Creating Community in 2011

It’s a New Year, saying goodbye to 2010 was easy; say hello to 2011.  Gone are the doldrums about the economy, good riddance to low occupancy, and never want to see you again lackluster marketing events. We have a clean slate, a new beginning and a positive outlook for the New Year. It is time to refresh, and take a ride with new motivation, new ideas, and a new purpose. 

Wall Street crushed us in 2008 and the banks just about depleted all our futures in 2009. 2010 was the year of transition, of taking stock of what was left and by the holidays; I think we all about had enough of the dismal days of “woe is me”.  People were out shopping, and doing things with their lives, making plans and moving forward.  We got a dose of reality, spending too much and saving too little, now with a couple of years under our belt, we are ready to shine.

Keeping our current residents is the name of the game plan, focus on our “bird in the hand”.  Keeping our residents happy and engaged is a full time job but one that can be easily planned.

First and foremost, resolve your tenant complaints, a happy resident is one that will stay and not make problems down the road.  Have a time set aside each week that you are completely available to any of your renters’ calls, so they know you are there for them on a regular basis. As reibrain states, dealing with tenants is part of being a landlord. Everyone who complains likes to be heard, listen to them, acknowledge their complaint, fix the issue or explain why it can’t be corrected, clarity brings understanding, empathy brings understanding and understanding brings insight and appreciation that you are doing everything you can. Create community by understanding your resident’s needs and resolving the issues.

Host events at your property that appeal to your residents. Do you have a lot of single parents? Host some children’s activities so parents can go shopping or to lunch, offer a game night, do you have teachers in residence, ask if they would be willing to tutor at no charge once a month.  Have a lot of singles, host some events to bring them together, pool parties in the summer, theatre events or movies, once a month outings that include a get together at a local restaurant. Have a lot of seniors, check out the senior centers and create a meet and greet there. Do you house students? Host a LAN party, don’t know what that is, it’s spontaneous, everyone brings a laptop, gets connected to the internet and plays a mutually agreed upon online game, gamers will know about this one, just have some snacks available. Brent Williams, Chief Insider at Multifamily Insiders offers some great ideas for event planning when he did a guest blog for My New Place, lots of ideas there, check it out. Ball games? Organize going to one. Dancing, create the opportunity to go and join in for the fun.  Reading? Create a book club and utilize your community room for discussions about the current book being read.  Guess what, if your resident’s are friends with each other, they are more likely to stay right where they live. Create community.

 Know your resident’s names, work on it, find a way to remember, some communities are really large, but do your best to walk your community and interact with your residents, carry doggie bones and make friends with the four legged residents that are walking around.  Take some time to say hello and good bye, ask how their day is going, you will hear more than you bargain for, but it offers time to engage and be social. Make a new friend by getting to know your residents. And then introduce your new friend to someone else in the community. Take the time to wonder and collect your resident’s interests. Do a survey, find out what your resident’s like to do.  

Be proactive against any problems by making at least a twice yearly inspection of your units and give residents plenty of notice while doing so, make sure there are no leaks, no running toilets, all trash picked up in the walk ways and stairwells, lights are working where they should be, carpets are rather clean, pets are being maintained in a clean manner. This could be taken as intrusive by some, but others will appreciate the attention and may think it will head off problems before they begin. Let them know you care about the apartment and you care about them, in addition, it’s a good time to go over the renewal coming up and what they might be thinking. As the boy scouts say, “Be Prepared”.

 Please and Thank you go along way, when collecting rent, always be gracious, people work hard for their money and showing respect is important. Anytime you are interacting with a resident, they deserve your respect, but likewise you deserve theirs as well.  Sometimes, this isn't always the case, there are always difficult residents to deal with and for those, always remain professional even when voices are raised, there is  no reason for you to raise yours, be firm, be  honest, be concise, but don’t be rude. Rudeness never wins any argument.

 What is your social media plan for 2011? Do you have one? It is easy to set up a Facebook Fan page and Twitter account, and a great way to harness the power of social media.  Find out if your management company has policies before entering the social media arena and have a plan going in. Be committed to posting regularly, and remember everything you post becomes available and very public. Utilize social media by showing off your community’s best attributes, upload photos on Facebook.  Twitter is a great way to communicate upcoming events, one Peep Tweet lets all your followers know there is a Crime Prevention meeting on Thursday at 7:00, come and meet your neighborhood crime watch volunteers. You can use the power of the Tweet for anything. Keep it Positive, keep it Engaging, keep it Energized and keep it Professional.  I call these my Peep Tweets.  Once you collect your resident’s usernames and start using them when you Tweet, you will be creating an online social community.  Bringing people together even in cyberspace is still creating community.

 It starts at “Hello”. Don’t underestimate the power of first impressions. Whether it ‘s on the phone or in person.  People size you up in seconds.  Look them in the eye and smile at first greeting. If you are on the phone, get down to business right away, ask them what they are looking for and what led them to you. The sort of questions you ask are the benchmark for future conversations, and always write key points down. What are they interested in, do they have pets, write down their name, first and last, that way you won’t forget it and if you do, you can check your notes. Smile whether on the phone or in person, just ask the Telephone Doctor about how far a smile goes on the phone.  We create communities with a smile.

2011 is forecast to be a slow recovery of the apartment industry; residents are an important part of the bottom line. They need to be nurtured and cared for, respected, and allowed to be heard. They need you to help create community for them and you will be rewarded by loyal residents and friends for all your hard work.  2011 will be the year that your occupancy is 100% with a waiting list. It is a lofty goal, but then nothing worth doing is easy.