member’s long-term career aspirations are, you are then able to manage your team, business, and service by design.

So who contributes to the on-site strategic marketing plan?

The recent tough multifamily years in the Houston area brought a certain focus back to the industry for many of us.  With job losses, cut work-week hours and reduced benefits for many renters, the need to get back to the basics was dreadfully apparent.  There existed a segment of leasing personnel who had only worked during the golden years just before the downturn.  Essentially, you could offer an apartment in a take it or leave it attitude.  Follow-up and effective closing techniques were not stressed nearly enough in many communities (especially at class A communities).  Emerging from the many ill-effects caused by the recession was a re-energized focus on leasing fundamentals.

This need to make it through the concession period was highlighted in many of the marketing plans being used on-site.  Admittedly, I started in the business when print shop flyers were king and raising locator fees constituted marketing for the week.  Alas, with a few years under my belt and countless hours studying the subject, I have a true respect for the intricacies of multifamily strategic marketing.  It is easy for a disconnect to exist between the various role players inside a management team.  All too often, the corporate management executives, corporate marketing personnel, owners, property manager and leasing team will each have various views and feelings about creating and executing a good marketing plan.  While my future blogs will cover some of the many aspects of a strategic marketing plan, I wanted to take this opportunity to write about the key players in its execution.  First and foremost, the on-site management team should have a unified and coherent positioning and vision statement from the owner and/or management team executives.  Next is the understanding that we are really marketing to prospects, residents, the public, vendors, management team, and owner.  Marketing is not all about advertising or promotion.  While this is an important component, the true purpose of marketing is to create, enhance, rebuild, and communicate value in relationships.  Positive relationships with vendors can help you pull strings to turn the vacant apartment that got left off the leased unit list and is scheduled to move-in within two days.  Positive relationships within the general public means that you have a good reputation and strong brand awareness.  These are important aspects of a multifamily strategic marketing plan, but we usually focus on the prospects.  So, in terms of who markets who on a daily basis, I would argue that the entire on-site team does.  Everyone from the property manager to the housekeeper is a valuable part of the marketing plan.  Whether it is apparent or not, their appearance, demeanor, and level of selfless service are constantly being communicated verbally and non-verbally. With that said, the next time you hold a marketing message meeting or begin to construct one, make sure you have the input and commitment from the entire team.

As property owners, managers or leasing agents, you understand the need to conserve energy at your apartment community.  By installing energy-efficient appliances and windows and using eco-friendly alternatives for floors, countertops and paint, you are not only significantly reducing your carbon footprint, but also banking significant savings on energy costs.  If 10,000 owners of large apartment communities change to Energy-Star appliances, the energy saved could power each of your TVs for 1,640,625 years!  While the people on the property level are doing their part to protect the environment, we want to provide you with four sustainable tips you can share with your environmentally-friendly residents—leading up to Earth Day on April 22^nd—that they can put into practice today.

1. Be a Savvy Shopper

"Ohhhh…what’s love got to do, got to do with it?"

You’re probably singing that iconic Tina Turner song in your head right now, aren’t you?  I am!  I just love that song!  And what exactly does love “got to do, got to do, with it”?  If you’re talking about great apartment leasing…just about everything, ’bout everything, to do with it!

As a professional leasing agent, we do so much more than ‘just’ leasing.  Resident services, market surveys, marketing, walking apartments, traffic reports, and so much more.  But it’s all related to leasing – and you either love it or leave it. 

What are you supposed to do to “turn around a troubled Section 8 property?” Some people may not like my answer; however, since this is my forte, I will give you a succinct, straight forward answer – you can’t – UNLESS you are committed to doing what it takes. I feel strongly that just because you work on an income based property, there is no reason not to manage with pride and provide the best living experience for your residents. But it takes more than someone coming to work at eight o’clock each morning and running out the door at five o’clock each evening. I can tell you almost every project based Section 8 property struggles with discouraged management at one time or another. Until you can walk on that property at 8 AM ready to face whatever comes your way, then you aren’t approaching that property ready to do it justice.

My first Section 8 property (when I was hired it was because the manager  did not even know how to turn on her computer, much less master the newly installed property management accounting software program. She was an acquaintance of mine and recruited me) was rough with more than 300 police calls each month. The Manager’s office contained stacks and stacks of files in varying stages of recertification. Rent checks had not been input into Yardi for 3 months. I asked if the money had at least been taken to the bank? Some had, but not all of it had, evidenced by a stack of checks I found inside the bank bag.

It is time that we expect more out of our industry as a whole.  If I hear one more time about a company that still has trouble getting their employees to consistently check email, I’m going to throw my shoe through a window.  So today, I’m going to discuss our industry in broad views, looking past small scale struggles and onto a vision of what our industry can and should be:  Brave.

Individually, I see many brave industry pros treading new ground and sticking their necks out for what they believe in.  But as a whole, our industry tends to come across as an insecure significant other, always so focused on our shortcomings that we rarely boldly take a step towards something truly great.  If there was a color that described our industry it would surely be beige – it tries to go with every other color, but is utterly unexceptional in every other way.  Are we not bored of creating the same “one size fits all” communities?  Isn’t creating a “pretty” community with good customer service just not enough?  We have so much more potential for apartment living, and yet our fear of truly stepping out holds us back from being magnificent.

Pause for just a moment, and think about your most memorable living experience.  What made it memorable?  Why did you pick that particular location?  It had some sort of emotional element to it, didn’t it?  That is what we are missing when we slog through the daily routine without seeing the bigger picture.  We don’t recognize the experience that we could be providing beyond the attractive granite countertops and covered parking.  Those are just things.  Unless the property is truly exception in that regard, most people are not looking back 10 years from now and remembering how great their granite countertops were!  They remember all the experiences they had that left an emotional imprint on their lives!

Small shifts in data tend to quickly make headlines and dominate conversations. Most recently, it’s the uptick in single-family home sales creating some news about apartment renters leaving to buy homes. But it’s not a big spike – and even if it was, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing for the U.S. apartment industry. Greg Willett and Jay Parsons from MPF Research explain why in this video edition of Apartment Market Dynamics.