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TOP 3 Qualities of Successful Multi-Family Apartment Careers

Nov 23rd, 2010
by daisynguyen.
2 comments

Here at RENT SODA, we’ve been talking about success A LOT. From our recent article (Build on Your Strengths: Build Success by Jim Baumgartner) to our Profiling Your Way to MORE Success sales classes, to every day conversations with our clients (“We want our manager to be more successful,”), it seems everyone is talking about “SUCCESS.”

It begs the question:

Do You Have What it Takes To Be Successful in the Multi-family (Apartment) Industry?

or better yet:

How About – What DOES it Take To Be Successful in the Multi-Family (Apartment) Industry?

We have been pondering this over the last few weeks. We’ve decided to do a series of articles on individual SUCCESS in the Multi-Family Apartment Industry. We’ve started researching and interviewing successful people – you’ll want to read what they have to say – so check back weekly as we post those articles!

First, we looked for individuals who were successful in the following categories:

  1. Someone who has had multiple career advancements and now holds one of the top positions in their company. (i.e. someone who started at the bottom and worked their way up to VP, CEO/COO/CFO or founder of a company in the Multi-family industry.)
  2. Someone who started in property management and has made a successful transition into a vendor role.
  3. Someone who started in a vendor role and has made a successful transition into a property management/development company.
  4. Someone who started at the corporate-side of the multi-family apartment business and has successfully transition into an on-site (at the apartment community) position.
  5. Someone who started on-site (at the apartment community) and has successfully transitioned into a corporate position at their management company.

We asked our network for recommendations on those people that they feel were successful in the categories defined above, interviewed them and asked them how they became successful. We heard lots of GREAT stories, uncovered GREAT tips, and gained WONDERFUL insights into these successes – and we’ll share these stories with you over the next few weeks.

We found some commonalities in our first round of interviews – we’re going to share those with you to wet your appetite for success. We’re still in the process of finishing up our interviews, but believe these 3 qualities aren’t going to change:

TOP 3 Qualities of Successful Multi-Family Apartment Careers

  1. Successful individuals in ALL categories EMBRACED change. Sometimes they were thrust into the changes, sometimes they instigated the changes, sometimes they recommended the changes, and even at times, they were initially against the changes, but whatever the reason for the change, they EMBRACED it. ALL of our interviewees talked about change as the ONLY constant in their careers > and embracing changes was one of the keys to their success. NONE of our interviewees said, “I just wanted to go to work and do my job.”

    2. In fact a couple of them mentioned that complacency within any position is a red flag that you’re not doing the best job you could be doing > which could eventually lead to failure.

    Change can mean anything – change in market/economy, change in responsibilities, change in supervisor, change in ownership, change in technology, change in location, change in portfolio, change in team members. - you have to always be pushing that envelope, embracing change, and figuring out how it can benefit you, your property, your goals, and your apartment owners.

  2. Successful individuals in ALL categories said YES. They were problem solvers for their supervisors/companies/sites/etc – they said YES to challenges, they said YES to change, they said YES to responsibility, and ultimately, YES to success.

    3. We’re not talking about being a YES man/woman. We’re talking about a positive attitude of “Yes I can – I’ll find a way” rather than a negative attitude of “No, I can’t, NO that can’t be done.”

    Who would you rather work for? Who would you rather work with? A “YES I CAN” person or a “NO I CAN’T” person? People who are promoted aren’t known for saying, “NO, what you’re asking us to do can’t be done,” they are known for taking a seemingly impossible situation/challenge and saying “Yes, there’s got to be a way – it’ll be tough, but I’m sure I can figure it out.” If you can solve a seemingly unsolvable problem for your supervisor/your company/your industry – you will be noticed.

  3. Successful individuals in ALL categories were active communicators. All of our interviewees were articulate, well-spoken, individuals with an ability to clearly communicate their thought process. We noticed this in our interviews – it was easy to follow their stories, understand their frame of mind, and see the natural progression of their career successes. Have you ever talked to someone who is hard to understand? Jumps from topic to topic? Someone who doesn’t tie in all their points – perhaps their communications have no point? Perhaps they are long-winded? Our interviews could have been explaining the complexities of rocket fuel – but they would have found a way to make it easy to understand and pertinent to what we were talking about. HOWEVER, this is not the case with all individuals in life.

    4. Let’s not forget the word ACTIVE.

    We noticed that all our interviewees were active in communicating their goals to their teams, active in communicating their processes to their supervisors, active in communicating their needs on a project, active in communicating their career desires. The key word is ACTIVE. None of our interviewees were passive-aggressive and hoped they would be noticed for promotion. None of our interviewees hoped clients would pick up the phone and call them to buy a product. None of our success interviewees hoped a job would land in their lap. No one we spoke to was hoping someone else would tell them what to do/how to do it. Not a single one of our interviewees hoped to get the budget they needed in order to complete a goal/challenge that they had been given. They were all active at communicating their wants/needs/processes/responsibilities/etc – so that everyone knew where they stood, and how to help them get to their goals. This seems like common sense, but how many of us know someone who works hard and hopes that someone notices and gives them a raise/promotion/award? Do you know someone who doesn’t ask about the expectations of a job? How about a boss who expects that everyone can read their mind? How about someone who is given a challenge but doesn’t ask for the parameters of the challenge? We have all been that person, or know that passive person. Don’t be a passive communicator and hope your actions talk louder than words. Be an ACTIVE one! COMMUNICATE!

These are just the tip of the success iceberg.

Join us after Thanksgiving and read about the STORIES, heartaches, struggles, tips that these successful individuals have to share with RENT SODA.

Be ready to be moved to greater success.

If you know someone who you feel has been successful in our defined categories above, please send us an email and recommend them for an interview!

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Offering Apartment Marketing, Apartment Business & Operations Consulting & Apartment Industry Training

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

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Foursquare vs. Facebook Places – Which is Better for Marketing Your Apartment Community?

Nov 9th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
6 comments

OK, I’ll admit it. I’m a Foursquare GEEK, and now, with the launch of Facebook Places, I am TOTALLY CONFUSED. There’s so much news out about Facebook Places – what will be the best tool for helping your outreach or marketing efforts at your apartment communities? Which application will help you stay connected to more apartment residents, attract more apartment prospects, give you more positive exposure?

Some background:

I use facebook as a place to connect with friends and collegues, keep up with the latest news about places/businesses I “like,” and connect with other like-minded individuals.

I use foursquare to find out about places near me, get tips based on my location, and I hate to admit it, but I secretly covet being “mayor” and earning badges.

If I am a typical user, how does this information help YOU market your apartment communities or connect with prospects and residents?

Let’s put them in the boxing  ring and see who wins:

  1. ROUND ONE: First thing I do when I go somewhere is to look on Foursquare to see which businesses near me have tips, read them, and see if I want to try something new, or stick with my tried and true favorites. Currently very easy to do on Foursquare. AND Foursquare has had A LOT more activity – resulting in lots of tips & deals with local businesses. Facebook Places – I have not found a way to leave a tip or find tips others have left. The only way to see what others think about a place is IF that business has connected their facebook PLACE to their facebook PAGE, and you can see the information and wall of a business’ facebook place/page. This is a big IF. And even IF a business has connected their facebook place to their facebook page, you’ll only see their wall. There’s not really a place that encourages users to leave other information for other users. WINNER: Foursquare
  2. ROUND TWO: When I am marketing an apartment community (or even a retail business), I look for tools where I have control over the content, easy way to communicate my brand and my message. With Foursquare Places, it is easy to claim my “place,” connect it to my community’s facebook page, and manipulate the content users see when they find me. Additionally, if someone leaves an potentially negative remark or comment on my page, in Facebook, I can delete it. With Foursquare, I can claim my business on Foursquare -but there is no way to customize it beyond providing the basic info. Additionally, user can leave whatever comments and tips they want, I have no control over their comments. WINNER: From a business/marketing perspective, Facebook Places is the CLEAR winner.
  3. ROUND THREE: Deals. Everyone loves a deal. How easy is it to find places with “specials” or “deals?” On Facebook Places, when you bring up the app, all the businesses around you will be listed. If there is a “special” or “deal,” there is a little cut-out square icon that resembles a coupon. It was somewhat easy to spot. On Foursquare, when you open the app, it locates all the businesses close to you, and if there are any “specials” or “deals,”  the word “SPECIAL” shows up. Its much easier to spot, and there is no question as to the purpose. So, for all practical purposes, this is almost a tie. HOWEVER, as I searched through local businesses that I know are running deals, I found more deals on Foursquare than I did on Facebook Places. WINNER: FOURSQUARE through a technicality. - This may change if Facebook Places can attract more businesses and “specials” and “deals.”
  4. Round Four: Activity & Users – who has more? According to a recent Business Insider article from October 29th, 2010, although Facebook Places has 7X more users, those users are not as active as the 4 million foursquare users. WINNER: Foursquare
  5. Round Five: The FUN factor. In foursquare, as stupid as it may sound, I enjoy being a “mayor” and receiving”badges” for checking in. One of my friends, a VP of a large company in Minnesota, recently emailed me to say, “I just became the MAYOR at a local joint. I am secretly quite proud!” Facebook places currently does not have an incentive to check-in except for the possibility of a deal or “special.” WINNER: Foursquare.

Foursquare wins 4 out of 5 rounds because it meets the wants of its users. That’s a page from the facebook business book – build an application for the end-users, and the business will come. Score one for the small guy!

As it is with social media, today’s giants can be tomorrow’s cold empty grave. It’ll be interesting to see what Foursquare and Facebook Places have in the way of updates and changes over the next few months! But its clear that things are FAR from over for Foursquare.

I should mention that even though the end-user experience is much better on Foursquare, the Facebook Places application is more business-friendly. AND Facebook has HUGE potential to reach its over 500 million users.

I am still TOTALLY confused. Who will win? Can they continue to co-exist?

Depending on what YOUR marketing needs, goals, or objectives are, you may want to use one or both of these as part of your marketing approach/outreach efforts for your apartment community. If you are using Foursquare or Facebook Places to help market or as an outreach tool for your apartment community, please leave me a comment and share with everyone how you view one or both, or how you are using them!

Below is a comparison Matrix of Location Based Social Networks produced by Mark Fidelman on Flickr.com.



Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Offering Apartment Marketing, Apartment Business & Operations Consulting & Apartment Industry Training

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

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Have Money – Need Apartment. PS Don’t Irritate, Annoy or Otherwise *iss Me Off!

Nov 4th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
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In today’s apartment marketplace, when a prospect walks into your doors, they are READY to lease from you. With all the information available on the internet, your facebook page, your twitter account, your website, apartmentratings.com – believe me. They’ve seen it, and your prospect is STILL interested. They may as well have a sign around their neck that reads, “Have Money, Need Apartment.”

What’s preventing you from leasing to them?

I call it the PS factor. They sign around their neck that reads, “Have Money, Need Apartment,” should also have a postscript that reads,

P.S. Don’t IRRITATE, ANNOY, AKA Don’t *iss Me Off – Otherwise You WILL Lose Me!

I’m sure you’ve never annoyed, irritated or *issed your prospects off, or have you?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7ACFZeCZwo

Here are 5 sure fire ways to lose a perfectly good & ready prospect AKA What NOT to Do When Leasing Apartments:

  1. Assume I want the cheapest apartment you have available. Start off selling me on price and price alone: Contrary to popular belief, finding your next apartment HOME is not a decision solely based on PRICE alone. ASK, LISTEN, OBSERVE and use the information you find to your advantage. When shopping for a home, most people do not try to find the cheapest thing they can find. CASE-IN-POINT: I recently did some apartment shops in a busy downtown market. I was dressed appropriately. My boyfriend and I asked to see a luxury unit in the 1500 – 2000 square feet range. We did not mention any budget. They leasing agent did not ask or try to pre-qualify us. Keep in mind, this is a luxury apartment complex, with rents in the $3000 – $5000 range. She immediately took us to what she referred to as the “entry-level” apartment unit. I was appalled. It wasn’t 1500-2000 square feet, it was 900 square feet. For whatever reason, she decided to show us the cheapest unit. Had I been a snobby, willing to over-pay prospect, I would have been insulted, irritated, and a TOTAL waste of my time. Instead I reminded her we had asked for a 1500 – 2000 square foot unit, this apartment did not meet our needs. She replied that those are the most expensive units, only available on the top floors, where a premium was charged. (WHAT? Remember, I never mentioned that I had a budget, but it was obvious that she couldn’t believe ANYONE would pay THAT much for an apartment unit!) We finally did get to the larger units. Don’t assume it’s all about price. Especially if you are in a luxury market, what drives people to spend money on luxury expenditures is NOT price. Because of the economy we are currently in, because of the financial pressure going on in OUR lives, don’t assume that your prospect has those same financial pressures. And NEVER NEVER NEVER, in any way shape or form, imply that you are showing them the cheapest most affordable unit – unless they specific ask for it. Cheap has a negative connotation. DON’t start off on a negative note. You’ve just irritated me.
  2. Make Long Excuses: If there are questions or objections, keep your answers short and sweet and move onto something positive. If I’m asking about the parking, don’t give me a long-rambling excuse on why the parking is $50.00/month. Just let me know what it is and move on unless I have an objection. If I inquire about moving in on the 27th of the month instead of waiting until the first of the month, don’t give me a long excuse of why  I can’t or go through a long list of things you’re going to have to take care ofo just so that I can move in a couple of days early. – I don’t care about why it puts you out. Just let me know if you CAN or can NOT, or if you need to check on it and then move on to something positive. There is no need to make excuses for anything. It’s a waste of time, and I’ll start to wonder if you’re always making excuses for anything/everything that happens….Now you’ve gotten me wondering, and I am even more irritated!
  3. Show me things I told you I am not interested in: If you do, it’s a total waste of my time – you must not respect my time, I’ll assume you didn’t listen to me when I told you I wasn’t interested in XYZ, and you just gave me information overload. CASE-IN-POINT: The same agent above, surprisingly asked us if we had any pets. We stated that we didn’t. As we were going through the tour, she showed us the pet spa, the doggy park, and the pet-only elevators. This added another 15 minutes to our tour. I reminded her that we had no pets, and in fact, I have terrible allergies to pets. (Hoping that she wouldn’t continue to show us all the pet amenities.) If I was an deathly-allergic-to-pets prospect, seeing all the amenities that they offered to pet owners would have scared me. AND, we had a lunch appointment at noon, and she was quickly eating up all our time with pet amenities and cheap units instead of showing us what we really wanted to see. Now I am TOTALLY irritated.
  4. Overload me with information: Don’t regurgitate your entire sales brochure to me. If I tell you I’m only interested in 3 things, give me those 3 things. Don’t overload me with information. Not only will you inundate me, I might even feel stupid. I don’t lease from people who make me feel stupid. CASE-IN-POINT: Same apartment building mentioned above, I named the 3 most important things to me were a.) 1500 – 2000 square feet b.) closet space was EXTREMELY important to me c.) common area entertainment spaces like pool or clubroom. The apartment building was also a green building, seeking LEED certification. As a prospect, I thought that was “nice,” but I didn’t really care to find out where the cabinets came from, how the air in the building was used to heat & cool adjoining units rather than heating/cooling the existing unit therefore conserving energy, or what the content of the “recycled content carpet” was made of or how. All this was explained to me in excruciating detail, all while eating into my upcoming lunch schedule….NOW they’ve escalated from irritating to annoying.
  5. Rush me: I’m not talking about trying to close a lease on me – I’m talking about trying to rush me and get me out of your office. If you have something better to do, do it. When I’m in your office with a sign that says, “Have Money – Need Apartment” and YOU have vacancy. I’m the most important thing on your schedule. If you look at your watch too often, or seem to rush from model to model to amenity, and try to move me along – I’m not feeling the love. Actually, I’m feeling quite the opposite – you must not want me. If I’m going to live here, I need to feel that you will service me, and not rush me through everything, including my first meeting(s) with you! I once had a TV salesman tell me that he wasn’t going to call the other store to look for my tv unless I was going to buy it from him – all I had asked for was 5 minutes to talk it over to my boyfriend. There were no other customers waiting around for help, and the store was pretty slow. My feisty reply was, “If you’ve got something better to do in the next 5-10 minutes, go do it. Before you do it, please find your sales manager for me, so that I can ask him to find me someone who has 10 minutes to sell me a TV.” Now I’m royally *issed! Congratulations! You’ve just lost my sale!

These are 5 Sure-Fire Ways to Loose the Sale/Lease. Don’t let it happen to you!

Have you seen any annoying or irritating things that killed a sale recently? Leave us a comment and share!

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Offering Apartment Marketing, Apartment Business & Operations Consulting & Apartment Industry Training

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

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Eight Tips on Renting an Older Property

Oct 6th, 2010
by jameswb.
4 comments

Prime 70's Mansard

A client recently asked, “Do you know of any information on how to rent older properties?”  Her property was built slightly before most of us were born. 

Early in my career I was spoiled rotten.  I did lease-ups of new construction luxury sites.  When I had to do an analysis on an aging Class C property I turned my nose up and sniffed, “They should just invest in a flame-thrower.”  My cronies and I were amused; however, several years later I had several of these little flame-thrower targets in my portfolio.  Imagine my shock (and embarrassment) when I realized that these were the assets that threw off the majority of cash in our organization.

So what do you do when you find yourself adrift on an aging property (not old enough to be charming or cool but too old to be hot and trendy)?  Do you wallow in self-pity and stare in envy at your new, amenity-rich neighbors?  No way!  Beat up the new kids on the block with a stripped down, value approach!

  1. Rent the basics—not the bells and whistles.  Why pay for what you don’t need?  Remind your customer that they are not paying for amenities that they will never use.  (How many people actually use the pool or cardio room?  They may say they will but end up not having the time.)  Remind them that “The money you save on rent can be applied to the things you really want!”
  2. Buy the upgrades you will actually use:  Want a kick-butt health club with spin and Pilates classes and machines that actually work?  The health club industry is suffering just like the rest of us and they are offering deals!  You can get a membership very inexpensively.  Better yet, negotiate a property or portfolio discount and create resident clubs (boot camp, spin, Pilates group, yoga group) to go to the health club together.
  3. Mature landscaping is GREEN!  Highlight the fact that you have mature landscaping that adds beauty to your residents’ world.  Older properties often have extensive grounds; do you have an area that could be dedicated to a community garden?  Garden plots and compost piles are easy and inexpensive to create.
  4. Focus on design plusses: 
    1. In the Pre-ADA years room sizes tended to be larger.  While unit square footages may have stayed pretty consistent, where space is allocated has not.  New construction design mandates larger bathrooms and kitchens to allow for wheelchair access.  This has resulted in smaller bedrooms.  Families and roommates will appreciate more space in these rooms.
    2. Older properties tend to have larger balconies.  In some communities this is not an issue but many people enjoy the opportunity to step outside—whether for a cigarette or fresh air break.  Due to the costs of balconies, often these are value-engineered out or downsized today.
    3. Galley kitchen?  We have heard a lot lately about ‘foodies’; however, consider your demographic:  do they eat in or out?  Many of our residents never use anything but the refrigerator and microwave.  So if they comment on the small size of the kitchen, determine if they are asking out of habit or if they do like to cook.  If they are foodies, all is not yet lost—advise them on how they can extend their kitchen into an adjacent dining area through the use of butcher blocks, microwave carts, IKEA islands, etc.
    4. Focus on what you can do to be better than your competitors:
      1. Focus on EXCELLENT customer service.  Can you get your work requests done faster?  Can you offer custom painting at renewal time?
      2. Add conveniences for your customers:  free use of the fax machine, selling stamps, free movie rentals or free photocopies.
      3. Create regular resident events like book clubs, biking, a sand volley ball team, etc. to encourage community.
      4. Solid construction is an older feature you should brag about!  It is unlikely that any of your parts were pre-fabricated off-site.  Everything was carefully handcrafted with pride right there!  This means that your building is probably solid and relatively quiet.
      5. Older properties tend to be in great locations closer to business and entertainment centers.  Promote neighborhood ‘walk-ability’, convenience to business centers, nearby green spaces, entertainment venues, transportation and key arteries.
      6. Got charm?  Sell it! Anything that is different sets you apart from your competitors.  Your job is to draw attention to it and tell your customer why it matters to them.

Maximize what you have!  Be proud of the value you represent!  And don’t forget to ask for the sale!

Cheers!  Jim Baumgartner | RentSoda

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You’ve Been B-BACK’ed! 5 Ways to Turn Your B-Backs Into Leases!

Sep 8th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
3 comments

You’ve been there – your prospect apartment tour is going well, you are excited, your prospects are talking about where they are going to place their furniture, and then they utter the dread words:

We’re going to take a look at a few more places and we’ll BE BACK.

You just got B-BACK’ed! How do you turn those B-Backs into leases?

Here are 5 ways to get them BACK, and turn those B-BACKS into leases!

  1. FOLLOW-UP! While you are in the apartment tour, take your camera, and anything that your prospects say they like, take a picture of that. (i.e. “oh honey, look at the size of the closet!” -SNAP picture here. “oh honey, look at the pool!” SNAP picture here. Let them know you’ll email them the pics of all their favorite parts of the apartment tour.) I’m going to assume you’ve done some due diligence and have taken down their email address and phone number for follow-ups. After they leave, load the pictures onto a Flickr.com account, and email them the SHARE link. (Some email servers may have limits for attachments, and you want to make ensure that you don’t attach a bunch of pics that gets your email automatically moved into the spam folder.) Make sure in your follow-up email, you put something personal and friendly. (i.e. “Here’s a link to the pictures I took for you. You mentioned the size of the closet – I measured it and it’s 8×7. We’d love to have you live here!”
  2. FOLLOW-UP! Ask them when is the best time to contact them – WRITE THAT DOWN, and contact them during their most convenient times. Many times, we are following up with our prospects when its convenient for us. We should call them when its convenient for them – and increase our chances of having a “live” conversation as well as another opportunity for positive interaction with your apartment community.
  3. FOLLOW-UP! There is no 3 day rule to making a follow-up call when you’re trying to win business. If you want them to sign a lease, you’ll have to earn it. My rule of thumb: call immediately, call often. If you took my recommendation and took pictures (#1 above), call them after you send the pictures just to let them know to look for it in their email. No pressure, no salesy talk. Just a friendly call. THEN, call them the VERY next day and ask them how the rest of their apartment tours went, and offer to answer any questions they may still have. Call them a couple of days later to see if they have a decision and offer to show them another apartment that just “happened” to open up, etc.

    4. You get the idea: find ways to have positive points of contact with your prospects – don’t just call them to CALL THEM.

  4. FOLLOW-UP! When calling your prospects, always let them know how glad you are that they came in, or how happy you are that they came by. At the end of each call, either ask for their business or ask them to come back in.
  5. FOLLOW-UP! If you have an upcoming community event, call your prospects to invite them to attend. Having a breakfast for residents this weekend? Ask your prospects to attend. Have a football game showing in the community room? Invite them to join!

All 5 of my tips have to do with follow-up calls. It seems like a no-brainer, but I’m constantly amazed at how little follow-up there actually is out there. In recent “shops” that we performed, we only got a 20% rate of follow-up. We’ve been on the hunt for some office space – granted office space is a little different market than apartments, but we were FLOORED to find that the follow-up rate was even lower! (Maybe 10%!) We ended up leasing space from the person who cared the most by addressing all of our concerns, followed up with us the most, and fought to get our business. Your prospects aren’t any different. Studies show that the more positive interactions we have, the more we are likely to buy a product. Start making more positive interactions and increase your chances of closing on that lease!

Do you have any additional tips to add? Please leave a comment and add to the list!

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Offering Apartment Marketing, Apartment Business & Operations Consulting & Apartment Industry Training

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

Follow RENTSODA on Twitter!

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5 Things To Do NOW to Deter Crime From Your Apartment Community

Sep 1st, 2010
by daisynguyen.
3 comments

Crime is an issue in any apartment community. Because apartments communities are denser populations, your apartment complex can be appealing to criminals – in a short amount of time, over a short distance of space, they have access to a higher number of “opportunities.” What are some affordable tips that you can implement NOW that can help deter crime from your apartment communities?

5 Things YOU Can Do NOW to Deter Crime From Your Apartment Communities:

  1. Take care of graffiti as soon as possible. Leaving a graffiti tag on your building only sends the message that your management either doesn’t care or is lax in the maintenance of the building. If you are lax with the maintenance of the building, would be thieves may believe you will be lax with the security of the building, the legal process, etc.
  2. Install good lightening around the perimeter of your community/apartment building. When I spoke with the Minneapolis police department, they don’t recommend motion lightening in favor of lightening that is turned on a dusk and off at dawn. Their reason: crooks will run into a dark alley, along a dark street and look for opportunities. Even if the lights come on once they on that street or alley, you’ve invited them in. Rather, light the streets and alleys, and those same crooks will avoid your street/alley way altogether.
  3. Leave windows to public areas unobstructed & lighted. Again, the best deterrent in crime is the appearance that the entire neighborhood could be watching. Especially where your community space may face a busy street, make sure the view into the space (i.e. community room) is not obstructed by potted plants, trees, etc. Thieves don’t want to be seen when they are thieving. Where possible, install motion lightening in your interior public spaces – if someone were to break into your community room or office after hours, the space will light up, and with the windows unobstructed, any activity going on in your community room has the possibility of being seen by all.
  4. Plant thorny vines or plants along walls or fences to deny access & prevent graffiti. If you have an area that is frequently tagged with graffiti, have an area that attracts unwanted activity, or have a wall that you want to keep people off – plant thorny vines or bushes. Nobody likes to be pricked by rose bushes or thorny vines – even toughened criminals or your harmless neighborhood juveniles.
  5. In parking areas, like garages & parking lots, post signs to remind residents and guests to lock their cars and take their valuables with them.

Don’t be a willing victim. Without the right “opportunities” for criminals, they WILL move onto greener pastures – that don’t include your apartment buildings.

These are my favorite cost effective, affordable, easy to implement crime deterrents - what are yours?

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Offering Apartment Marketing, Apartment Business & Operations Consulting & Apartment Industry Training

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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Got VACANCY? Apartment Models – Is it a DO or DON’t or CAN’t Afford It?

Jul 29th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
2 comments

If you have vacant apartments, and thinking about modeling an apartment, you’re probably thinking, can you afford it?

You can’t afford NOT to have a model!

CONSIDER THIS:

  1. All new apartment developments I work with have apartment models. If the apartment has lots of different floor plans, especially if there are any odd angles, or funky spaces, or weird lighting, usually, the question isn’t “Should we have a model?” it turns to “How many models can we have?” Typically, when we do a model, the modeled floor plan leases up MUCH more quickly than other floor plans, leasing activity spikes, and the closing ratio’s rise.
  2. In the real estate world, (for-sale of single family homes), it is widely accepted that A.) Potential buyers make their decision to purchase a home in the first 30 seconds upon entering. First impression is the key! and B.) well staged homes sell for 30-50% faster than their counterparts. (Not only do they sell fast, they usually sell for MORE.) (real estate facts found here.)

Which feels more welcome to you? The vacant room or the staged/modeled family room?

What happened to that school of thought – give them a blank slate, and let them imagine it themselves! The reality is, people have stressful lives, they want immediate gratification, they want EASY. Why is television so much more popular than books these days? Television is easy gratification, no imagination needed. People don’t have to think after a long stressful day. Let’s give them EASY folks! Make it easy for your prospects to imagine living in your apartment community – in one of your apartments. After a long stressful day at the office, or a long day of apartment hunting, having imagination is the last thing on your prospect’s mind. Make it EASY for them! Make the model apartment feel welcoming!

The question always comes back to COST. If you have more than 10 vacant units at a time – you can’t afford NOT to have a model. Consider this example of vacancy loss:

OK, let’s make it easy and do the math. Let’s say we’re talking about ABC Apartments. They have 100 units. Their average rents are $1000.00/unit.

Prior to the rental market taking a downward turn, ABC Apartments has been running along great, apartments never took very long to lease, and they had been at 97% occupancy for many years. (only 3 vacant apartments)

Fast forward to today, they are at 88% physical occupancy, which means they are at 12% vacancy or 12 vacant apartments. All of the sudden, they are struggling with just staying ahead of the renewals and turnover. Increasing the occupancy in the midst of the resident turnover looks very daunting.

Let’s do the math.

At 97% occupancy, the vacancy loss is:

(Average Apartment Rents) x (# of Vacant Apartment Units)

$1000.00 x 3 vacant apartment units = $3000.00 of vacancy loss monthly. This is what they are used to operating at. Annually (x12), this amounts to $36,000.00 of annual vacancy loss.

TODAY, the apartment project is at 88% occupancy, the vacancy loss is:

$1000.00 x 12 vacant apartment units = $12,000.00 of vacancy loss monthly. Annually (x12), this amounts to $144,000.00.

The different in vacancy loss monthly is $9000.00! ($12,000 – $3000) And annually, the difference is $108,000.00! ($144,000 – $36,000)

If we apply the real estate facts – that well staged homes sell 30-50% faster than their vacant counterparts, how much does the $108,000.00 mean to this apartment project? The Owner/Developers/Investors? The apartment community manager?

If we can spend a couple thousand dollars (or a few thousand – depending on your budget, your property, and your clientele) and reduce the vacancy by 30-50% over the next couple of months, wouldn’t that model be TOTALLY worth it?

My next blog will focus on budget conscious tips for putting together a model! It doesn’t need to cost a FORTUNE to make an IMPRESSION! Please check back to read all about it!

Don’t GET IT? Make it EASY! RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Offering Apartment Marketing, Apartment Business & Operations Consulting & Apartment Industry Training

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

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MOBILIZE Your Apartment Website For Smartphones, iPhones, Blackberries!

Jul 22nd, 2010
by daisynguyen.
5 comments

Smart phones, iPhones, Blackberries are everywhere. They keep us connected to our world – through the phone, internet, text messaging, etc.

I am addicted to mine. Not JUST addicted to it, but I LOVE it.

And I LOVE it even more, when my favorite sites have applications for my mobile device OR they have “mobilized” their websites for mobile devices. Not only do I LOVE those people who have mobile apps or mobilized websites, I am ANNOYED when someone doesn’t have a mobile app or mobilized website!

It used to be that you had to have a website. THAT is SO 1999. TODAY, you have to have a mobilized website!

Surprising, in the apartment industry, so few of our websites are mobilized. And when it comes right down to it, it’s due to pricing, leaving only the big guys able to afford to mobilize their websites. SAD!

RENT SODA’s blog is now “mobilized” thanks to a FREE application that took only 3 minutes of set-up time. In my attempt to mobilize my blog, I found it amazingly simple and FREE to mobilize it! Here’s the service I currently use:

http://mippin.com

Instructions are simple:

1.) Sign-up for an account

2.) Use the “MIPPIN MOBILIZER” – enter in your website URL or feed URL.

3.) Choose your lay-out

I was up and running in 3 minutes, with a few minor glitches:

  • I found that my blog title and my blog article titles were running OVER each other. – I emailed customer service, and they fixed it within 24 hours. (WOW – and this is free!)

Other things you should know about mippin:

  1. This service hosts the mobilized version of your website on their servers – which means mobile traffic is redirected to a URL that they host. (i.e. your traffic is leaving your site)
  2. They do support advertising on the mobilized version of your site through ADMOB – you keep 100% of the revenues. I have not tried this as I do not want ads on my blog, mobilized or non-mobilized. :-)
  3. Even if a website is not on the mippin server, if you goto mippin.com, and use them as a browser for any website that has an rss feed option, it will try to mobilize that website for your viewing pleasure.

I mobilized my blog (http://blog.rentsoda.com ) – I’m curious to see someone mobilize their apartment’s website and give us feedback on that process, and how it looks, so please leave a comment if you have used this to mobilize your apartment website.

Do you know of other services that are able to mobilize websites FREE or at a low cost? Please leave a comment and share with everyone!

Don’t GET IT? MOBILIZE IT! RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

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Leasing Agent Compensation?…First a word about VACANCY!

Jul 14th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
2 comments

As a consultant to the apartment industry, I am asked a LOT, “What’s fair leasing agent compensation? Is their a leasing commission structure you would recommend?”

There is no easy or short answer to this question, so let’s take a round about way of discuss it, and then my next article will zoom RIGHT into what I recommend.

I find it a little backwards when people want to know what OTHER properties or OTHER management companies are doing when it comes to leasing agent compensation. I never say it out loud, but I’m always thinking, “What’s it worth to YOU?” (as owner/manager) AND, “What’s it worth to THEM?” (your leasing agent/leasing specialist)  What do I mean by that?

FIRST, let’s first talk about the REAL problem – VACANCY.

I don’t have a vacancy problem!

Well, then, you shouldn’t worry about leasing agent compensation then!

OK, OK. Let’s talk about vacancy…

TO make it easy, let’s say we’re talking about ABC Apartments. They have 100 units. Their average rents are $1000.00/unit.

Prior to the rental market taking a downward turn, ABC Apartments has been running along great, apartments never took very long to lease, and they had been at 97% occupancy for many years.

Fast forward to today, they are at 88% physical occupancy, which means they are at 12% vacancy. All of the sudden, they are struggling with just staying ahead of the renewals and turnover. Increasing the occupancy in the midst of the resident turnover looks very daunting.

Let’s do the math.

At 97% occupancy, the vacancy loss is:

(Average Rents) x (# of Vacant Units)

$1000.00 x 3 vacant units = $3000.00 of vacancy loss monthly. This is what they are used to operating at. Annually (x12), this amounts to $36,000.00 of annual vacancy loss.

TODAY, at 88% occupancy, the vacancy loss is:

$1000.00 x 12 vacant units = $12,000.00 of vacancy loss monthly. Annually (x12), this amounts to $144,000.00.

The different in vacancy loss monthly is $9000.00! ($12,000 – $3000) And annually, the difference is $108,000.00! ($144,000 – $36,000)

How much does the $108,000.00 mean to the site? The Owner/Investors? The manager? Now that we have things in perspective, it brings up a WHOLE bunch of other questions, like:

  1. Do you have the right staff in place? If your maintenance guy is doing showings – you may have a problem.
  2. Do you have a plan in place for resident retention? If you have vacancy problems, you HAVE to have a plan in place to close the back door to your vacancy problem.
  3. Is your staff properly trained? Not just in customer service, but in closing on leases?
  4. Is your staff properly motivated and positioned to succeed? (This question leads into the real TOPIC: What’s a fair Leasing Agent compensation package?

Do you have other questions? Other considerations? Leave me a comment in the COMMENTS section!

My next blog article, will discuss different leasing compensation programs, and how to pick what works best for you, your site, and your staff.

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

Follow RENTSODA on Twitter!

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New to the Apartment Industry/Job/Career? 4 Stages to an Epiphany!

Jul 13th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
1 comment

Are you new to the apartment industry? New to your employer? New career? New promotion? On a new project? There are 4 stages that every NEWBIE goes through before becoming comfortable in the new position.

When I first started at Dominium Management Services several years ago, I was lucky enough to take a class called “Managing for New Managers,” taught by a wonderful human resources mentor named Claudia. I took away a few lessons from that class, that not only helped me in my new job - I still remember those tips to this day and pass along this info to all newbies I meet!

Before we get started, I first want to mention for anyone who is new to the apartment industry: CONGRATS! You have just joined the most exciting, most demanding, most fun, most fullfilling, most intelligent, most rewarding industry – EVER! If your manager hasn’t prepared you, I’m preparing you now:

4 Stages to an Epiphany in the Apartment Industry

  1. STAGE 1: UNCONSCIOUSLY INCOMPETENT: You read it right. INCOMPETENT. In this stage, you’re feeling good. You just landed a job – especially in this economy, this is quite a feat! You beat out the hundreds of other applicants and you were chosen as the best fit for the job. CONGRATS! You’re being introduced to everyone, your resume is being passed around, people are oohing and ahhing. Everyone LOVES  you and can’t wait for you to get started. YOU can’t wait to get started! You feel important, after all, you’re working for ABC Apartments/ABC Management Company and they own millions worth in real estate. The honeymoon’s just begun. This feeling can last anywhere from a week to a month before you head into…
  2. STAGE 2: CONSCIOUSLY INCOMPETANT: This is when you start to feel a little insecure. There’s SOOOO much to learn! You’ve just started to realize you are in charge of this multi-million dollar asset, and no one’s ever trusted you with even $100 before, let alone an asset worth millions! Then there’s Fair Housing – oh my! They expect you to market, lease, understand financials, manage people, respond to residents, live on site, deal with maintenance issues, vacuum on occasion, AND all with a smile, please and a thank you. Budgets? Maintenance? HAP? HUD?  OOOOOHHHHH MY. You’re ready to pull your hair out and rethink this whole new industry, whole new career, whole new job thing. BUT STOP! This stage is perfectly NORMAL. I tell ALL new job applicants, and all new hires, give it 90 days, and if you don’t feel better by the end of 90 days, let’s have a serious talk. The good news is, EVERYONE goes through this, it’s perfectly normal, and it WILL get better. I’ve done takeovers where I’ve had people cry in my office because of how overwhelming it is – and they’re not use to the chaos of change. Give it 90 days, and those same people are skipping, having a good old time, and thanking me for letting them know – IT’s OK. This stage usually lasts anywhere from 90-120 days, with some relief right around 90 days.
  3. STAGE 3: CONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT: At this stage, you’re starting to GET IT now. It’s not easy, but you know where to find the answers, and you’re starting to kind of like the job/industry/career! You understand what your job entails, and you’re starting to understand not only where you fit into the equation, but the whole bigger equation of the APARTMENT industry. Things that seemed like a foreign language to you, terms like, gross potential rent, RUBS, HAP, HUD, NOI, cost per lease, marketing cost per unit, traffic, replacement reserves, Yardi, MRI, multi-family residential – terms once alien, are starting to roll off your tongue. Things that used to bother you (residents coming into your office and interrupting your line of thought, vendors vying for your time, overly dramatic leasing agents, non-communicative maintenance technicians, etc.)  – are now an everyday part of your life. You’re drinking the koolaid, and it’s starting to taste good. You see light at the end of the tunnel, and you contemplate taking a day off – soon.
  4. STAGE 4: CONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT: EPIPHANY! Then one day, all the sudden, you’re walking along, multi-tasking with your blackberry in one hand, maintenance work orders in the other hand, picking up trash/stuffing it your pockets, and just as you round the corner, your leasing agent and maintenance guy are waiting with an angry resident in tow. You have 10 minutes to compose yourself and your office before your apartment owners/asset manager/big-wigs come for their annual visit. You smile, look at your crew, and say, “What a beautiful day outside. Let’s talk about what’s bothering you so you can enjoy the rest of the morning!” An epiphany hits and you realize, I LOVE this crazy industry/job/career, and if not for the variety, people, experiences, life could be SOOOO boring! I’m GETTING IT! WHOOHOO!

Loss of new hires usually occurs at STAGE 2. Before you give up or before you allow YOUR new hire to give up! Realize, IT’s OK. Give it time, and you’ll GET IT.

Since I’ve started to tell every new employee I hire about these stages and open the door for honest discussion, give them permission and encourage them to vent to me during STAGE 2, my employee turnover has dropped significantly. In addition – those people will come vent, talk and sometimes cry in my office – but 90 days later, they are laughing with me, hugging me, and asking for new projects and challenges. I LOVE this crazy apartment industry!

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

Follow RENTSODA on Twitter!

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