As a leader and champion for both multifamily and my company, I’m asked daily how people can get to the next level in their career. They’ve advanced their education and qualifications, yet their career with their current company is at a standstill. Professionals want to grow, but they’re often unsure about how to find a new position.

February means different things to different people. Some people think of Valentine’s Day. Others think of Presidents’ Day. For NAAEI, February marks Apartment Careers Month, which is when we remind others of the exciting job opportunities offered by our industry.

The day your first child is born, everything changes. Colors get brighter, the world gets bigger and your heart explodes with an unconditional love you didn’t even know was possible.

Such was the case on that emotional day last June when I held Señor Peepers—a prairie dog I adopted in Utah—for the first time. I signed the papers, cradled my baby and felt an incredible surge of joy I hadn’t experienced since my first Dairy Queen raspberry truffle blizzard many moons ago.

I sobbed hysterically when my parents dropped me off at college freshman year, so much so that my contact lenses were covered with bits of errant tissue fibers. This sentiment apparently was not felt universally on campus, as literal hoots and hollers could be heard from nearly every other one of my classmates who finally felt free.

My family doesn’t have the best phone etiquette.

As a child, I was so petrified of calling people that I would write out exactly what I wanted to say ahead of time and recite my lines repeatedly before dialing. Once I was finally confident enough to ad lib, my mother saw fit to secretly listen in on my conversations. One night, when there was apparently nothing good on TV, I could hear her and my brother, Chris, laughing on the other end of the phone.

Do you remember the movie, “Glengarry Glen Ross?” If not, I suggest you get it and watch it immediately Alec Baldwin’s character, Blake, makes a statement that has resonated with me to this day.

One night when I was waitressing I asked an older male customer if he wanted dessert. He winked and said, “yes, how about your number?” I informed him we were all out of that.

If someone had told me twenty years ago while I was hunkered down in graduate school that in the future I would have to dodge drivers on the highway who were massively distracted due to the use of a computer that fit in the palm of their hand that they were using WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD, I would have told them they were crazy!
But, here we are in 2011 and that is exactly what is happening every day.

Are your residents vanishing from your community at a rate that makes you consider putting up missing posters? If so, did you know that their disappearance was probably preventable? Before you contact the milk carton company, let me explain.

For those of you who’ve met me or taken one of my classes, you know that I talk the talk and I walk the walk. I say things like they are--professionally and with care, of course. I’m not talking about some of the language used during the leasing process—a little fluff is just fine then. But in normal dealings onsite and at the corporate office, I don’t see the point in wasting time or sugar coating things, because TIME is MONEY!

How many times have you worked with or for an individual who was so dramatic and emotional that you found it hard to get your work done?

I’m 30. There, I said it, I got it out there. I’m 30 and my husband and I just had our very first baby, three weeks ago. Up until now, we both favored college and then careers over family. We wanted to be established, be able to provide for a child before we committed to having one.

I used to be obsessed with Julia Roberts.

This wasn’t a restraining-order level of obsession and there was no real stalking involved—mainly because I was 13 at the time and could not drive a car—but let’s just say I was intrigued with America’s Sweetheart.

I’ve officially become the buzzkill of the group.

Whether I’m traveling with friends, going to the movies or getting on the metro, no one is allowed to have any fun until I have performed a proper bed bug inspection.

Yesterday I went into the community clubhouse to renew my lease for yet another year—partly because I like my apartment, but also because I’m far too lazy to clean out my car, let alone pack everything up and move.

 

It has been my experience that managers and owners are unsure how to react when approached with a solution to an issue that they know a little about, but are unsure whether or not they should believe me (a consultant) or just show me the door? If you are like most apartment managers or business owners, the question of using a consultant is not easily answered. Please allow me to try.

I’m not new to the virtual workplace but I’m new to working for my currently company, virtually and I have a confession to make. I’m WAY more productive at my home office than at our corporate office. Shocked? In disbelief? Think I’m not exactly being truthful? Well, then do let me explain and I’ll make you a believer!

Let’s face it, the Internet is not a fad—the role both the Internet and computers play in our business is vast and ever growing. Let’s take a look at what parts of our business are computer and/or Internet based.

Cable Operators and Phone Company’s want your business, especially if you have 200 units or more. The reason is obvious; they make heaps of money off your property. In looking at some average cable and internet penetration levels for a standard 200 unit complex, the operator will bring in about $10,790.00 a month. This is using a 65% penetration level and an average resident paying $83 a month

Community appearance – “curb appeal” – is crucial to attracting new tenants and keeping existing ones happy, and property managers understand the obvious: Common areas require regular maintenance, including having the turf mowed regularly. But landscape care doesn’t end with the weekly “mow and blow.” There are other aspects of a quality landscape-management strategy that can help ensure your community keeps up appearances while keeping administration efficient.

I know, for a fact, that the lack of quality phone sales skills in our industry is not, I repeat NOT, a training issue. I can speak with certainty here because 1. I know that I provide stellar telephone training and the proof is; some of you get it… your fantastic call conversion ratios, rockstar closing percentages and ultimately (and most importantly for you) the higher income you’re enjoying demonstrate that!

On Monday night I purchased my first new car. It was a right-of-passage moment straight out of a Judy Blume book. I stood there with the keys in my hand, sobbing as my mother went off on the dealership manager because he did me wrong. OK, maybe not Judy Blume.

When I was in seventh grade, my mom thought it would be a nice idea for our Catholic family to light the candles on an Advent wreath every night before dinner during Advent Season. The first night I had the honor of lighting the candle. After striking a match—and making the mistake of holding it completely vertical—the flame started to quickly burn its way towards my fingers. Naturally, I panicked, dropping the lit match and temporarily setting the tablecloth on fire.

Fresh (but not fresh-faced) off the amazing 2011 NAA Education Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas, I thought I would share some of the things I learned.

The other day I saw a Groupon for two varicose-vein treatments and compression stockings. If it didn’t have an expiration date, I would have considered buying it. I know my family’s history with those unsightly things and it’s safe to say the future of my calves isn’t looking pretty.

What exactly is high-performance thinking?  It’s taking personal accountability to achieve what you know is important for your company or property.  Seems so simple yet so much can get in the way.

Resident feedback programs are evolving. No longer are multifamily firms forced to rely on a "one-size-fits-all" survey program for data to inform key decisions about amenity offerings and service standards. Instead, new lifecycle-based programs offer the chance to gather key intelligence at key touch points in the resident experience, from the initial inquiry through to lease renewal – or even move-out!

One of the most frequently asked apartment industry questions NAA receives is how many single-family homes are rented. Today, the USAToday, based on 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data, compared the totals from 2010 with 2000.

When I got up early this morning to watch YouTube montages that suggest American Idol’s Lauren and Scotty are dating (please be true), I didn’t have the time or patience for slow Internet service. I had a bus to catch and a limited amount of time to live vicariously through these two teenagers.

A few days into my trip to Ireland—a five-month period of “self reflection” otherwise known as a vacation—my friends and I needed a place to rent. The hostel we were staying in served free breakfast, but we also had to wear flip-flops in the shower to avoid contracting Athlete’s foot.

Cream soda Dum Dum lollipops don’t excite me as they once did—mostly because I am no longer 5 and I want a treat larger than my thumb nail—but when I see a Mystery Flavor floating around in a bag of boring oranges and strawberries, I have to open it. On a good day, my curiosity is rewarded with an exotic taste concoction other than the company’s 16 traditional flavors. German chocolate cake, what a surprise! Peach mango sorbet, I had no idea!

Have you noticed the yellow review stars appearing in Google search results?   Google is picking up reviews from various places on the web, and inserting them into the RESULTS pages. This means that before a prospect even decides to click on your website, they are seeing a rating of your community— assuming one exists. 

When I was a young girl and came home after a night out with my family, I always stepped inside the house, turned on all the lights and immediately shouted, “Any witches, robbers or ghosts, please come out!” As you can imagine, the moments following that desperate plea were terrifying. Had a witch suddenly made her presence known, I don’t know what the next step would have been.

Large water rate increases are being adopted in many regions across the country. With water bills likely increasing in many regions around the country, it might be time to reevaluate your land scaping, and how this affects your water usage. 

Microwave popcorn is pretty straightforward. You take the bag out of the wrapper, put it in the microwave right-side up, and remove it when the kernels have popped. All things considered, it’s an easy task for the average college-educated professional.

Then again, I never claimed to be average.

Writing about your friends and family, it turns out, is a tricky thing.

When I started doing my weekly blog for APTly Spoken, I wanted to create material that was fresh and funny—something that really pushed the envelope. Unfortunately, I’ve pushed a little too hard.

I always loved swimming in my grandma’s pool in Maryland, but the water was absolutely freezing. It wasn’t exactly Titanic cold, but if Rose were there, I would have put up a good fight for that piece of wood she hogged while Jack froze to death.

When a picture of an apartment community that’s advertised on the Internet is blurry or taken from far away, I don’t assume a poorly trained photographer is to blame. I assume this is a place, if seen in person, that would haunt my dreams. Coincidentally, the same logic can be applied to online dating profiles.

To improve your community’s image, hire a good photographer who will take stunning, in-focus close-ups of your property. Otherwise, people are going to think your property is a Mona Lisa—decent looking from afar, a little worse for wear when you view it up close.

When the weather is nice, I like to jog one mile to an upscale grocery store near my apartment, indulge in a few samples of cheese, bread and cookies as fellow shoppers watch my sweat collect on the tile floor, and then run back home. Clearly, my love for free things knows very few bounds. Unfortunately, the same can be said for my ex co-worker. In addition to the typical coffee and tea selections, my previous employer had free bottles of juice in each staff kitchen. I respectfully limited myself to one orange juice per day, but “Margaret” lacked such self-control.

It started innocently enough. I was visiting the Facebook page from a friend from my high school days and wanted to write on his wall and I noticed a familiar multifamily housing industry face on the “mutual” friends’ section. I was intrigued. Was it possible that one of my industry colleagues knew my friend, Ed? The one who sat across the aisle from me in Calculus? Who married his high-school sweetheart and who was profiled in a best-selling book?

I started SatisFacts, and adore what I do, for a reason…it relates to my passion for caring, dedication and service…and this passion has to do with how I was raised and my DNA.  I have always been very sensitive to service.  I am inspired when I interact with someone who really cares about how they perform for you.  My reaction is 180 degrees different when I deal with someone who just does not care.  My view is that if you are being paid to do a job, autograph your work with excellence.

I moved to Ireland less than a month after my college graduation, without a job or a place to live. Why this concerned my parents, I’ll never understand. After desperately searching the classifieds for two weeks, my friend and I saw an ad for a job selling sandwiches with “The Tasty Sandwich Guy.” That’s not at all sketchy.

I read an intriguing point in a discussion about revenue management: “Turn cost is a factor, but it is also a sunk cost unless you wish to favor renewals over new leases.” Ah, “unless” you favor protecting your existing revenue stream!  This is a huge issue…leasing/marketing vs. retention. Which should be the priority...and why?

My 21-year-old brother used to argue that his bedroom felt more “cozy” and “lived-in” when it was an absolute mess, so it really shouldn’t have come as much of a shock when we visited him in college and saw an apartment in dire need of a good cleaning. “I didn’t raise you like this,” my mother said, vigorously scrubbing the bathtub walls. Apparently, she did.
Student residents such as my brother are part of a breed all on its own.

Of all the things I tend to take for granted (sometimes) in life, breathing is one of the basics.  As in:  sun’s gonna rise, my heart is still thumping, got air, and they took taxes out of my check.

When my last roommate moved out, I had the pleasure of helping to repaint her tangerine-colored bedroom back to its original, glorious shade of off-white. I’m all for roommate bonding, but I’d prefer that it involve a box of (rather cheap) wine and my 90th screening of Pretty Woman, not toxic fumes and three coats of primer.

I had a scary thing happen to me last month. And I need to share it with all of you.

I happened to stop by a community while visiting family over the holidays. I pass it all the time when I am traveling to see my parents, and have always wanted to stop by. So, I finally did. It taught me a valuable lesson. And it can teach one to you as well.

Ask your typical apartment maintenance person what a CFL is and they’ll tell you, why of course it’s the Canadian Football League, where undersized football stars go to finish their careers!  While that is true, in the ever more green, sustainable, eco-friendly, low carbon footprint, renewable and recyclable world of business these days, a CFL is actually a compact fluorescent lightbulb.

My roommate and I were sitting on the couch one Friday night, watching our fourth episode of Gilmore Girls and eating Dairy Queen Blizzards—perhaps the reason why that 1999 New Years resolution to have a boyfriend still hangs in the balance—when I heard water running.

I went, as always, for the food. It was last December and my apartment community was hosting a holiday party to provide its residents with the opportunity to mingle. Some took this more seriously than others.