All Posts (Current-2010) 

I’ve had some pretty cool jobs and I’ve had some pretty bad jobs. All of them have been memorable. Take, for example, the day I sunk to a new low while selling sandwiches in Ireland.

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.

The wound is still fresh, the pain still very real. I put on a brave face at work but I often find myself in bed at night, staring up at the ceiling and thinking, “What if?” Such is the life of a Baltimore Ravens football fan.

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.

I saw a discussion group regarding the Net Promoter Score (NPS). Like many in the CRM field, I question the value of Fred Reichheld’s highly disputed NPS Harvard Business Review article “The Only Number You Need to Know.”

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.

Growing up, I loved two things: eating obscene amounts of Gushers and reading books. In addition to my love for literature (and processed food), I had an English teacher for a father who corrected me every time I said “me” instead of “I” and an uncle who used words that haven’t been around since the 17th century.

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.

I was listening to The Fray this morning and one of my favorite songs of theirs (though I really do like them all) is You Found Me. It got me thinking about "who I am, who I'm not and who I want to be" and how easy it is to not really know; especially in a business that wants you to be many things. It’s easy to lose yourself. Sounds ominous, right? It really isn’t—it’s about self discovery and your true professional passion.

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.

It’s that time of year again. Time to gather the family around the proverbial Yule log before mocking that 14-page holiday letter you get every year from those family “friends” you can’t stand. Time to watch your mother have a meltdown when she realizes the mashed potatoes she made for the Christmas party are the consistency of paste. Time to repeatedly tell your family members that you would rather they not blow noisemakers in your ear for a full five minutes before the ball drops on New Years Eve.

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.

The summer before my junior year of college, my family went on a cruise to the Virgin Islands. Each day on the boat, while the other passengers my age were flirting by the pool or trying to sneak into the casino, I was playing Bingo with the senior crowd.

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.

Many companies would like to be more environmentally responsible, but lack the motivation, time, or expertise to implement changes on their own. Whether you work in a large organization with thousands of employees or in a two-person office, you can persuade your managers to “buy in” to a green program with the right positioning.

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.

I believed in Santa Claus until I was 12. When my mom told me the truth I began crying and considered self-medicating with a mix of pills and candy canes before remembering that the Easter Bunny, thank God, was alive and well.

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.

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the things in our life for which we are truly grateful. For me, that’s family, friends and pants with an elastic waistband. And the sweet potato. But the list doesn’t end there.

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!

I once interned at a publishing company in Bath, England—and by interned, I mean sat at a desk in a basement that felt only slightly warmer than a meat locker and politely declined approximately 39 cups of the Brits’ beloved tea each day. There, I learned an important lesson about creativity.

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?

There are certain childhood memories that you take and exaggerate with each re-telling, until one day you genuinely believe that blown-up version you have created is the way it really was. Some—namely, my mother—would argue that is the case with each of my blogs. I assure you it is not.

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 came downstairs last Friday to find three diapers and a note waiting for me on the living room chair. I was at my parents’ house in Maryland for the weekend and my brother, 13-year-old cousin and I had decided to make the two-hour trip to Pennhurst Asylum, an old mental institution turned haunted house. My mom knew the Huggies would be necessary for when we inevitably lost control of our bowels.

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 used to have a strange fascination with the car wash. It seems weird, but so does my childhood dream of owning a balloon, bike and gun shop, so it’s easier to not ask questions. I just know I really enjoyed going to that car wash next to the snowball stand.

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.

I hadn’t worked in multifamily housing in a few years. Instead I left and worked with the Dale Carnegie Training Organization, honing my craft and providing training solutions and direction to businesses across the globe. I was, however, eager to get back to my first love… the apartment industry!

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.

The week I spent studying at Oxford was pure heaven. But it wasn’t because I was re-tracing the steps of John Locke, sitting in the same classroom where T.S. Eliot once penned poetic masterpieces or visiting the pub where Bill Clinton smoked “but didn’t inhale.” No, I couldn’t be bothered with such nonsense. I was too preoccupied with the likes of Mischa Barton.

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.

In San Francisco I was approached by a gentleman with a rat tail who was distraught after releasing his 16 exotic birds due to an impending eviction. He proceeded to flip through a tattered folder full of stained-glass sketches, the prettiest one being that of a lion. When I boarded the bus, he began drinking from a coffee cup he found on one of the seats.

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!

I’d like to think I have a few talents. Writing, playing the theme song to “Titanic” on my light-up Casio keyboard, investing inordinate amounts of energy in reality TV couples—these are all things I’m good at. But do-it-yourself (DIY) projects don’t make that list.

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.

I once pulled out a baby tooth, despite the fact that it wasn’t ready to come out, just to get a dollar. I had run out of birthday money and really wanted the latest Polly Pocket. A few years later, I found myself $300 in the red after losing many, many games of darts to my younger brother. I should have quit after the third game but I couldn’t stomach the thought of losing and felt double-or-nothing was the best approach. Naturally, this ended with me sobbing and nursing an over-worked right arm.

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

I hate the color pink. Aside from a few exceptions—Kimberley, the Pink Power Ranger, a pair of hot pink L.A. Gear high-top shoes I owned as a child and pink Starbursts—I’m just not a fan.

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.

The future is all about Wi-Fi. For some, this trend has already started. Wi-Fi is a wireless local area network for Internet access. It will soon be everywhere as cable providers expand their networks to include Wi-Fi, but for a price. Over the next few years, you may be forced to offer this service in almost all of your community access areas, such as your lobby, washroom, swimming pool, etc. That is, if you are not already offering it. What’s scary is that your residents will expect you to do this! But don’t worry – it’s not that expensive and is rather easy to set up!

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!

Here are some more tools and tips on how you can use Facebook to benefit your community - be unique, be proactive and be apps friendly.

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.

With its 600 million users and average daily session time of 25 minutes, Facebook provides an exceptional opportunity for visibility, Google indexing, live search ability, and fan engagement.

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.

When I was in pre-school, my grandma came in for Grandparents Day. That afternoon, our teacher asked us to draw a picture for our guests. While all of the other students excitedly drew elaborate houses, families and animals—which I find hard to believe since we were 4 years old, but so says my grandma—I plucked a purple crayon out of the box, drew a single line on the paper and announced that I was finished. It’s a happy coincidence my favorite book was “Harold and the Purple Crayon.”

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.

Is it me, or does it seem that profanity and expletives have become more common in regular business interactions? And there are a few residents who take those choice words to a whole new level when they are not happy with the service or the answers you provide.

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.

When I’m working out in my community gym, I don’t want residents in the clubhouse and pool watching me through floor-to-ceiling windows as I sweat like a pig in a bacon factory. There’s a reason I’m on a treadmill and not laying out in a bikini by the water. Nothin’ to see here, folks!

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.

Get your front row seat and have unfettered access to Military and Department of Defense Leaders who can answer questions that have been ruminating with your staff! Join DoD Leadership from the Pentagon, CNIC, Marine Corps Headquarters and the Air Force Center for Engineering and Environment to ask all your burning questions for the future initiatives of the Armed Services and Housing Privatization.

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!

According to the Myers-Briggs personality assessment—or, to be more accurate, a free version I found on a questionable website—I am an INFP, or Idealist. Among other things, INFP’s are laid-back, non-confrontational, highly intuitive, focused on making the world a better place and talented writers. Hey, I didn’t make this up—it’s science. They may also have problems working in a group setting due to “control issues,” but let’s focus on the positive.

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.

Don’t you wish you had a crystal ball that showed you the future of the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI)? A simple wave over the crystal ball, the mutter of a magic word, and the entire future would be revealed to you.

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.

I’m so excited to be presenting at the National Apartment Association Conference this year, especially because of the topic! Combine my military experience with my social media experience and then add my love for the multifamily industry and we’ll have a perfect recipe for a session! Marketing Boot Camp: Marketing to Today’s Military Families will have four parts. The portion I am presenting will be Social Marketing for Military Housing.

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.

Do you think you know how to communicate with today's student? Can you text speak, relate to slang, understand all the technology and make sense of the pop culture references? Keeping up with this population is a constant challenge.

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!

It was Halloween freshman year of college. Most of my dormmates were stripping down to bits of string and cloth—items that, put together, would only pass for a “costume” at a nudist colony (or college)—and going to a party off-campus. I, on the other hand, was adjusting my bonnet—the final touch of my Martha Washington ensemble—and doing a few calisthenics in preparation for two grueling hours of neighborhood trick-or-treating.

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.

At the age of six or seven, I watched the movie “The Electric Grandmother.” It was a film that would shake me to my core. The 1982 horror movie masquerading as a “touching” made-for-TV special is about a family of children who learn to cope with the death of their mother in the most heartwarming and logical of ways: they go to a factory and order an electric (read: android freak) grandmother to serve as a new mother figure.

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.

SatisFacts is excited to announce the 2010 national resident satisfaction award winners. Achieving a Superior or Exceptional award says that the company’s leadership and team members are focused on the actionable best practices that impact satisfaction and retention…and their residents are validating that point! Congrats to the award winners!

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.

If I were named CEO, which will probably happen in three to four years tops, my immediate to-do list would be as follows: 1. Get a door for my cubicle. Or at least some decorative beads for the entryway. 2. Institute Macaroni Mondays. One box per employee, strictly of the shell variety. I like it when the cheese gets trapped inside. 3. Commission an artist to paint a window with pretty scenery and a big sun in the background on one of my cube walls since I have no access to a real window or any sort of sunlight.

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.

When you exude confidence, you naturally attract others. People listen to you, follow you, and even buy from you. Displaying confidence assures people that you know what you’re doing. People who exude self-confidence know they have what it takes to master difficult situations, and they are not afraid of failure.

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.

Every once in a while I Google “Resident Retention” just to see what comes up. And each time, I am disappointed in the results. In an industry that has seen customer turnover fluctuate between 55 percent and 62 percent over the past 10 years, do we really believe that the answer is better move-in gifts, cute door hangers and more pizza parties?

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.

We live in a world that seems to focus on price— not value. Price is only one factor in a buying decision. What we often don’t realize is that we make value-based buying decisions every day. We buy our clothes, cars and food based on the perceived value that we get from what we purchase.

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.

Identifying qualified leads can have a big impact on the productivity and effectiveness of leasing teams. Not all prospective residents are ready to sign a lease. Without prioritization, your leasing agents could hound a prospect who is six months away from moving while another “ready-to-move” prospect goes untouched.

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.

Sometimes the simplest changes are the hardest to implement. Safety training is about achieving behavioral change, and getting people to change their routine, even in a seemingly minor way, can be hard to accomplish unless the individuals involved “buy in” on the benefit (to them – not you) outweighing the effort to change that work habit.

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?

Whenever America’s favorite snaggle-toothed singer, Jewel, talks about her past life as a homeless person living out of her car, I picture her in an environment very similar to that of my 1996 Jeep. A co-worker who will remain nameless (Michelle) once likened the contents of my car to something you would see on Hoarders. While I respectfully disagree, I will admit I could survive quite comfortably should I ever find my car trapped in some sort of ravine.

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.

Two years ago, my friends and I had the pleasure of renting a house in Ireland from a 20-something ex-rugby player named Ted. At the risk of sounding like 1950’s teenager, Ted was dreamy. His accent was to-die-for, he had shoulders as broad as a Buick, and his teeth were both white and straight—a real rarity in the U.K.

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 attended a standing-room only Resident Retention Round Table recently, and was shocked to hear the panelists basically say that no matter what you do as a resident retention strategy, your turnover will remain about the same. (Which is exactly opposite of what our research has shown!)

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?

So, I have this “friend” and she’s on an online dating site. After pondering which service would best suit her needs, “my friend” remembered reading an article that said it’s OK to feel desperate—you just can’t act like it. So for her, that meant joining something that was free. Paying for a boyfriend just seemed wrong, and something she certainly wasn’t willing to consider until at least the age of 30. But you get what you pay for. Or don’t pay for.

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.

Did you know that 95 percent of sales happen after the 5th attempt?It takes more than a smile and product knowledge to succeed in leasing—you must follow-up, too. Learn some tips to help you create a follow-up strategy that will help you increase the number of leases that you're getting.

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.

National studies have shown that the average tenure for a resident is nine months or less—a scary statistic when it costs an average of five times more to turnover an apartment than it does to keep an existing resident.

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 am sure we are all blown away regularly by how some businesses operate. I scratch my head…it’s clear not everyone is really trying to take care of clients, create positive experiences, or improve performance. I had to share several recent experiences.

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.

If you want a free trip to Las Vegas, here’s your chance. In recognition of National Apartment Careers Month in February, the NAA Education Institute (NAAEI) is calling for submissions for its “Get Reel” Career Video Challenge posted on YouTube, where you are eligible to win a trip to the 2011 NAA Conference & Exposition in Sin City. All you have to do is submit a 30- to 60-second video covering a day in your life as an apartment industry professional. It’s that easy.

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.

Last year I made the questionable decision to leave three carved pumpkins on my apartment balcony until late January. Some would call this lazy, but I had a pretty busy winter playing online Family Feud and there just wasn’t time to dispose of them.

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.

My New Years’ resolutions have never really panned out. Past hopes and dreams have included finding a meaningful relationship (an ongoing, indefinite goal since 1999), learning how to play my Casio light-up keyboard, and meeting Julia Roberts on Oprah (who has yet to respond to my letter). Luckily, 2011 is looking a little brighter for the apartment industry, according to several industry advisory and research firms.

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.

The Boston family is a lot of things, but technologically savvy we are not. My dad refused to get Internet service until 2002 and my mother’s one and only computer skill is browsing Oprah.com (after a great deal of tutelage from her wonderful, patient daughter). Did I mention her cell phone has an antenna? Due to the aforementioned family history, you can imagine my reaction if, as a prospective resident, I saw a leasing agent suddenly whip out an iPad and pull up a floor plan. I would be wowed.

When I mention bedbugs to my apartment management clients, they almost unanimously roll their eyes and make gestures as if they are praying that this new scourge does not descend on their specific property. Some form a cross with their fingers as if to ward off these little vampires of the insect world.

Training is a process, not an event. For training to be effective, employees have to apply what is learned on the job. Otherwise, all of the time, money, and effort spent on training is wasted.

While preparing to put together UNITS’ annual “What’s IN and What’s OUT” article for 2011—a list of trendy or outdated strategies, products, services or attitudes in apartment management—I started to think about what I wish was in and what I wish was out for the new year: In - Communal Golf Carts. Out - Resident (OK, My) Stupidity.

Everyone is plowing through their 2011 budgets. How can we reduce costs? How can we boost income (or stop the bleeding)? How can we make the numbers work? How are we going to grow NOI and asset value for our client, the owner of the asset? For years we have talked about the dramatic impact turnover has on the bottom line. When we quote that each move-out costs over $4,000, sometimes folks question the figure…until they see how we calculate it.

After commuting three hours to and from work for four months, I hit my breaking point one night while eating another peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner on the train home. This was no longer OK. The next weekend my future roommate and I drove down to Northern Virginia and gave ourselves one day to find an apartment that didn’t require a marathon commute. We called a dozen communities, and those whose staff didn’t answer the phone were automatically given three strikes.

Apartment communities always highlight their sparkling-blue swimming pools, stainless steel appliances and cardio theater rooms, all of which most residents want at their ideal property. But what about marketing the features that residents need? A few weeks after those ambitious New Year’s resolutions are made, many residents stop using the gym. And nine months out of the year, the pool isn’t even open in many markets. So why not brag about the amenities that will really make a daily difference in your residents’ lives?

In Part I of the blog, "On-Again, Off-Again: Are Your Employees Engaged?" we discussed how engaged employees can affect resident retention. Now it's time to talk about how to get your employees more engaged.

One morning during a Girl Scout camping trip, our troop leader decided it would be fun if she tied our breakfast—bananas, apples, and those mini boxes of cereal—to pieces of string and hung them from tree branches in the woods before instructing us to go “hunt” for our food. Despite the inherent lameness of this breakfast hunt—and the fact that we had to work for our food—it was presented as a game and I was on board. I spent the next fifteen minutes running through the woods like a madwoman, bulldozing over fellow Brownies while frantically searching for the coveted box of Trix cereal we all wanted. Have I mentioned I’m competitive?

When it comes to anything free, people can get greedy. They don't play nice and they don't leave extras for others. Well, websites that allow free advertising are no different. Because even free advertising costs time and resources, it’s important to know the best practices for getting the most out of your time, resources and free advertising.

I’m 24 years old, and I learned how to write my first check last year. This makes me sound like the spoiled daughter of a rich entrepreneur, but I’m actually the self-sufficient offspring of a high school teacher. I just pay for everything online—rent included.

Getting renters insurance is like wearing a bike helmet. It’s something I know I should do, but won’t until it’s too late and I’m sitting in my ransacked apartment tearfully tallying up the worth of my stolen, uninsured rock collection (or, in the case of the latter, in the Emergency Room with a cracked skull).

Long before I became the President of New Boston Management Services, I was just another follower in my youth of local classic rock bands in Upstate New York. Fast forward to my 50th birthday and for 3 subsequent years, I had the privilege of attending Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp in LA, where I was fortunate enough to play guitar alongside and hang with some of the real classic rock heroes – Roger Daultry (The Who), Dicky Betts (The Allman Brothers), Jack Blades (Night Ranger), and Simon Kirke (Bad Company) among many others.

I splattered spaghetti sauce all over my family room carpet last week. Again. Eat in the kitchen like a civilized person, you’re probably thinking. Well, I happen to enjoy eating my dinner while watching Gilmore Girls on DVD, and possibly staining the carpet is a risk I’m willing to take. To my surprise, though, the aforementioned accidents did not result in permanent stains. A little Spray n’ Wash and the carpet was as good as new. Communities can control the maintenance of common area flooring, but it’s much harder to make sure residents are taking care of their own apartments. My roommate and I have an unspoken agreement to leave our shoes at the door, but we also have an unspoken agreement that we’re only going to vacuum when our parents visit. When I was looking for an apartment, I was preoccupied with square footage, closet space and the condition and appearance of the bathroom. I didn’t think about flooring until I moved in and dropped my first plate of noodles.

We recently wrote a new training module on resident retention for the 21st century and it got us thinking about how it’s equally as important to retain employees as it is to retain residents—maybe even more so.

Jen Piccotti and I presented the above title at NAA’s 2010 Education Conference & Exposition in June. Then, last Thursday I presented a similar seminar at the Central Virginia Apartment Association’s annual conference in Richmond. What was so exciting to me was what a property manager shared with me after my seminar was done.

I have a debilitating addiction to the show The Bachelor. Unfortunately, I don’t have a TV in my apartment, so I wake up at 5 a.m. every Tuesday morning to watch the latest episode online before I go to work. Judge me if you will, but those dramatic rose ceremonies keep me coming back for more. Due to my aforementioned addiction, few things make me more upset than waking up at the crack of dawn, going on abc.com, and discovering that the latest episode is not yet available, as originally promised. Now imagine my frustration if I were a new renter ready to move in to a brand-new apartment, only to be told I would have to wait another three months due to construction delays. I have enough trouble waiting an extra day for a TV show—90 days for my home seems unbearable.

It’s certainly not too early to start planning for next year. MPF Research recently reviewed its Third Quarter numbers, and positive momentum continues to build nationwide.

The Statue of Liberty stands on the median strip of a busy intersection a mile from my parents’ house, offering discounted tax services and complimentary cookies to one and all. She’s not the real Statue of Liberty—but she still gets the point across. The mystery woman I’ve seen for the last eight years was hired by a local accounting firm to dress up as Lady Liberty—foam torch to boot—and maniacally spin a large company sign with her free hand. I take some small pleasure in laughing at her every time I drive by, but I have to admit, she gets my attention. These human directionals may seem silly, but some multifamily housing companies swear by them.

At UNITS magazine, we often fancy ourselves as a top-shelf, newsstand-grade publication that aims to bring NAA members the best and most interesting news of the month in the apartment industry. We really enjoy covering this business. We hope it shows in our writing and design.

In the words of music mogul P. Diddy, it’s all about the Benjamins. For those of you who are behind on your slang, the rapper was referring to the importance of earning those $100 bills. The song was released in 1996, but the message is timeless. And whether it’s the rap world or the multifamily housing industry, money makes the world go round. But does that mean sacrificing your social responsibility along the way? Not if you’re Ginkgo Residential.

The movie "Home Alone" sits on a shelf in my apartment, collecting dust for months at a time. But tell me it's coming on TV and I'm perched on the couch faster than Macaulay Culkin can scream his signature "AHHHHH." Like most Americans, I suppose I have a slight addiction to TV, but there's just something about watching your favorite character on that crystal-clear plasma screen that beats streaming via the Internet any day. And as Henry Pye and Chris Acker explain in their article, "The Future of Cable TV," in the September issue of units, most renters are still very much engaged in the national love affair with cable TV.

Getting your residents together for a special event is a fantastic resident retention tool. Not only does it show your residents you care about them by showing them a good time, it also gives them an opportunity to socialize with their neighbors and form a bond with your community. Holding regular resident events is a crucial tool to making your residents stay put!

I received the following voicemail last week: “Lauren, it’s Mom. I’m on the computer Googling celebrities and a message just popped up that says I won a free laptop because I’m the 100th visitor! Can I click “Yes” to get the laptop?” My mother is about as computer-savvy as the Amish, but despite her frustrations, technology continues to advance at a rapid pace with no sign of slowing down. Googling Brad Pitt is a hobby, but for those in the apartment industry, mastering the latest technology is a must. It can be challenging, however, to identify which technology trends are fads and which ones are here to stay. Top executives from the leading providers of multifamily technology solutions responded to questions about this challenge during a 90-minute discussion at the NAA 2010 Education Conference & Exposition in New Orleans in June.

Any apartment community that’s within walking distance of a Costco is a place I’d like to call home. Throw in a Jacuzzi, a view of the Washington Monument and a staff that would call my dog, Snickers, by name, and you’ve got The Metropolitan at Pentagon City—NAA’s 2010 PARAGON Community of the Year. And it’s so much more than that. Below are four reasons why the 325-unit Northern Virginia community managed by Kettler Management is the hot ticket in town.

How do you think the average leasing team is doing and how do you compare? I recently had the pleasure of reviewing last quarter’s industry report card from CallSource, where they conducted a Telephone Performance Analysis of 1,436 communities nationwide.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure—and I use that term loosely—of working as a valued Target team member, you’re well aware of the required red polo-khaki pants uniform. During my three months as a sales floor associate, I witnessed the power of such an ensemble. A plain polo shirt and khakis are fairly standard pieces in anyone’s wardrobe, but the Target brand was so deeply intertwined with the red and tan pairing that customers could spot me—a beacon of retail knowledge—a mile away. I wasn’t pleased with my uniform’s familiarity once the thrill of escorting customers to the toothbrush aisle waned, but Target was more than happy my clothing was associated with their brand.

I'm sure you'll agree, building rapport and trust with your prospects is one of, if not the most, important presentation skills you can learn. It's been said that people only buy from people they like and trust.

My roommate is about as indecisive as they come. She once spent 45 minutes in the school supplies aisle at Walmart fretting over the purchase of a Day Planner as if she were deciding whether or not to join the Peace Corps. I had the pleasure of waiting for her to make up her mind. As you can imagine, deciding which apartment community to call home was a nearly impossible task for her. If my roommate was going to sign a lease in the next 20 years, the leasing professional on hand was really going to have to sell it to her.

I've done a fair amount of property shopping in my days and the one thing that always turned me off from an apartment was the way it smelled. There are far too many apartments out there that smell like cigarette smoke, cooking odors, pet waste, cleaning products and just plain yuckiness for me to count.

One of the most important things that my overpriced college education taught me was to be prepared for an interview--especially if you have a semi-useless English degree and are desperate for any job that doesn’t involve the option to Supersize your meal.

At my last job, I had a co-worker who “telecommuted” every Wednesday. And by telecommuted, I mean sat in his Ironman pajamas all day playing World of Warcraft and plowing through an entire box of Wheat Thins while periodically checking his e-mail. I’m fairly certain this was not the vision of our generous CEO when he encouraged a more ideal work/life balance, but let’s be real—the majority of telecommuters are not going to sit in a designated “work space” in their homes, dressed in khakis and a polo shirt. Telecommuting is appealing for that very reason—telecommuters have more flexibility in their work schedule and a more casual work environment.

I’d like to take a moment to shift gears and share with you the side of our industry that resonates very powerfully with me. It’s something that can often be pushed to the side in the course of busy and unpredictable days, but it is literally the heart and soul of what we do every day.

It’s hard to believe that five years ago, NAAEI’s staff of less than eight graded more than 26,000 modular, Scantron, paper-based CAMT exams. Some of the exams didn’t even include names or ID numbers and the over 3,500 enrollment forms had to be deciphered by staff and keyed into the NAA database.

We don’t think about it, but appliances make our everyday lives easier. Imagine your life without the luxury of a dishwasher or a refrigerator. It’s almost frightening to think of daily life without appliances, let alone a computer or cell phone. But chances are that most of us have had the misfortune of a home appliance not working for one reason or another and remember how much of an inconvenience it was when it happened?

Whenever I see a picture of the standard ribbon-cutting included in almost every grand opening event, I’m plagued by one burning question – where do you buy those giant scissors? The answer, it turns out, is fairly obvious – the Internet! Unfortunately, shopping for 3-foot scissors is just the beginning when it comes to planning an apartment grand opening. Hosting such an event can be an overwhelming project for a new community, but as I found out while writing a story for the July issue of units, a well-planned ceremony can provide the perfect opportunity to show off your new property, thank investors, celebrate the completion of the project and even recruit a few new residents.

In grade school during the 60’s, I was taught that America was a melting pot where different cultures melded together into a hybrid of commonalities. Today, students are taught the analogy of America as a salad bowl, full of different cultures and nationalities, each maintaining its own uniqueness, tastes and traditions while living in harmony with the other ingredients. In the apartment industry, so many of us are fearful when selling or serving a prospect from a different cultural background.

I have been very blessed over the years to be part of some of the most successful sales teams in the history of the multi-housing industry. Some of it was luck, some of it timing and the rest of it was great team work and leadership. I learned early on that how you treat your people has a direct impact on how they treat their customers. People are motivated by recognition, encouragement and a fun atmosphere, not by beating them with a stick.

It’s Not All Black & White – Redux is a fair housing program that goes beyond the more familiar topics such as race and color (not that those are not very important issues, of course, and we should never lose sight of that). “Redux” means…wait, I am not going to tell you now because just like “there’s an app for that”, “there’s a slide for that” in my presentation.

I’m thrilled to share what it takes to Think Like a Biz Owner at this year’s convention. It’ll be filled with researched strategies, options for different situations and practical solutions to assist you in assisting yourself and your teams.

I have had several people ask me why I choose leadership as my topic to speak on this year. Excellent question, and one that has several reasons as to why it came to the top of my list.

This blog post is from an article I wrote about the 10 keys to a happy workplace. These suggestions were written as an open letter to people in management or supervisory roles everywhere. Leaders spend their lives telling people what they want from them so here is a list of things that we want from you as our leader.

Many companies that have great success with rolling out a renter’s insurance program attribute their success, in part, to their property managers.

Attention to retention has increased as the rental pool has gotten smaller and smaller, as competitive housing has become more prevalent (condos, single family homes), as units are sitting vacant longer, and as concessions have grown. Because there are not as many prospective residents entering the front door and the costs associated with every move-out has grown to astronomical levels, owners and managers have become more and more focused on how each team member can personally “close the back door” to protect cash flow, net operating income (NOI) and asset value.

Before my days consisted of poly-blend dress pants and business cards, I served the hungry and impatient masses as a waitress at my hometown pizzeria. It was 2008 – the economy didn’t seem to be improving anytime soon – and my fellow servers were more than willing to voice their complaints over our dwindling tips and growing workload.

At last year’s NAA Education Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas we discussed that it was not time to panic about the impending EPA regulatory enforcement (HVAC Regulations: Panic Not Required). Now that these regulations are in place, and we have an idea how our industry is responding, it is time to look at and form a specific plan to deal with the changes.

For years I have obnoxiously (lol) been ranting about the need to make re-sales/retention minimally as important as sales/leasing. Over the last year or so I have been seeing more and more articles, blogs and discussion groups about retention. To see so many online discussions about turnover rates, improved retention, a new focus on service and the like is very exciting to me for a number of reasons.

Facebook, FourSquare, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter – everywhere we turn social networking has penetrated our personal and professional lives. It has become one of the hottest subjects in business and during the last year the multifamily industry has started to embrace social networking. Nearly every media outlet and industry conference dedicates time and resources to sing the praises of this important communication channel, but social networking has created a plethora of questions for today’s owner/operators.

The threat of bed bugs at your property may be keeping you awake at night, but don’t pull the covers over your head just yet.

It’s one of the dirtiest, four-letter words in the apartment industry: mold. Unfortunately, mold is everywhere, good and bad, from the air inside our homes to places in open air. The mold that we deal with in our industry can pose potentially harmful effects to residents, employees and to your company’s bottom line.

Numerous residential projects (both single as well as multi family) have been impacted by the severity of the current recession and, as a result, have become what is now characterized as "toxic." Purchasing a "toxic" asset is truly a "Buyer Beware" situation and while the potential upside may be great, there is a unique level of due diligence and risk management that must be performed prior to purchase completion.

Toni Blake and Russ Sandlin will debate the question, “How valuable is technology versus humanity for the future of multifamily housing?” at the 2010 NAA Education Conference and Exposition.

Apartment development is back—at least for one large apartment REIT. AvalonBay expects to start $500 million in new construction in 2010, according to Bryce Blair, CEO for the Arlington, Va.-based REIT.

According to statistics from Realty DataTrust’s VaultWare, which automatically posts users’ rent rates to multiple listing sites, 43 percent of communities as of April 22 are promoting a special offer, ranging from the waiving of application fees or security deposits to a month of free rent (the most popular special). The figure is down from 47 percent in January. Does that indicate that communities are beginning to cut back on concessions? I’ve heard anecdotally that that shift is certainly taking place in some markets, such as Austin. ARA’s Q1 U.S. Market Report found that effective rents have now begun to rise in 1/3 of the group’s 29 surveyed markets—likely an indicator that concessions are beginning to recede.

Watching Donald Trump struggle with a bag of overflowing trash is right up there with the Northern Lights on my list of things to see before I die. Coincidentally, I could have come very close to checking it off my life list this week, had the owners of more than 3,200 New York City apartment buildings not reached an agreement with 30,000 doormen threatening to go on strike.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m up to my eyeballs in apps. Directions to Aunt Debbie’s new apartment, a lead on an amazing San Francisco studio, properties that welcome my 100-pound German Shepherd: it’s all a touch away on your smartphone. Which begs the question, does this industry really need another app? UDR believes the answer is yes.

Zom recently began offering a “clothing optional” sun deck and is listing it among the amenities in print and online advertisements for La Maison, a luxury apartment community in Houston’s River Oaks area managed by Zom Residential Services. Needless to say, this amenity has received a few double-takes, created some buzz among residents and local media, driven some traffic to our property and has proven to be a valuable marketing tool for our community.

Whether you choose to use a contractor or do your own landscape and pool maintenance work for your apartment community, have these tips and checklists handy.

The exterior appeal of an apartment community has a great impact on people’s desire to live in it, and many companies know that to keep the exterior of a property in excellent condition is required to have a plan. Part of this plan should be to implement proactive procedures, which must be followed by all member of the team and monitored by managers and supervisors on regular bases.

Great service matters. And the starting point is, and always will be, the people side. I was reminded this week of two very different experiences I had dining out. While the food industry is different…like multifamily, service really does matter. We can all think of restaurants we will never go to again because it took an hour to get an entrée – excuse the pun, but the experience put a “bad taste” in our mouths, and we choose to go elsewhere the next time.

During these tough economic times, owners and operators recognize downward trends and attempt to adjust their expenses accordingly. One of the most significant operating expenses at any multifamily property is the maintenance expense. It is important to understand the ramifications of cutting back so as to minimize turnover and still uphold curb appeal.

I have to admit: I was a little grossed out at first by the idea of saltwater pools. I envisioned a pool filled with murky, unpleasant-tasting seawater. Who’d want to swim in that? But with so many people talking about trendy saltwater pools, I knew that couldn’t be the whole story, and indeed, Resource Residential President and CEO Harlan Krichman set me straight.

New social media stats from SatisFacts...Resident Retention: Dare I Say It - Don't Believe the Hype.

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.”

One of the most common mistakes made by maintenance technicians while working with electrical components is not following proper safety procedures and guidelines.

Got empty apartment units in your building that face north?

It can be tough to justify costly apartment renovations at a time when most renters are looking to save money, not splurge on new amenities. But that doesn't mean apartment providers must abandon renovations entirely. Multifamily REIT UDR, for instance, has been outfitting some of its apartments with new kitchen appliance packages, which start as low as $1,100.

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.

Retaining residents is a top priority for apartment operators, no matter the time of year or state of the economy. But with falling rent rates, rising concessions and even the extended homebuyers’ tax credit tempting residents to pack their bags for a better deal at the end of their leases, savvy apartment management firms are honing their retention strategies.

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.

Times, as they say, they are a changing… and in our world in the multifamily industry, we are definitely not immune to the changes around us. Apartment industry professionals are expected to stay on top of federal, state and local laws and regulations.

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.

Wyndchase Apartments Service Manager Julie Lehman, CAMT, credits her commitment to education for her advancement through the ranks of maintenance positions in the apartment industry.

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.

The consistently incredible service and attitude I experience when I visit my local Lowe’s hardware store has earned my loyalty. What do they do that is so special? What is the impact? Does your staff have a world class attitude and deliver award winning service? Given today’s challenging market, can you afford to not be providing the greatest level of service ever? No, not given the huge impact turnover has on NOI and asset value...great service protects your revenue!

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.