Do review Web sites give business owners enough say? The subject popped up again on my radar screen when I saw a story about a California veterinary center suing review site Yelp “for allegedly promising to bury bad reviews in exchange for purchasing $3,600 worth of advertising on the site.”

Got empty apartment units in your building that face north?

Just read a posting "What Makes Residents Renew"; this included discussing resident events to help with retention.  I am actually going to share my reply here.

How difficult is it to get your child, your pet, your best friend or family member to smile and say “cheese” for the camera. The person blinks, a hair is out of place, their smile looks weird or their shirt has a spot on it. Even when the setting is right, there’s still the chance the camera is out of focus.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced this week that nearly 200 apartment units in New York City will become more energy efficient as the result of $3.6 million in funding being awarded to Jonathan Rose Companies, a New York-based property owner and developer. It is the first award to be announced under HUD's new Green Retrofit Program for Multifamily Housing, created through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Brent Sobol is no stranger to crime. He fights it on a daily basis at the 1,100 apartment units he owns and operates in the Atlanta area.

Even though Meredith Ginter lives on the sixth floor of a high-rise, she’s only steps from her parking space.

Ginter’s unique situation is the result of an uncommon parking arrangement at her Charlotte apartment community, the 310-unit Ashton South End. The building’s parking garage extends six and a half stories high from the basement level and includes secured-access, double-glass-door entrances on each of the first six floors.

Do you ever get the feeling that the financial news is coming to you in a different language? Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson of NPR’s Planet Money recently had a clever take on 2009’s financial news. As Blumberg points out in the story, when a big bank or real estate company borrows millions or billions of dollars, we don’t call it borrowing money. We call it accessing credit or liquidity. But no matter what terms they used, REIT executives and real estate investors this year were really saying one simple thing: No one will lend us money.

There’s no argument that maintenance technicians are important players in the game of apartment community management. And when vital regulations are handed down from federal agencies, it is often the staff in the maintenance shop who are the most affected.

On Monday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took steps to issue regulations on greenhouse gases. This would enable the administration to limit emissions across the economy even if Congress does not pass so called “cap and trade” legislation.

For most of us, winter has already arrived. These low temperatures of the season can affect us all, not to mention the living conditions for our residents. It is a must that maintenance employees have a proactive approach in getting ready for the winter.

A property manager speaks out against an apartment ratings site, saying the fee model encourages nasty comments that can damage managers’ reputations.

Although it’s already nearly November, I learned this week that October is National Crime Prevention Month. After reading an article that we are publishing in the November issue of UNITS magazine that brings crime prevention to the forefront, I realized it’s a subject apartment managers may need to think about year-round.

In July’s Dipping a Toe in the Securitization Pool, I covered a new program from Freddie Mac designed to bring liquidity and more affordable credit to apartment borrowers. Real estate attorney Timothy L. Gustin discussed the legal issues involved in securing the two types of Freddie Mac financing in an article entitled “The Return of Securitized Lending: Freddie Mac Launches CMBS Loan Product” in the Minnesota Real Estate Journal.

Distressed assets are a hot topic among real estate investors, with many funds pooling their capital to snap up value-priced properties from reluctant bank owners or borrowers unable to refinance their loans. But while investors may find a couple of deals on the market, they will most likely be frustrated if they’re expecting a flood of assets for sale at cut-rate prices.

Retention Question: Is the industry's focus on leasing/marketing versus retention in proper balance?  I propose that if one really wants to boost performance, even in today's uber-challenging markets, one must adjust focus!

I had the opportunity to attend the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington (AOBA)’s 2009 Green Conference this week, and the event reinforced a belief I’ve held for quite a while. The buzz and fashionable allure of “Green” is fading. But what remains are pragmatic solutions to environmental problems that can benefit any company’s bottom line—including those in the apartment industry.

You might recall a previous post about my friend whose apartment showed signs of mouse/mice presence, but whose management company didn't consider the issue a maintenance priority until my friend e-mailed the management firm's corporate president and copied both of her onsite community managers.

Speaking of augmented reality (AR) in a previous post, I'm now excited to report that apartment REIT UDR went live Sept. 14 with a AR layer specifically geared toward renters.

Pablo Paz gives his Top 10 tips for preparing for winter time at your communities.

How does your apartment community deal with work orders and service requests? Here's the real-life horror story, told by one of my renter friends, and how she finally got management to take her apartment’s mouse issue seriously.

Craigslist, a mass of classified ads for everything from jobs to dates to furniture, has a love/hate relationship with apartment seekers and apartment providers alike.

On Aug. 31 NAA filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in an Arizona state appellate court. The brief sets forth legal and public policy arguments that address litigation arising out of a resident’s exposure to mold at an apartment community – specifically, the dearth of scientific evidence supporting a causal link between mold exposure and adverse health effects.

Many forward-thinking decision-makers in the apartment industry are paying closer attention to mobile apps, believing such technology is what their customers want and need in their search for apartments.

Like most industries today the Apartment industry is facing some real economic challenges.  Small and large operations alike are working to tackle the difficult job of doing more with less. Sourcing parts of an operation up to and including select management functions is a great management option.  Sourcing the analysis and assessment of what to do and how to do it (management advisory services) is perhaps a better management option.

The California Green Building Code officially went into effect at the beginning of this month. Though now in effect, the CalGreen Code does not become mandatory until 2010, giving developers a one year transition period to ensure compliance. Does this represent the future for Building Codes across the country?

Good signage for your community often results in more traffic and lease agreements. Signs should clearly identify, direct and inform customers, visitors and guests. If the signs don't achieve their intended function, people may become disoriented and frustrated – a bad thing for your community.

Are any of you maintaining Twitter accounts for individual apartment communities as a means of marketing? If so, there is something you should know: Teens (and young people up through age 24) don't tweet, according to an Aug. 5 Mashable article.

Smartphone applications are lifesavers for apartment residents and owners alike — they can locate the nearest Chinese restaurant when you don't want to cook, help you pass the time with Tetris, find out what's happening in local entertainment over the weekend... and tell you if there are any sex offenders in your neighborhood?

A Pennsylvania District Judge's  extemporaneous endorsement of  the PAA Landlord/Tenant Lease and Law Handbook, and AAGP's standing to sue on behalf of its members underscores the value of Associations to their members.

Every day your residents drive by signs offering FREE RENT. In addition, there is a loud well-organized voice speaking through television, blogs, websites and print promoting free rent. We all know that this is has a negative long-term financial impact on our business. How can we respond effectively to this growing market trend?

My most challenging management issues have generally centered on Property Managers that were either neglecting or poorly performing their job duties, protecting poorly performing employees and/or had a poor attitude. Similar to a Regional Property Manager or Regional Vice President, I am not consistently at a community day in and day out to witness the work and attitude of others. If a problem is suspected, it is like putting pieces of a puzzle together to fully understand the big picture. While there are telltale signs such as declining occupancy, poor leasing performance, low renewal retention, employee turnover, or survey results; problems with the manager are often not obvious.

Chicago-based multifamily real estate company AMLI Residential closed a deal this month to sell the 592-unit AMLI at Chevy Chase apartment community for $60 million, one of the largest deals in the country so far this year. What’s your take on this transaction? Is it a sign of bigger deals to come, or just an outlier?

As the NAA Conference nears, I've been thinking about questions the industry would want to ask Tony Hsieh, Jeremiah Owyang, and Pete Flint.

What would you want to ask Tony Hsieh, Jeremiah Owyang, and Pete Flint?

Put your questions in the comments below or email me at eric@rentwiki.com and I'll try to ask them during the Thought Leadership panel Saturday morning.

Those who know me are aware that I am passionate about trying to help shift the industry into making residents the top priority - more important than prospects.  While some view me as a “contrarian” (I can’t disagree), there is a reason behind my passion and points - because there is a clear need for the industry to adjust its focus so as to improve performance for who is really #1 - the owner of the asset.  Be prepared to be blown away by the performance of a long term client - and how they are growing asset value by tens of millions of dollars during the economic downturn.

Recently, as I strolled down a residential street on my way to a lunch appointment, I stopped cold in my tracks and just had to take a photo of one apartment community’s attempt at curb appeal. The silk flowers had obviously been there awhile – (I think that at one time the leaves had been green), and words can’t accurately describe the overall impact the ensemble had at declaring the community dead, cheap and lifeless.

Lesson of the day: The consumer can spot a fake.

In 2004, the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study that found that no scientific evidence exists to support the belief that the accumulation of mold causes any significant health risks for persons with normally functioning immune systems. The lack of a scientific link between mold infestation and health problems coupled with favorable court rulings on the issue have lead to a decrease in successful mold lawsuits against apartment communities. Nevertheless, some residents continue to bring actions against owners based on the presence of mold in the dwelling unit.

One thing's for sure: it's not your new-to-the-job-market Generation Y residents. Thirty-five percent of the under-30 crowd has trouble paying rent or mortgage or have faced job losses in their households, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.

For those of you that are curious about how many people have downloaded the apartment industry’s first iPhone app, (you have probably seen the app in Apple’s latest iPhone commercials or as part of their nationwide print campaign), Apartment Guide released figures today. Brace yourselves, the numbers are staggering.

When treating bed bugs, pest management companies typically offer a standardized, multi-step treatment protocol. But even if the pest company currently being used is independently owned, don’t assume they can’t do the job, says Paul Bello, entomologist and consultant to the pest management and other industries. Bello share nine questions to ask your pest management contractor about their bed bug treatment.

Just because your buildings aren’t built green doesn’t mean you can’t go green. I stumbled across a resource recently that could be utilized by almost any community across the country to promote green initiatives - www.localharvest.org provides a zip code search to find nearby farmers’ markets, family farms and others sources of sustainably grown food where your residents can buy produce, grass-fed meats, honey products and many other goodies, including gift baskets.

You don’t need me to tell you that times are tough in our industry, with apartments hard to rent and residents hard to retain. And I don’t need you to tell me that, either, as I am hearing a recurring question these days that makes it abundantly clear the challenges that landlords are facing. What is that recurring question? How can I treat prospects/ applicants/ residents differently without getting into fair housing trouble? There are many variations on that theme: Can I offer a different deal to two different prospects? Do all rental renewal rates have to be the same? Don’t I have to be consistent in order to be in compliance with fair housing law?

Are your online marketing efforts age- or demographic-specific?

Are your text messages and mobile alerts lost on a prospective resident base that only accesses the Internet from a work or home stationary computer -- if at all?

The Pew Research Center recently released a survey that finds that although Americans sure love surfing the World Wide Web, a surprising 61 percent of them have not made the leap to mobile communication and information technology.

After the jump, Archstone’s Group Vice President of Strategic Systems, Donald Davidoff, and Search Engine Optimization’s Vice President of Business Development, Krish Coughran, provide some general principles for marketers hoping to improve a Web site’s rank in search engine results. What are some of the strategies your company is using?

The lengthy and passionate comments to my blog on print advertising certainly speak to the energy behind this topic. I originally posted the blog in response to a small group of messages, resonating across cyberspace, from a small number of bloggers who are advocating pulling print. Interestingly enough, the first comments posted show the passion of these online marketing leaders who continue to believe that print is dying, if not dead. It’s important that a dialogue with this much passion behind it continues, but it’s also important to me to find out what other people are thinking on the topic.

How often does someone walk into a leasing office and rent everything you have available? This rarely happens if ever at all. The leasing business is a one-on-one business. You're leasing one apartment at a time and yet the most widely used practice is to put every floor plan on sale at the same time.

More than ever, over the next two years, apartment companies need to focus on what they can control. Winning and retaining the right residents will make the difference...The final frontier of online leasing is signing the lease contract and move-in forms.

Around every corner I hear the gloom and doom. Whether it’s properties claiming they can’t compete with the concessions being offered down the street, or crazy surveys claiming that 96% of all residents will be moving this year...Despite challenging market conditions and economic times, a focus on what matters to residents can lead to increased retention - it starts with managing "perceived value."

Does your community website say “Apply now!” but then link unhelpfully to a static form to be downloaded, filled out and faxed? If so, you’re not alone, but you’re also lying to your customer. Worse, you’re missing out on the majority of renters who prefer to do business online.

In its April 29, 2009 Washington Update the National Multi Housing Council provided a brief summary of recently proposed New York City legislation that would address building energy consumption. As NYC is often looked to by other localities as a model when creating their own legislation on a particular issue I wanted to reproduce NMHC’s brief here just in case anyone missed it in the Washington Update. Any questions regarding this legislation can be direct either to myself or NMHC directly.