Property Management

Homeowners Trash Their Homes Before Handing Over the Keys

And, before they move off to apartment homes. Can't say I have not done some crazy things in a fit of angst and in the same breath I think, "you have to be kidding me."

I wonder how we screen for such a thing. Should we put a line on the application that says; Did you trash your house before you left it to the bank? Seems fair enough, right?

Have a great Monday. M

Sent to you by Mike via Google Reader: Homeowners Trash Their Homes Before Handing Over the Keys via RealEstateJournal.com Residential Real Estate News on 3/30/08 Borrowers who have lost their houses to foreclosure are stripping out appliances, punching holes in walls and dumping paint on carpets before turning their properties over to bankers and mortgage companies.

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Economist on job market: 'Expect a slow burn'

Seems to me that The Conference Board needs to measure more than just major U.S. newspaper want ads. I wonder if the picture is better or worse if you include all the on-line job ads?

Sent to you by Mike via Google Reader: Economist on job market: 'Expect a slow burn' via Today's Real Estate News by Inman_News on 3/28/08 A report from The Conference Board this week suggests that improvement in the U.S. job market is unlikely before the third or fourth quarter of this year.

The organization's Help-Wanted Advertising Index, a key economic indicator measuring the volume of job ads in major U.S. newspapers, dipped one point in February to 21, and is down nine points from the same time last year.

The Conference Board reported that just 31 percent of labor markets surveyed last month reported rising want-ad volume, down from 43 percent in January. more...

read more

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Women in the apartment decision

I can tell you from personal experience that I would never make the final decision on where to live when I was married. Not in 1 million years. Now that is rather dramatic and at the same time it made for a much better living arrangement. All kidding aside where we lived was not of importance to me. If the space felt good to my wife then it felt good to me.

According to a book called, The Soccer Mom Myth by Buchanan & Miller, 80% percent of buying decisions are made by women and get this 70% of women say that marketing doesn't speak to them. That is a big OUCH! Now we may all be in tune with the first stat and in the same breath I would say I was taken aback by the second.

Just yesterday a fellow property management maniac emailed me with reference to Lisa T's post on sexy women dancing behind what appeared to be a transparent curtain. The maniac (I mean that in the most positive of terms) then shared a recent campaign that their company ran that employed a similar tactic.

Now let's think about the startling stat presented above and marry it with the sexy woman dancing in the window campaigns. ......maybe a sexy man dancing in the window.

Have a great weekend. M

ForRent.com Launches New Blog

Great blog to sign up for if you have not already done so. Love those folks at ForRent. They really do it right.

Sent to you by Mike via Google Reader: ForRent.com Launches New Blog via My Pad by ForRent.com on 3/26/08

We want to thank everyone for stopping by and viewing our blog! We are pleased to announce that we have moved to ForRent.com! That's right; our blog is now hosted on our website. So we really are the ultimate resource for apartment seekers and renters alike. Whether you are searching for a pet-friendly apartment, condo, duplex, townhouse, loft, one, two or three bedroom apartment, we can provide you with over 50,000 listings nationwide. Or if you're already renting your dream apartment, we have various resources to provide you with tips/advice on decorating & entertaining, organization, safety, recipes and more!

So check out our new location! ForRent.com's new and improved Apartment Blog at http://blog.forrent.com/

Thanks!

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Powerful read on Customer Service or the lack thereof

Please take the time to read this all important article, it is well written and really hits home. While I would argue the point on technology simply given the fact that it is not technology but peoples application of it that is the downfall. Just my opinion.

Here is an sound bite;

"Businesses are losing business they can't afford to lose," she
said, pointing to the results of a 2007 Harris Poll, which reported
80 percent of customers saying they will never return to a business
after a negative customer-service experience. That's up from 68
percent in 2006.

"We've lost touch with the personal side of customer service,"
Paine said, "primarily because of technology." [read the rest here]

Lots of walking today

We are off to complete due-diligence on a nearly 1000 unit property today. WOW. I recognize there are bigger projects out there but nevertheless 1000 apartments parked on just over 4 acres. Yes, I am wearing jeans and my running shoes. I will be back tomorrow with an interesting post. A post responding to an email I received from Eric over at Urbane Apartments. Not to sound redundant but I love what they are doing to the property management space in Royal Oaks.

Have an uber-famous day. M


Technorati Tags: Urbane Apartments, mike brewer, apartment marketing

Stop with the, I don't understand and thereby I don't act

What a classic post by Seth. If you don't know yet, I am a big fan of Seth's work. I am really a fan of the interesting way he views the world.

I have an answer to his question. Because it's to easy now. So easy we have become lazy in our quest for further understanding. Hard work has a new definition. If it means getting off the couch and thus interrupting my video game time or lifting my fingers to type in; how does Google Analytics work, forget it. Don't ask me to do that. Instead I ask, is there not someone else who already does that? Call them. And hey, when they tell you the answer can you drop me a twitter post because you know I don't read more than 130 characters at any one setting.


Technorati Tags: seth godin, mike brewer, apartment marketing, property management

Empty Nests: Single family homes hitting the market

You better believe this is going to affect the apartment market. That along with another story I will post is short. I would love to hear your thoughts on the state of the apartment market. Drop me a comment or two. But first, a quote from the story I am linking up:

"You had a booming real-estate market, and then it just
stopped," he said, adding that a glut of condominiums is probably a part of the
problem.

Vacancies also jumped in some once-booming Western cities.
Between 2005 and 2007, homeowner vacancies more than tripled to 3.8% from 1.2%
in the Riverside-San Bernardino area, part of California's Inland Empire, east
of Los Angeles. In the Sacramento area, vacancies jumped to 4.2% from 1.2%. And
in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz., area, vacancy rates soared to 3.7% from
1%. [click here to read the rest]

Property Management: Team meetings

Who did you have at your last team meeting? The office team? The maintenance team? A vendor? A resident? A few residents? Why or why not?

Apartment Marketing: The art of

Before you get your hopes up this is not a post full of ideas but more so an attempt at being philosophical.

I think the art of marketing apartments is to simply look at a community and see it differently than anyone else sees it. Moreover taking those observations and couching them in such a way that it creates demand.

Here are some real world examples of looking at things differently;

• The first person to look at horse hair and think human hair extensions
• The first person to look at the Internet and think advertising medium
• The first person to look at a plank of wood and think boat
• The first person to look at an oyster and think "Yummy"
• The first person to look at a baby's urea and think "this could be a good skin-moisturizer"

I have the honor of hearing about some very cutting edge "seeing things differently" things coming out of a property management firm in Royal Oaks, MI that I hope to share in the coming weeks. I really think they are employing the above philosophy and its given deep meaning to their firm and what it does for the vendors, residents and prospects that they have the privilege of serving.