Mother's Day

What are you going to do on Mother’s Day?  I don’t know who created this Hallmark holiday, but I am pretty grateful that they did.  My son came to me the other day and asked, “Mom, what do you want for Mother’s Day?”  I thought for a minute and couldn’t think of one thing that I needed or really wanted.  My son still lives at home; he is one of the millions of young people who at the ripe age of 28 has not flown the coop.  Oh, he tried, and left for college for a couple of years, but with the economy and the downturn of jobs available, the decision to come back home was a good one for him to make. 

Imagine my surprise and delight when he asked me what I wanted.  Secretly, I was thrilled.  He is working now part time at about 35 hours a week and had a little money.  I replied,” You know, what I would really like is not to have to cook dinner, but I don’t’ want to go out, steaks on the grill would be a treat and how about a movie.”  The movie Thor is coming this weekend, and I love Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth is pretty easy on the eyes too.  So, in a matter of about 2 minutes, we planned to have a nice dinner and a movie this weekend with my son to celebrate Mother’s Day. 

Some mothers will receive flowers from their children who live far away and many more will go out to dinner with the massive crowds fighting for the seats in all the restaurants who offer special menus on days just like this one. I wish each and every mother a peaceful day with love surrounding them, no matter what their child offers. I am not a big fan of Hallmark holidays, but this one really tugs at the proverbial heart strings.  My mother is still alive and as many times as she can annoy me, I would have it no other way. A mother’s love is like no other and they are very special people who try to protect us and nurture us and feed us and make sure we get to school and work on time.  Mother’s fix skinned knees and hurt feelings all the while making us feel better. I have had the job of mother for 28 years and have enjoyed the work, the tears, even the worry and the ups and downs of parenthood.  What a blessing it is to be a parent; I know I am speaking for some dads out there too. 

No matter what you do or where you go or what gifts you receive or not. This is a special day to celebrate mothers, for without her, you wouldn’t be here and for that alone, Mother’s Day is a good day to celebrate.

The Value of a Mistake

     Have you made a mistake lately?  What did you do with that?  Did you hide it, or were you forthcoming and go to your boss and say, hey, I made a mistake, and it cost us X amount of dollars.  If you hide it, how much do you think that cost is?  The cost is horrendous, not only in time, but possibly in your integrity. How about your personal character?  Lots of cost there.  Last I checked we are all human, with the propensity to make mistakes and fall very short of doing everything right. But, I haven’t met a mistake yet, that I haven’t learned a great deal from.

     Mistakes are learning opportunities for all of us.  Yes, we make mistakes, and yes, we correct mistakes all the time.  When you make a mistake, as a leader it is important to own up to it and learn from it. Don’t make the mistake of ignoring the possibility of creating an even larger error. 

     Who has needed a property manager and there wasn’t anyone really qualified to hire? Or their personality wasn’t quite right for the existing team onsite. If you hire someone that doesn’t fit or isn’t qualified, you run the risk of setting them up for failure and worse, having to let them go and find another to take their place.  Again, it’s the cost of making the mistake of hiring the wrong person.

     When you learn from a mistake and admit to making it to your boss, your colleagues, your friends, you do several things, you show your humanness, you also add to your integrity by telling the truth of the matter.  You add to your value by turning a wrong into a right. You bring clarity to your intentions of doing the best job you can. This adds to your character and shows your peers you can be trusted and that my friends is invaluable and something you can’t buy at WalMart.

     I have made many mistakes through the years and I try very hard to correct them immediately. As Jim Baumgartner, Sr. VP of RentSoda shares in his blog Facing Failure, coming clean to your boss would allow for constructive dialogue and open communication. I stressed over making the mistake and then I stressed over having to tell my boss. Honestly, is there anything worse? But my boss would show me how I could correct the error, right away, and there wasn’t any loss.  It is important as leaders that we remember that everyone makes mistakes; it is how we respond to making them and how we embrace an opportunity to teach and to understand how to prevent them from occurring in the first place. 

     Mistakes do matter and what matters more is creating a culture where we can be cooperative, reaching out to make it right, correct the error, apologizing if necessary and moving on to a place of growth and further understanding.  We are all human, we all can make a mistake, it’s what we do after, and that counts.

        Make mistakes, but learn from them, cooperation and teamwork with your onsite staff will help correct them. Be informative and transparent with your clients and owners and your integrity will speak volumes when you have to reveal an error or mistake, always be clear with your intentions. Keep communicating and continue to create community.

Alison Voyvodich is Director of Communications of WRH Realty Services, Inc. 

Extensive Experience and a Client-focused Philosophy offering Property Management, Real Estate Consulting, Construction Management, Real Estate Investment, and Mortgage Banking.

www.wrhrealty.com | Avoyvodich@wrhrealty.com

Creating Community in 2011

It’s a New Year, saying goodbye to 2010 was easy; say hello to 2011.  Gone are the doldrums about the economy, good riddance to low occupancy, and never want to see you again lackluster marketing events. We have a clean slate, a new beginning and a positive outlook for the New Year. It is time to refresh, and take a ride with new motivation, new ideas, and a new purpose. 

Wall Street crushed us in 2008 and the banks just about depleted all our futures in 2009. 2010 was the year of transition, of taking stock of what was left and by the holidays; I think we all about had enough of the dismal days of “woe is me”.  People were out shopping, and doing things with their lives, making plans and moving forward.  We got a dose of reality, spending too much and saving too little, now with a couple of years under our belt, we are ready to shine.

Keeping our current residents is the name of the game plan, focus on our “bird in the hand”.  Keeping our residents happy and engaged is a full time job but one that can be easily planned.

1.       First and foremost, resolve your tenant complaints, a happy resident is one that will stay and not make problems down the road.  Have a time set aside each week that you are completely available to any of your renters’ calls, so they know you are there for them on a regular basis. As reibrain states, dealing with tenants is part of being a landlord. Everyone who complains likes to be heard, listen to them, acknowledge their complaint, fix the issue or explain why it can’t be corrected, clarity brings understanding, empathy brings understanding and understanding brings insight and appreciation that you are doing everything you can. Create community by understanding your resident’s needs and resolving the issues.

2.       Host events at your property that appeal to your residents. Do you have a lot of single parents? Host some children’s activities so parents can go shopping or to lunch, offer a game night, do you have teachers in residence, ask if they would be willing to tutor at no charge once a month.  Have a lot of singles, host some events to bring them together, pool parties in the summer, theatre events or movies, once a month outings that include a get together at a local restaurant. Have a lot of seniors, check out the senior centers and create a meet and greet there. Do you house students? Host a LAN party, don’t know what that is, it’s spontaneous, everyone brings a laptop, gets connected to the internet and plays a mutually agreed upon online game, gamers will know about this one, just have some snacks available. Brent Williams, Chief Insider at Multifamily Insiders offers some great ideas for event planning when he did a guest blog for My New Place, lots of ideas there, check it out. Ball games? Organize going to one. Dancing, create the opportunity to go and join in for the fun.  Reading? Create a book club and utilize your community room for discussions about the current book being read.  Guess what, if your resident’s are friends with each other, they are more likely to stay right where they live. Create community.

3.       Know your resident’s names, work on it, find a way to remember, some communities are really large, but do your best to walk your community and interact with your residents, carry doggie bones and make friends with the four legged residents that are walking around.  Take some time to say hello and good bye, ask how their day is going, you will hear more than you bargain for, but it offers time to engage and be social. Make a new friend by getting to know your residents. And then introduce your new friend to someone else in the community. Take the time to wonder and collect your resident’s interests. Do a survey, find out what your resident’s like to do.  Once you know, refer back to #2.

4.       Be proactive against any problems by making at least a twice yearly inspection of your units and give residents plenty of notice while doing so, make sure there are no leaks, no running toilets, all trash picked up in the walk ways and stairwells, lights are working where they should be, carpets are rather clean, pets are being maintained in a clean manner. This could be taken as intrusive by some, but others will appreciate the attention and may think it will head off problems before they begin. Let them know you care about the apartment and you care about them, in addition, it’s a good time to go over the renewal coming up and what they might be thinking. As the boy scouts say, “Be Prepared”.

5.       Please and Thank you go along way, when collecting rent, always be gracious, people work hard for their money and showing respect is important. Anytime you are interacting with a resident, they deserve your respect, but likewise you deserve theirs as well.  Sometimes, this isn’t always the case, there are always difficult residents to deal with and for those, always remain professional even when voices are raised, there is  no reason for you to raise yours, be firm, be  honest, be concise, but don’t be rude. Rudeness never wins any argument.

6.       What is your social media plan for 2011? Do you have one? It is easy to set up a Facebook Fan page and Twitter account, and a great way to harness the power of social media.  Find out if your management company has policies before entering the social media arena and have a plan going in. Be committed to posting regularly, and remember everything you post becomes available and very public. Utilize social media by showing off your community’s best attributes, upload photos on Facebook.  Twitter is a great way to communicate upcoming events, one Peep Tweet lets all your followers know there is a Crime Prevention meeting on Thursday at 7:00, come and meet your neighborhood crime watch volunteers. You can use the power of the Tweet for anything. Keep it Positive, keep it Engaging, keep it Energized and keep it Professional.  I call these my Peep Tweets.  Once you collect your resident’s usernames and start using them when you Tweet, you will be creating an online social community.  Bringing people together even in cyberspace is still creating community.

7.       It starts at “Hello”. Don’t underestimate the power of first impressions. Whether it ‘s on the phone or in person.  People size you up in seconds.  Look them in the eye and smile at first greeting. If you are on the phone, get down to business right away, ask them what they are looking for and what led them to you. The sort of questions you ask are the benchmark for future conversations, and always write key points down. What are they interested in, do they have pets, write down their name, first and last, that way you won’t forget it and if you do, you can check your notes. Smile whether on the phone or in person, just ask the Telephone Doctor about how far a smile goes on the phone.  We create communities with a smile.

2011 is forecast to be a slow recovery of the apartment industry; residents are an important part of the bottom line. They need to be nurtured and cared for, respected, and allowed to be heard. They need you to help create community for them and you will be rewarded by loyal residents and friends for all your hard work.  2011 will be the year that your occupancy is 100% with a waiting list. It is a lofty goal, but then nothing worth doing is easy. 

10 Different Ways to update your Apartment and only spend $10

In this economy, every dollar counts, but geez, we still have to shop, update our apartments and pay the bills on time. So here are my favorite ways to update an apartment and make if feel like it is my special space while not spending a lot of money.

1.     Move your furniture around, or switch the rooms, bedrooms, dining with living, just do it. Free

2.     Set your dining room table, like the model apartments or magazines, who eats at the table anyway? Bring out all those pretty dishes you never use and the glassware you received as gifts. Everything you have saved away for a special dinner, bring it out and have it displayed. Free

      3.    Reduce your clutter and clean, everything looks better with a fresh dusting and empty shelves and floor space. Make sure you can see the walls between furniture placing. Have some empty space against the walls, it opens up the space. Free

      4.     Small plants grouped together or spread out, create a green space anyone would love. Growing herbs in a window or plants on a coffee table definitely improves the Feng shui of any space. $1.49 each at most Home Depot or garden centers.

      5.      Decorate with candles, don’t burn them, the fragrance will uplift you every day and when you do burn them, while in the room, the firelight is so warm and inviting. Look for sales, but even grocery stores sell inexpensive candles.

      6.       New kitchen towels, they get so dreary after awhile, go to the dollar store and you can get towels to match every holiday and season, and it freshens the kitchen in a hurry.  $1 a towel.

      7.       Cover artwork with fabric, yes, and any fun fabric will do, check out the remnant bins at Jo Ann’s Fabrics or any store that sells fabric, you just need enough to cover the frame of the print you are covering.  Create an abstract area with blocks of color or blocks of contrasting prints, you would be surprised what kind of statement this can make, have fun and be creative. About $2.49 a yard. 4 yards would be more than enough and if you are handy, you could have enough to make matching pillow covers, all you need is a needle and thread.

      8.       Go to a garage sale and find interesting decorating items. An old plate or platter, a vintage looking mirror, a vase or bowl to place fruit or flowers, buy it for under $5 add some spray paint if needed and whala! A new item decorating and updating your coffee table or end table.

      9.       Make your furniture match, most first apartments are adorned with miss-matched items from parents and friends and the best way to make the furniture match is to paint it all with the same paint. Black, white, green or off-white are good colors to use, all you need is the paint. For a little more you can use a crackle finish or paint a faux marble or malachite pattern on the top. It does not matter what finish you choose as long as most of the pieces match. Put matching knobs on each piece as well.

      10.     Don’t forget a welcome mat at the door.  Cheap and easy, it welcomes guests into your home, your space, your private paradise, and most importantly, it welcomes you home every day.

Bottom line is, this is your home, your place of tranquility and peace, make it the best place you want to be.  Welcoming aromas from candles and herbs, clean and refresh the air, while cleanliness and order make you feel relaxed and comforted in your special space. There is no place like home and there is no place like your home. Make it the best ever.

Leasing Managers, Unsung Heroes of Multifamily Property Management

I have been asked this question before, but when you stop and look at our leasing specialists, who are you and what do you do?

Well, I just answered the phone and spoke to an angry resident who says their sink is plugged up and water is leaking into the living room, and I just got back and got a Starbucks light Macchiato with soy milk and no cream for the property manager and I placed the coffee along with the copies you requested on your desk, of the lease that I just renewed.  I called the maintenance supervisor to look at that leak and unplug the sink in unit xyzmp. Today, I am going to stand on the corner with our management flags and wave people in to look at our units to increase our traffic, then I am going to put resident referral flyers on all the doors of all the units in the community just as soon as I go and empty out the washing machines and dryers and vending machine in the common area, and oh, after that, I will jump on AMSI, or Yardi, or RealPage and run all those management reports you were asking about yesterday and contact our accounts payable department and find out where are all those SODA’s that we submitted last week.

I will call some of our competitors and get some pricing for our comps just as soon as I update Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and Craig’s List and make sure we are still at the top of the list. I have to run by the post office on my way to pick up party supplies at the party store for our neighborhood watch meeting tonight because we need stamps. As soon as I get back, I will set the office up with coffee and snacks for the neighborhood meeting tonight and then I will call and verify that our courtesy officer will be making the rounds and then hopefully I can sit down and make appointments to meet with some prospective residents to show them how nice our community is and give them a tour of the property.  I will make sure that I smile every time I answer the phone just like the Telephone Doctor said I should, and if I don’t get a lease today, it might not look good, not getting my quota of leases. But as soon as I do, I will take the online training they have been telling me I have until the end of the year to complete. I am a leasing specialist and i just brought you some coffee, is there anything else I can do?

These are the days of the unsung heroes of multifamily leasing.  Leasing Specialists fill the spaces between the Property Manager and the Assistant Managers being excellent helpers and assistants, it is a job never done, and sometimes not appreciated as much as it should be. 

We thank our Leasing Specialists for doing what they do and doing it all with a smile.

Good Ole Creative Marketing for Apartment Communities

Apartment communities need a plan to market their communities in a way they never have before.  The economy is down, jobs are few and far between, and oil is spilling into the Gulf, but that doesn’t mean we fold up our tents and go home.  ''If you need traffic, you shouldn't cut your marketing budget, '' says Kate Good professional speaker, marketing solutions expert and partner on the Apartment All-Stars tour.

It is the summertime and something that attracts is a clean and properly maintained appearance.  Curb appeal is extremely important because if a prospective resident drives by and sees the lawn freshly cut, pretty flowers standing at attention blooming prolifically, and all the trash and litter picked up, chances are, they are going to come in for a tour.  The exterior details of your property can make a great or poor impression to your prospective residents. Make sure your windows are sparkling clean, the doorways swept of leaf debris, and every team member greets everyone with a smile and a “hello”. 

Find out want is unique and special about your property, what do prospective residents want when they come home, what is perfect about your destination?  Is it the location of the nearest shopping area or the fact that the interstate ramp is just a mile down the road or that the nearest hospital is within three miles, use these facts to market your community. Focus on communicating the benefits of your property to all prospective residents and create relationships with the local businesses that your residents may utilize while they live there.  Get some half off coupons for a restaurant nearby and send prospects there to have lunch on you while they look at your apartment’s brochure.  Work out a deal with a local pizza delivery restaurant to attach property flyers to pizza boxes. Connect with the local hospital, Wal-Mart, any and every local business who employs people and ask if you can leave your brochure and contact information in their break room. Reach out and connect with everyone. Those future residents are out there.

Do you advertise your amenities on your fax cover sheet and letter head?  Let everyone know what you offer at your community every day. What are you doing to create community? What kinds of activities and parties do you plan and coordinate for your residents? Holiday parties are fun and expected, but what about movie night in the club house?  Rent or bring a movie from your personal collection and pass out popcorn and Kool-Aid one night a week.  Keep the movies family friendly and create an inviting atmosphere. Times are hard right now and anything we can do to increase retention of our residents goes a long way to keeping our occupancies where they need to be.

How do you answer the phone?  Are you smiling as Nancy Friedman “The Telephone Doctor” explains, it might be the boss calling. Everyone can hear a smile on the phone and you should be smiling every time you answer the phone. It could be your next resident calling to find out where you are located. Greet everyone warmly and see how your occupancy soars. Excellent customer service is free and easy in any circumstance and something that most companies want to be known for. Count your calls and return phone calls promptly. Keep These Tips In Mind from Rent and Retain,

Be clear, quick and concise. This method will be completely different from your competitor who just rattled off every amenity and feature of their apartment community.  Ask for permission to give more information. That will draw the prospect in, making them more receptive to what you say next. An article in Sales and Marketing Management magazine suggested using simpler words vs. the sales-pitchy words: "use" instead of "utilize" "talk" instead of "have a dialogue" "help" instead of "facilitate" Listen to yourself on the next few phone calls. Does it sound like you are talking to a friend or stranger? You’ll close more sales to friends than strangers. 

In closing, remember you represent your company, your brand, your community, and most importantly, yourself.  Marketing is all about showing who you are and what you have to sell and the value it is going to bring to the consumer. Renters are out there, you just need to bring them in and show them the goods. Make sure the goods you show will bring them pleasure in providing a high quality apartment home and a high quality living experience.

My Top 12 Favorite Things to do on the 4th of July

Our country celebrates its birthday on July 4^th. commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This is a time of the year that we celebrate with firecrackers and grilling our favorite foods and lighting firecrackers and sparklers. What are your favorite things to do?

1.  Sleep in till at least 7:00. Yes, this is sleeping in for me. I haven’t slept in since I gave birth. After that is was all over.  I don’t even set an alarm, I just wake up every morning at, you guessed it, 7:00.

2. Linger over several cups of coffee and watch the Today Show, I just love the Today Show.

3.  Hang up my American flag, this is the one day of the year to proudly display the American spirit.

4.  Stay away from the grocery store, this is the worst day to go shopping because everyone else who forgot stuff will be in line getting ice, fireworks, watermelon, you name it, they will be in line to get it. I hate lines.

5.  Make a 4^th of July cake, you know the one, a yellow cake mix, poke it with a fork and fill it with red Jello.  Put it in the fridge to chill and then cover it will Cool Whip and decorate the top like a flag using blueberries for the blue and white stars and strawberries for the strips.

6.  Make a new drink, or adult beverage.  Maybe I will mix Vanilla Vodka, cranberry juice and drop in a couple of blueberries. That sounds patriotic.

7.  Get the hubby to grill, because if I can get him to grill, then there is no clean up in the kitchen and that means I don’t have to work too hard.

8.  Hang with the family, yep, in my corner of the world, holidays like this are for family. Pick up grandma and bring her to the house for some burgers and dogs, make the potato salad and cole slaw, the cake is already made and chillin in the fridge.

9.  Go swimming, either in my pool or the Gulf of Mexico looking out for tar balls, they haven’t arrived here yet, but unfortunately it is just a matter of time, but go swimming and relax and enjoy this day of celebration.

10.              Play Farmville on Facebook.  Yes, I know, how pathetic, but I am hooked and obsessive about it.  If you are a friend, you know already, if you are not a friend yet and play Farmville on Facebook, we could play if you friend me.

11.              Buy some firecrackers, you know the kind, in the prepackaged boxes at the grocery store for $24.99 and it comes with about a zillion little colored paper thingys that go pop and scream and light up and dance on the ground when lit with a match, how fun is that I ask.

12.              Finally, go and watch the fireworks at a park or on the beach, anywhere where large gatherings of people will be, all with their coolers of soda and cold drinks, children running around with sparklers and just enjoying the freedom that we have.

So there you  have it, that is what I am going to do on the 4^th of July, now tell me what your plans are and whatever they are have a safe and happy 4^th of July.