I have to start by giving credit where it's due.My friend Lisa Trosien has been on a tear lately on LinkedIn—calling out something our industry needs to hear: Just because we can automate something in the leasing journey doesn't mean we should remove the human entirely.And she's right.Because while AI is quickly becoming embedded in nearly every step of the renter journey, there's a dangerous narrative creeping in behind it:If AI can h ...

 Let's start with what many leaders are quietly acknowledging but not always saying out loud:The political winds around DEI have shifted.The acronym itself has become polarizing.Organizations are renaming initiatives.Some are backing away from public commitments.Others are wondering whether it's safer to simply . . . say less.And yet the workforce hasn't suddenly become less diverse.Resident populations haven't become more homogeneous.C ...

 In a market where floor plans blur together, concessions escalate, and operators are fighting for attention in increasingly crowded conditions, true differentiation is hard to come by.TMG has taken a different path—one rooted not in short-term discounts, but in values. Their approach to pet inclusivity goes far beyond "pet-friendly" language, and the results speak for themselves.I sat down with Jamin Harkness from The Management Group in At ...

 Across much of the country, rental housing is in a very different place than it was just a couple of years ago. After a historic run-up in demand and rents, vacancies have ticked up, concessions are back in a big way, and operators are competing harder for every qualified household.According to Census data summarized by industry analysts, the national rental vacancy rate edged up to roughly 6.9% in late 2024, up from about 6.6% a year earli ...

When I began my career in multifamily housing nearly forty years ago, women were already a strong presence in the leasing offices, property management teams, and regional leadership roles. From my earliest days, I called on and worked alongside smart, capable women who could fill a building, solve a crisis, lead a team, and manage a budget with the same ease they brought to welcoming new residents.Yet as I advanced in my own career, moving from m ...

Supplier Relationship Status in the Era of Centralization: It's Complicated Why relationship-building alone won't cut it—and what smart suppliers are doing instead.For years, supplier success in multifamily meant showing up, shaking hands, and building relationships at multiple levels. Property managers, regional teams, middle management and even leasing agents could be influential champions for your product or service. If you were visi ...

Let's be honest: if you're selling into the multifamily space right now, you're not just competing with other suppliers—you're competing with inbox fatigue, demo exhaustion, and the mental firewall operators have built to protect their sanity.The truth is, it's never been harder to earn attention. But it's also never been more possible to stand out—if you're thoughtful about how you approach the conversation.This post is for those of us who want ...

For many renters, pets are part of the family. Yet in the rental housing industry, including these family members also usually includes the levy of pet fees, deposits, and pet rent have as standard costs for pet owners. While these charges are often justified as necessary to cover potential damages and expenses related to having pets on property, the reality is that many housing providers have turned pet fees into a significant revenue ...