Microsoft debuted a new search engine on May 28, 2009 called Bing. Head on over and Bing yourself, your company and or your apartment community. You might be surprised by the results.

Dubbed the decision engine, Bing is suggested to help users search the web more intelligently. It does so by grouping or organizing search results according to users preferences. You can learn more about Bing by watching this informative video.

If you had the opportunity to attend the AIM (Apartment Internet Marketing) Conference this spring in Denver, one of the several outstanding sessions presented was "Measuring Market Effectiveness" presented by Todd Katler of Level One and Rick Blair of Equity Residential.

 A few points from Katler's portion of the presentation:

1. Print sources are probably underweighted due to the search nature of their customers.

Many of us in the property management field are seeing our "For Rent" signs up longer than owners would prefer. In today's economy, we face not only the challenge to fill vacancies, but the challenge to increase and maintain rent values. To continue to watch your revenue increase we suggest the following tips.

1. Increase curbside appeal:

It's easy to make a few minor adjustments and improve the exterior of a rental. Replace dead or dying landscape and fill pot holes in the parking lot or car port. Make sure the outside lighting is up and running, no one likes a dark rental.

I love long relaxing weekends, as it allows me to detach and really think about things. It is also a great time to read and catch up on RSS Feeds. Lately, I have been reading a lot about Tim Ferris, and his book The Four Hour Work Week.

Tim has an interesting blog post from last week Start-up Strategy: To Change the Game, Change the Economics of How It’s Played which includes an interview he did with Alan M. Webber co-founder of Fast Company magazine and former editorial director of the Harvard Business Review. Apparently Alan developed a very interesting habit more than 20 years ago, when he began to carry a supply of 3 x 5 index cards wherever life took him. He wrote down and collected the lessons and insights he gleaned from his experiences traveling the world and in his interactions with people ranging from CEOs and spiritual leaders to basketball coaches, novelists, and stars from dozens of other worlds…

Can you imagine a service that combines email, instant-messaging and document sharing? Well now you don't have to;  Google Unveils a Conversation Service called Wave - WSJ.com. This struck me as I am currently working on a piece that is relative to the next generation of the Internet; Web 3.0 or the Semantic Web and in my opinion this speaks directly to it.

This is a fascinating topic in that it really boils down to search engine sites racing to organize web content around a set of standards - standards that would ultimately give meaning to web pages. Meaning so precise that any search term you typed in would yield the exact person, place, thing or in our case apartment that you were looking for. Imagine searching for a $612 second floor one bedroom apartment facing Forest Park in Central West End of St. Louis and boom you get it. Add the words; near someone I know and boom you find one right next to one of your Facebook friends. Google's Wave is for all intents and purposes a way to organize conversations in such a way that they have a more precise meaning to the end user. How might something like this be useful in our space?

Using Wave we could generate a message on the topic of a recently vacated apartment home and the need for a new resident. We could then send it out to our permission based user set [read: resident evangelists]. Maybe we tie an incentive to it or maybe we don't. The point is the evangelist would then go to work finding their next neighbor all the while content is being organized. Each time that happens Wave gets smarter and each time the end user gets a richer experience in yielding exactly what they search for. And, over time the scenario above becomes more realistic. It all makes my spin. You think social media is fun? The Semantic web will bring a whole new meaning to apartment marketing. And, just when you think you can't take anymore the Web in things will be in full force.

And, with that I must hit the publish button as it is 2:33AM and I have a big day planned with my kids.

Have a famous weekend.

M

One day I received a call from a man who stated that his application for an apartment was declined because he was a convicted felon and a registered sex offender. He wanted to know if I would reconsider his application. While I was apprehensive at first I let him tell his story. He started by saying that he's 45 years old and has been an upstanding citizen since he committed his crime nearly 27 years ago. He went to say that he's married and has been a successful manager with the same company for more than 10 years. He also told me he had impeccable credit history. When he was in college he and his buddies thought it would be funny to go streaking through the football field during a game. He and his buddies did not understand the consequences of their actions until after they were arrested, tried and convicted of a sex offense. Finally, he said that he was very sorry for what he had done and wanted to know if he could rent the apartment.

Sure I could have easily said "I'm sorry we cannot make any exceptions to our rule of no felony convictions," but I could not shake the remorse I heard in his voice and sense of frustration over the number of times he's tried to explain himself. You see by the time he came to me his application had been rejected many times over. Secretly, I wanted to laugh about his crime. Oh come on how many stupid ideas did you have as a teenager? However, this was no laughing matter. This was his life. After I checked out his story I made an exception and accepted his application for residency. It wasn't the first time nor was it the last time I made such exceptions.

Don't get me wrong. I do support consistent practices when it comes to screening and approving/declining applications for residency. The company's I've worked for like many others have a standard set of criteria and yes, we use a third party credit screening and scoring company to provide our Community Managers with a decision. However with our company an electronic decision resulting in a decline of an application does not mean an automatic rejection of the application. Clearly for some companies, it does.

Those of you reading this, I beg of some knowledge.  As a manager of a larger community in the Chicago Metropolitan Suburban area, I am frequently confused with concessions.  It seems to me that the most important selling point to the apartment and getting the prospect to apply, isnt just comfort and good service, but a good price. I understand GPR and meeting budgets and expectations of companies to get the most $$ for their apartments.  But what is the big deal about concessions?  If competitively priced, with a decent value to the prospective resident, in your market area, not overpriced or under priced, this should be more important than a concession.  It seems to me that the price is higher in some cases than it should be, so that investors perhaps see a dollar figure and match to investment value.  So the concession is a different line item and is shown somewhere else.  So it looks like a community is getting $$$$ for the apartments, but are giving away $$$$$$ to get those leases.  Am I making any sense?  It just seems counter productive.  You could potentially have less turnover and a steady flow of leases, happier current residents appreciative that they arent losing a deal that the new move in is getting, and our leasing doesn thave to try and explain  all of these confusing "deals".  Isnt it better to just have the right price? I guess I just dont get it?

Since late last year, attracting prospective residents to view our communities has become very competitive. Apartment communities are giving incentives such as free rent, including utilities, short term leases, low security deposits, and daily specials, just to name a few. As a result of these offers, many apartment communities may have to cut back on payroll, amenities and services. Struggling through this period by offering larger concessions than the community across the street, reducing rent and offering give aways ultimately leads to cutting costs and services which only serves to compound the challenges in the long term.  Prospective renters and current residents might be looking for more services and more attention and those communities who provide it will get through this period in a much stronger position than ever before.

 

To face these questions and decsions, it's important to understand that renters and prospective renters have been affected by the economy too and have to make tough choices. For renters signing a new lease, or deciding to renew a current lease, financial concerns, the increased presence of available homes to rent, the news and advertising that there is reduced or free rent has complicated this important decision.  The days of stop, look, lease are few and far between, as prospects are expanding their apartment search, researching areas and asking for advise much more than they have in the past.  Are prospects and residents really looking for free stuff?  It can't be the main motivation.   

Tips to make your lender happy....

Tips to make your lender happy....real estate taxes and utility bills.   to continue with the information you need to send your lender to refinance or acquire a multifamily property it is time to talk about real estate taxes and utility bills.

Real Estate Taxes

In many areas—especially right now when many tenants are staying put—rental listing sites are overflowing with available units. Making yours stand out from the rest takes a little bit of effort, particularly when there are a dozen other similar units for rent within just a few blocks of your property. Scroll through any of these rental sites and it’s immediately apparent that most rental listings use a very specific formula. All you have to do is break that mold and you’ll be much closer to making sure that your listings grab the attention of potential renters.

Make your listing title count.                 Set yourself apart from the pack from the get-go. Rather than using a standard listing title like $995 – 1 bd/1 ba, take advantage of the listing title as your first opportunity to appeal to potential tenants. After all, if they never click on your listing, posting it is a futile effort.

Obviously, you’ll need to keep the title short, but that doesn’t mean you can’t provide enough information to reel potential tenants in. While you’ll want to include the number of bedrooms in your listing title, it’s also a great place to showcase your unit’s amenities or unique features. Some things you may want to consider featuring in your listing title are: on-site washer and dryer, off-street parking, heat and hot water included, or any rental incentives you’re offering. Titles are also a great place to highlight distinctive unit characteristics like a fireplace, alcove, or garden.