How annoying are bugs? Very! And with summer, we often see an onslaught of bug invasions. Along with the pretty appearances of butterflies and fireflies, we've got to deal with mosquitoes, gnats and worse. We don't necessarily mind them outdoors, but when they start making themselves at home in our home - well, that's a problem!  Ant invasions, spiders in every corner, swarming termites, wasp nests, and dare I even mention the bed bugs stowing away in our vacationing residents’ luggage? It should come as no surprise that when asked in our annual resident satisfaction surveys why residents don't indicate they are "Very Likely" to renew their leases, "Pests/Bugs" are in the top ten reasons!  The good news: You can do something about this!

Meet with the exterminating service under contract and make sure they are made aware of the company’s and residents’ expectations.  If you have applicable survey results, they should be shared with the vendor so the issue can be put in perspective in terms of its impact on resident satisfaction. Ensure your vendor is made aware that their performance will be monitored.  In addition, have the service provider tour selected apartments and common areas with the staff to evaluate them.  An action plan to remedy any issues should be requested.  If the property has a solid, long-term relationship with the provider, then the tone of discussions should be from a “partner” perspective; if a new service provider, the tone may need to be stronger, with severe cases requiring the provider be put on notice with a specific time period to rectify the issues. Notify your residents of what the service provider is doing, so they understand the problem is being addressed from a management perspective.

From a customer service perspective, show your residents that you are taking the bull by the horns and provide a summer pest control tip sheet for pest problems that are common to your geographic region. For example, if ants are a local problem, provide tips and suggestions on what residents can do to minimize ant infestations: store cereals or crackers in airtight containers; don't leave dirty dishes in the sink, etc. This shows residents you are aware of the problem and are taking an active role in providing solutions for the issue. Educate your residents on how to prevent other infestations, such as bed bugs or fleas.

As we all know, many prospects have difficulty imagining an apartment full of furniture when it lies empty and vacant.  Add to that the strange visual effect of an empty room appearing smaller than a decorated room, and we have long used model apartments to give prospects that image to help guide them to how their own apartment might look once moved in.  But model apartments are extremely expensive, both for the furnishings and the vacancy cost. 

The iPad, however, will give leasing consultants the ability to show pictures and videos of furnished apartments as prospects tour empty and vacant apartments, as well as other creative uses for the iPad while on apartment tours. 

Although this solution will not be as enveloping as having real life furniture to walk around in the apartment, one must also consider the vast differences in cost, especially as the iPad and similar products decline in price.  So I want to throw out the question today of whether you believe that the iPad will give apartment communities the tools to help prospects visualize their apartment without the expensive use of model apartments.

Going back to early 2010, Houston's apartment occupancy rate was the worst across the 64 major metros that form the core of MPF Research's national coverage. The metro's general positioning relative to other markets hasn't changed meaningfully over the past few months, but the Bayou City's metrics certainly are beginning to look better.

Roughly 9,900 apartments were absorbed in metro Houston during the April-June period, as quarterly demand topped concurrent completions for the first time in a year and a half. In turn, overall occupancy climbed an impressive 1.4 percentage points for the quarter. And operators even managed to squeeze out a 0.3 percent bump in effective rents over that time span.

Still, that progress only brought occupancy to 88.7 percent, about 5 percentage points under the national average. And the quarterly rent increase still left effective pricing 3.7 percent under the rates seen a year ago.

We received this today and felt it worth sharing.  Please share your thoughts on the findings below!

NEW NATIONAL SURVEY DATA INDICATES 93% OF RESIDENTS HAVE NEVER VISITED AN APARTMENT COMMUNITY’s SOCIAL NETWORKING PAGE

Nearly One in Four Residents (24%) Don’t Visit Social Networking Sites At All 

Early on in my career I worked for an organization with two strikingly different reputations. The first was an uncompromised attention to detail and quality. In the markets where we competed, we honestly felt we had no direct competition. Our product was superior from design to construction. The details were not always things the prospective resident would spot, but a seasoned multifamily professional would see them right away. The other reputation was a bit different. To put it lightly, it was not the easiest place to work. On-site associates were often in fear of an appearance by the owner or a property supervisor, unsure of what face they would see that day. Our starting pay was considerably higher than our competitor’s, but many in the industry looked at it as combat pay – you had to earn that to endure the uncertainty and stress. I learned very quickly how to, and most importantly how NOT to, treat my people.

Both of these reputations taught me great lessons that I still look on today. As I have gone on to consult with property management companies and build a few businesses of my own, I have never forgotten just how important it is to create a working environment that people seek out, a place where employees actually stay put – happy in their careers, sold on the collective mission and thinking like problem-solvers and solution providers rather than just people who have punched in and shown up.

The following letter was from a resident to one of our clients.  This letter was a must share and there is an interesting lesson to learn from it.  I removed the names for privacy purposes and I really appreciate our client forwarding this to us.  This is a huge testimony to what an overall company culture can do for an organization and how effective training in skills such as customer service really pays off. 

"Dear Management Company: 

I am writing this letter to Thank Awesome Leasing Professional, one of your leasing agents for her professionalism and hospitality.

Recent media headlines have been touting the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs and rising gross domestic product (GDP), a so-called true sign of recovery. However, economist Peter Schiff points out that this rise in GDP can be primarily attributed to “increased spending financed by unprecedented borrowing” that is simply delaying the inevitable – that harder times must proceed before our economy can truly recover. Additionally, the bulk of the new jobs created last month were temporary jobs with the US Census. The stimulus packages, the bailouts, the Census jobs, the false pretense of “growth” are all very short-term fixes.

In spite of the media exaggeration of recovery and the potential for hyperinflation due to the artificially low interest rates, we can see a faint silver lining. The multifamily sector could benefit from a higher demand in the rental market as many people search for more affordable rental housing. Although property managers may need to increase efforts to advertise vacancies and offer incentives such as rent concessions, there is no shortage of people in the market for rental housing. Director of Research at Reis Victor Calanog even stated, “The multifamily market appears to be on the cusp of recovery. If so, pricing and transaction activity will rise and the window of opportunity for landing good deals may close soon.”

We strive to feature the best in investment news, and with the media focusing solely on GDP as an indicator of economic growth and the most renowned economists warning against government intervention, we encourage our readers to take the news with a grain of salt.

Robust Demand Boosts Apartment Occupancy and Rents

MPF Research starts rolling mid-year apartment market performance results this week, and we begin with a look at what preliminary figures show for the nation as a whole. The news is good any way you slice and dice the data.

Initial calcs point to absorption of another 116,000 units during 2nd quarter, taking demand for the first six months of the year to nearly a quarter million units. We're now on pace for calendar 2010 demand to come in at the second strongest annual volume seen over the past couple of decades, exceeded only when Hurricane Katrina evacuees boosted the absorption tally in 2005.

Obviously, the addition of some jobs is a big part of the demand story, but there's more to it than that. For example, renters are continuing to return to traditional apartments from individually-owned condos and single-family homes offered for lease. Also, some young adults who had combined into roommate living arrangement are splitting up into separate households. And an improving economy means that more parents are willing to guarantee leases in order to kick their perhaps under-employed kids out of the basement. A new element that seems to be emerging now is that some apartment demand is coming from folks who recently sold their homes. A lot of them were worried that they'd never be able to unload those units, so making another purchase right away is a pretty scary move.

Holidays are a great opportunity to bring your community together. Although, I'm still not sure where June went here is a list of ideas of fun patriotic things your apartment community can do on Independence Day.

The week of the 4th:

• Draw a patriotic mural on your sidewalk with red, white & blue sidewalk chalk (or have residents submit facebook photos of their sidewalk chalk murals)
• Fill clear bags with red, white & blue assorted candy – tie with ribbons – have available in the office the week of the 4th for residents and prospects
• Host a balcony decorating contest - residents decorate balconies with red, white, and blue lights, flags all over.
• Have each of your team members wear red, white and blue during the week.
• Email your residents to thank them for being a part of your community and provide them with any additional holiday resources you may want to share.
• Provide links to local fireworks and other events in your resident portal or apartment blog.
• Have your residents share favorite 4th of July recipes – publish your favorites in resident newsletter/facebook/blog/twitter.

Organized Activities:

• Barbecue – everyone bring their own meat to grill, and a side item to share
• Have a pet costume contest.
• Decorate cookies with red, white & blue frosting, sprinkles, candy
• Host a hot-dog or apple-pie eating contest
• Make patriotic cupcakes – have residents bring (or provide for them) undecorated cupcakes and schedule a cupcake decorating party decorate with red, white & blue frosting and sprinkles.
• Have a picnic with organized games – relays, races, water balloon toss, tug-of-war, pin the tail, ... Serve red & blue fruit (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, watermelon) with white cool whipped topping
• Make tie-dyed shirts in red, white & blue
• Fourth of July themed movies – if you have a media center or community room to play movies throughout the day. If you're north of Texas (it's way hot here!) you may be able to setup an outdoor screen to show movies on the lawn.
• Resident Tailgate - have a tailgating party with residents and a scheduled time to carpool to the local fireworks display.
• Write letters to people you know serving in the military right now. Notify your residents that you will be collecting letters to send for them, or suggest a service like Email Our Military as a community project.
• Have a fundraiser to a local charity (sell lemonade, sell concessions, garage sale with proceeds going to charity)
• Organize a local volunteer opportunity - have residents meet and socialize while making a difference around your community.

For the Kids

• Bicycle parade – the kids decorate their bikes and ride in a parade through the neighborhood (don’t forget those helmets!). You can also decorate strollers, skateboards, wagons, wheelchairs, walkers and scooters.
• Red, white & blue crafts for kids – schedule a time to have activities for the kids in the community.
• Water based activities for kids – water balloons, bubbles, water guns, wading pools
• Find 4th of July coloring pages online for kids to color: here are some crafts and printables to get you started.

For more 4th of July Activities visit: MyPlanningList, Family Fun, Yahoo Independence Day.

Do you have any additional ideas or resources that your property uses?

It can be hard to always be ON. It can be hard to GET IT all the time. Whether that means being CREATIVE, ENERGETIC, FRESH, SUNNY, SOCIAL, PATIENT, or POSITIVE. When you go to the same office (apartment complex/corporate office/etc.) everyday, talk to the same people every day, or drink the same kool-aid every day, you can get into a rut. All of the sudden, you don't get it anymore! You are in a perpetual Ground Hog Day movie. From there it’s downhill – you become bored, you question your career choice, you drag you feet, you complain, and you become reactive rather than proactive. Next thing you know, you’re blaming others for you lack of motivation and not taking responsibility for your predicament. What stage of this slippery slope are you in? Does this sound familiar? Just coming back from the National Apartment Association (NAA) Education Conference, my brain if overflowing with ideas, there is an extra hoppity skip in my step, my fingers are flying over the keyboard at lightening speed, and images of sugar plums are dancing through my head. Seriously, I am just electric right now! I am once again reminded that a change of scenery, meeting new people, listening to new ideas, being reminded of great old ideas, making new friends, and having FUN - can do WONDERS for your creativity, productivity and energy level. If you have the opportunity, I HIGHLY recommend attending conferences in your area of expertise/interest and surrounding yourself by this type of energy. It can be a national conference, or a local conference. Don't just ATTEND - fully IMMERSE yourself into the middle of all that positive activity, fully ENGAGE and SOAK up as much as your head and your heart can handle. It does wonders for productivity!