Schedule

The drop in the U.S. homeownership rate during the past decade accompanied by a robust economy has led to an unprecedented increase in renter households and apartment demand. While the rental housing industry has attempted to respond through aggressive levels of new construction, the U.S. remains under-housed. Learn the main causes of unaffordability, review relative conditions across every region in the U.S. and identify markets where income gains are not keeping up with asking rents.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the key factors driving declining affordability for residents.
• Identify those markets where owners and property managers can successfully push rents and those where affordability is continuing to deteriorate.
• Understand how asking rents, community locations and amenities are impacting lease-up and occupancy trends.

Using a unique concept in information-sharing and audience participation, discover 25 of the timeliest, most talked-about and hotly debated operational issues in apartment management. Learn best practices in areas such as marketing, technology, HR, energy efficiency, maintenance, hiring, onsite management and more.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Bring industry professionals up to date on the most pressing issues and solutions.
• Identify new approaches to common and chronic problems at the operational level.
• Understand where to find information on an issue or about a peer or supplier who could provide valuable input.

After the lease is signed and boxes are unpacked, life becomes normal for our residents. In turn, maintenance becomes the face of our brand. Their technical skills are essential, but their soft skills differentiate the brand more than you realize! Discover tips to lead your maintenance team members and sharpen their customer service skills so they can be the brand.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Leave with skills to coach your maintenance team members to represent the property’s brand in a way that retains residents.
• Include ready-to-use actions to your existing procedures that improve your brand in the customer’s eyes.
• Learn how to measure the impact of your maintenance brand on the customer.

Are your communities overrun with emotional support animals? Does it feel like a jungle out there? As nationwide demand for emotional support animals continues to grow, so does the confusion about which laws apply and what property management companies and owners can (and can’t) do to stem the tide. Understand the most current national trends relating to support animals. 

 

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the most current national trends relating to support animals.
• Develop strategies for handling the most common support animal issues.
• Learn HUD’s position on verification letters from online providers.

Revenue management and marketing convergence has been a hot topic at industry conferences for the past couple of years. Data and technologies have been making it possible for managers to diagnose future problems and decide which playbook they need to reach for. Focus on a specific set of scenarios and describe the tools and tactics that can be employed to know precisely which lever(s) to pull to solve problems faster and drive improved revenue performance.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Gain expert insight into how to evaluate future demand forecasts and become more proactive in managing demand.
• Understand the multiple marketing and sales tactics (besides price changes) that can be employed to address performance issues.
• Understand how to determine whether your dollars are better spent on marketing, sales tactics or price incentives.

Social learning in rental housing is gaining traction. According to Social Learning Theory, we learn best when we observe others and imitate their behavior. When we see co-workers excel, we are inspired to do the same. Social learning has proven effective in employee development. With advances in technology and the influx of social tools, the social element can be easily incorporated. Understand social learning, the myths surrounding it, how to implement it and how it will increase productivity.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the difference between social learning and social media.
• Understand why employees, who are naturally social people, are competing rather than collaborating.
• Understand the ROI of social learning.

With all the technological advances, the leasing process is still stuck at the starting line. Leasing agents sit behind stuffy desks like used car salespeople. Time-sensitive prospects trudge through formulaic tours. Critical prospect data is lost on notepads in the bottom of a desk drawer. How did leasing miss the mobile technology revolution? Discover how operators can elevate leasing into a mobile world and create engaging personal experiences.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the drawbacks of today’s leasing process, which include an inability to create customized prospect experiences.
• Hear the negative impacts of outdated leasing processes and the missed opportunities they create.
• Learn how to improve the leasing process and the benefits of creating mobile leasing experiences.

Empathetic behavior enhances retention efforts, but there’s a problem: America is suffering from an empathy deficit. One-in-four Americans are grappling with a serious mental health issue they’re likely not talking about. Learn to identify your tendencies toward apathy and unconscious bias, how to counter them and handle common mental health scenarios with understanding.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the tendencies to apathy and unconscious bias and how to counter them.
• Practice specific techniques designed to increase empathy.
• Decipher potential red flags that could indicate a mental illness spiraling out of control and utilize resources to assist.

Is your marketing platform data-rich but action-poor? Thanks to digital technology, we have been able to collect a vast amount of data but putting this data to good use is still a challenge for many. Uncover the knowledge you need to leverage the power of marketing data effectively and supercharge your ROI with tips, tricks and solutions.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Identify simple and effective strategies to understand the most important KPIs and build procedures surrounding data-driven marketing.
• Pick up on red flags in your data that will lead you to draw more accurate conclusions from your reporting.
• Explore how data is shaping apartment marketing now and how it will transform it in the future.

Leveraging technology to provide access for residents, guests, vendors and property staff is an important and complex initiative; however, the connected world is offering an opportunity to solve access challenges while enhancing property awareness. Uncover the challenges in a world of high traffic rental housing communities while exploring the benefits of connected access control.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Break down the various challenges that come with issuing and authorizing access both traditionally and with first-gen IoT access products.
• List the different types of access needs (short term, unattended showing, etc.) and solutions that meet these demands.
• Define how this technology can enable seamless flow from exterior to interior of property while keeping property awareness in mind.

It’s no secret that culture is indispensable to a company’s success. What’s not as obvious is how to create an environment that’s just the right amount of fun, friendly and focused, without feeling fake or forced. Learn how to change your culture into one that is beloved and nurtured from within and see the positive results that will ensue.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the power of trust in culture and discover ways to lead with trust and inspire trust in others.
• Define ways to inspire positive cultural outcomes in an organization through culture mapping.
• Identify when cultural initiatives may be going awry and how to recreate alignment in cultural authenticity.

There is no shortage of crises when operating rental housing from natural disaster, terrorism or poor public relations viewpoints. But they all have one thing in common: You better have a plan in place before they occur. Uncover ways to walk through planning, reacting to and surviving a variety of emergencies and disasters.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Be prepared to respond to a crisis.
• Have a better knowledge of communicating with the media and other stakeholders.
• Have a plan to take back to your company and share with staff.

Rent payments consumes a substantial percentage of a renters’ monthly income. However, many renters don’t receive credit for it on their credit report in the same way that a credit card or auto payment does. Property managers can create value by making sure residents receive credit for making those payments. In a study conducted by TransUnion, 70% of renters reported that they would choose a property if their landlord reported payments. Explore these dynamics as well as how rent payment reporting can impact credit score, rental payment behavior, delinquencies for property management companies and the significance for future home mortgage availability.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Explore the significant evidence around payment reporting and how it drives positive rental payment behavior.
• Determine how rental tradeline data can arm managers with rich information to drive better decisions and boost the bottom line.
• Consider the value for residents.