Rental Housing Journal Colorado
July 2014 - Vol. 6 Issue 7
2. Shoptalk
5. The Coach – Can Your Rental Center Walls…Sell?
3. Dear Maintenance Men, Making Rent Collection Easier
7. 5 Keys to Developing Personal Power
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Being a “Remarkable” Property Manager By Marc Courtenay
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hether you’re following your passion or just trying to be successful at what you do for a living, it always counts to be in that esteemed group we call “outstanding”. There is more research surfacing that gives practical guidance on the characteristics of those who flourish and those who flounder. It’s not just motivation that matters; it’s also having the right information. That’s one of the reasons you come to propertymanager.com and read these articles. One great idea can enhance your well-being. In a fascinating book titled “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” by Cal Newport Ph.D. I found some powerful insights on being both outstanding and what Newport calls “remarkable” in our chosen occupation. His premise is found in the subtitle of the book; “Why skills trump passion in the quest for work you love.” It’s based on the old axiom that the more skills you have and the more experience you accrue the better your chances of experiencing both personal career satisfaction and exceptional rewards. “The law of remarkability” is introduced colorfully in chapter 15 of this highly recommended book. Newport states that great missions are transformed into great successes as a result of finding (and Continued on page 4
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Denver Apartment Research Report Denver Metro Area, Second Quarter 2014
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ut-of-State Employers and Investors Targeting Denver Expansion and relocations by many employers is helping to grow the local economy at a rapid pace and attract residents to the area, generating heightened apartment demand and elevated construction. The Denver metro continues to be a preferred location for many companies looking to expand their footprints. Lockheed Martin announced that it will relocate 350 jobs from its location in Pennsylvania, and Layer3 TV will be moving its headquarters from Boston to Denver, potentially adding more than 300 positions. The creation of higher-paying jobs throughout the market is bringing new households to the area. However, single-family home deliveries remain far below pre-recession levels, diverting demand to rental units. As a result of new demand for housing stock, builders are on track for a twofold increase in rental deliveries this year, targeting sites near existing or future light-rail stops. Elevated construction will cause vacancy to rise by year end, approaching the longterm average for the market. Rents will continue their upward trend this
year, rising to record highs. The growing Denver economy is attracting the attention of investors and accelerating transaction velocity. Buyers are undaunted by a potential rise in vacancy as new product comes online, because many believe that strong job growth will generate significant apartment absorption. Listings remain low, intensifying competition for available assets and resulting in properties receiving multiple competitive offers, with some
selling above asking price. Demand is driven, in large part, by investors from outside the market. West Coast buyers have traditionally been dominant in the metro; however, an increasing number of Midwest, East Coast and even foreign investors are looking to add Denver area assets to their portfolios. Activity from out-of-state and foreign investors is lifting property values to all-time highs, pricing many local buyers out Continued on page 6
How Entrepreneurs Can Increase Profit with a Hands-Off Approach Mechanical Rule of Distance’ Lets You See Big Picture & Test Ideas, Says Business Development Strategist
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t’s a common occurrence among the most talented people in the corporate world – highly skilled and qualified workers make the leap from valued employee to uncertain business owner. Unfortunately, rather than becoming a master of their own business, many of these entrepreneurs work
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twice as much as they did in their safe corporate job, unwittingly committing themselves to becoming the lowest rung on the ladder, says Zenovia Andrews, founder and CEO of The MaxOut Group, a company devoted to empowering and teaching entrepreneurs development strategies to increase profits.
“People believe that starting a new business is supposed to mean they’ll have to work much longer hours, and that’s why most new businesses fail early,” says Andrews, author of the new book “All Systems Go – A Solid Blueprint to Build Business and Maximize Cash Flow,” (www.zeno...continued on page 2
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here is an old saying when it comes to selling/renting real estate that the three most important factors are: location, location, location. Yet, what if you are working at an apartment community that does not have these three things going for it? Maybe your community is “off the beaten path” and no one can find you, or your building is located in a neighborhood that is not considered desirable because it needs a facelift. Perhaps you are near certain types of businesses that may discourage people who are driving by from driving in. The issue of “location,” is
obviously a concern based on the following question:
ing I would do it! Do you have any suggestions?
Q: I work at an older building that is tucked away in a secluded spot. It once had a great reputation, but over several years, the local neighborhood has taken on a “run down” appearance and many of the area businesses are not caring for their properties the way they once did. It’s getting harder and harder to attract new renters, not to mention trying to hang onto existing residents who are now concerned with security and safety issues. If I could pick up and move this build-
A: I want to commend you for your loyalty to your building and residents. It’s obvious that you care a great deal about the people and the place where you work, as well as your local community. Challenges with “location” are especially difficult as they sometimes fall into the realm of things that we consider to be “beyond our control.” We feel powerless and frustrated. On the other hand, difficult challenges present unique and exciting opportuni-
ties to become creative and also get other people involved in the problem-solving process. Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work!” Well. . . solving challenges related to “location” is work; it’s HARD work! It requires spending time analyzing ALL of the problems, not just the ones that are blamed on location. Let’s face it: Over a period of time, it becomes easier and easier to make Continued on page 4
Hands-Off Approach ..continued from front page viaandrews.com). “Entrepreneurs need to be the brains and oversight of the operation. It’s not wise to work for your own business. Sixteen-hour days get entrepreneurs lost in the minutiae. The lose perspective and burn out.” Business owners need distance for perspective, and the best way to create that is by knowing how to delegate duties to employees, she says. “Owners need to be the strategic visionary who hires, trains and develops the best talent available, and then delegates work,” says Andrews, who discusses the five keys of delegation. • Understand that your team is made up of human beings. No one can work nonstop, so get your timing right. Know what each employee can handle, and never overwork them. Most people perform at their
best when they are consistently busy but not rushed or pressured. • Focus on the strengths of your team. Delegation is not a dumpand-run tactic. Know your employees and how they fit into your business puzzle. Allow them to do what they do well, and give them responsibilities and authority. They’ll be happier and so will you. • Focus on your own strengths, then plug the holes. Few of us are great at everything! If bookkeeping’s not your thing, hire an accountant. If you don’t have marketing experience, find someone with proven skills. Trying to perform jobs that you don’t do well will require twice as much effort with less-than-satisfactory results. • Be the resource king or queen.
Your employees are only as good as the resources they have. Make sure that they are equipped to always do the best work for you on a daily basis. Running out of stock, not having new software and not shelling out for that desperately need printer is NOT good delegation. • Become the fire, ice and motivation behind your team. When they need guidance, give it to them; when they need appreciation, offer it to them. Inspire, motivate and lead by supporting your delegated decisions and following up on them often. “Business owners need to be the big thinkers: to identify patterns both good and bad; to become an idea machine and testing fanatic; to fill out details from outlined strategy; to be aware of market trends; to always have one eye on the compe-
tition; and to develop an instinct for the people with whom you like to work,” Andrews says. About Zenovia Andrews Zenovia Andrews, www.zenoviaandrews.com, is a business development strategist with extensive experience in corporate training, performance management, leadership development and sales consulting with international clients, including Pfizer, Inc. and Novartis Pharmaceuticals. A sought-after speaker and radio/TV personality, she is the author of “All Systems Go” and “MAXOut: I Want It All.”
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RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL COLORADO
Dear Maintenance Men: By Jerry L'Ecuyer & Frank Alvarez
Dear Maintenance Men: Mildew is driving me crazy. We have a property with interior bathrooms and they are constantly developing mildew on the walls and ceiling. We have cleaned, painted and cleaned out the duct work for the vent fan and the problem does not go away. How can I solve this problem? William Dear William: A number of things may be at work here. Unit overcrowding is generally the main reason for moisture & mildew build-up in an apartment unit. Because of the overcrowding, the residents, take more showers and baths, throughout the day and evening. Often to hide the excess people in the unit, the resident will keep all the window covers closed and the widows shut, effectively keeping the moisture from escaping. Add a windowless bathroom into the mix and the problem is compounded. Mechanically, we suggest you inspect the vent fans in the bathrooms. Make sure they are not clogged with lint or dust. If the fan is operating properly, check the CFM or Cubic Feet per minute of air movement.
The minimum number should be 50 CFM. If the bathroom is getting more than the average amount of use, you may want to replace the existing fan with one that has a higher CFM rating. We recommend using at least a 120-CFM fan. Equally important, many bathrooms have two wall switches; one for the light and the other for the fan. If this is the case, we recommend combining the two switches into one. That way when the resident switches on the light the fan will come on automatically. We find most residents will not turn on the fan if it has its own switch. Lastly of course, is to get the resident to open a few windows and let some fresh air in. Dear Maintenance Men: Over the years, the sidewalks around our building have accumulated a fair amount of chewing gum residue. We are looking for a good method to remove the gum and the gum deposit. Once clean, is there any surface treatment to prevent gum from sticking? Ryan Dear Ryan: There are a number of ways to remove gum from a brick or concrete sidewalks. Spray the gum with an
aerosol freezing agent or place dry ice on the gum for a few minutes. The gum will become very brittle and should be easier to pry off the surface with a putty knife or scraper. It may take a few tries to remove all the gum. If there is any gum remaining, spray WD-40 or vinegar and let it soak to dissolve the remaining gum. Use a scraper or stiff brush to remove the rest of the gum. After all the gum is removed, use a power sprayer to deep clean and remove any gum residue. If you still have discoloration on the concrete, use muriatic acid & water mixture to bleach the concrete. To keep the gum from sticking to the concrete or brick sidewalks in the first place; use a waterproofing sealer on the sidewalk to reduce the likelihood of the gum sticking to the surface. Dear Maintenance Men: I keep hearing about PEX tubing as an alternative to copper tubing when it comes to re-piping my rental units. What is the difference between PEX and copper tubing and why use one over the other? What are the pros and cons? Aldridge
ing is. PEX is a cross-linked polyethylene pipe. (It looks and feels like plastic pipe.) The PEX pipe is resistant to extreme temperatures, stress, pressure and chemicals attacks such as acids & alkalies. This makes PEX pipe suitable for both hot and cold water systems and can be used in below freezing condition and is suitable up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. The pipe is extremely flexible and easy to install. Pros and cons of using PEX: Pros: 1: Versatile and user friendly, can be bent around corners & snaked through walls. 2: Minimum of connections needed to complete a pipe run. (Less chance of a leak) 3: Cold weather burst resistant. 4: PEX pipe is less expensive than copper pipe Cons: 1: Cannot be used outside or in sunlight. 2: Not recycle friendly 3: Installation tools can be expensive. 4: Not handyman friendly Pros and cons of using copper pipe:
Dear Aldridge: First let’s define what PEX tub-
Continued on page 8
Making Rent Collection Easier ing electronic payments, the majority of your rental income will have been received by the cutoff date, instead of straggling in up to five days after the deadline. If you make one change this year in your internal processes, you may want to consider changing your rent payment process. Your residents will appreciate the ease in which they can make payments, while your staff will be freed up to handle other responsibilities instead of stamping checks and driving to the bank the first week of each month.
By Mary Girsch-Bock As important as it is for property managers to ensure that rent is received on a timely basis; rental collection is not just important to property managers. Surveys have shown that residents also want an easier way to pay rent. While many smaller management companies have continued to accept checks, many have done away with the hassle of recording, depositing, and dealing with delayed mailings, lost checks and potential NSF check situations. With a large under 30 demographic, property managers looking to attract young, professional renters would do well to institute a 21st century rental payment policy that allows tenants to use credit cards to pay rent, can accept rental payments online, or can automatically debit a tenant’s bank account to withdraw rent on a monthly basis. There are numerous advantages to making updated payment acceptance a priority. Here are just a few: Your rental payment policy can directly affect the type of renters you’re able to attract. With computer savvy young professionals making up one of the fastest growing group of renters, it’s imperative that properties offer quick, easy methods for rental payments. Many 20-somethings Rental Housing journal Colorado • July 2014
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p have never written a check in their life, and aren’t likely to start just to live in your property. They’ll simply find a property where they can pay their rent easily. Accepting rental payments electronically will eliminate the extra work involved with accepting checks, as mentioned above. While those in a small apartment community do not spend a lot of time processing checks, those in large, multiunit complexes will typically spend a large chunk of the first week of each month processing checks, not
to mention following up on lost mail, determining if in fact a check is late, and contacting tenants when insufficient fund issues pop up, as they always do. Accepting rental payments electronically give property managers a much better idea of their rental income for the month much earlier, and managers will know immediately if a scheduled electronic payment has been made. The majority of your rental payments will be in the bank much sooner. If the 2nd is the cutoff for accepting rental payments, by accept-
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Remarkable..continued from front page doing) great projects that satisfy this “law”. It starts by defining the word remarkable. Literally, it means to be so amazing, so exceptional that people can’t help being inspired to remark about you and what you’re doing. It brings new meaning to the term “word of mouth advertising”. For example, I know of a property manager who organizes and sponsors an annual seminar that’s open to owners, landlords, investors and prospective participants in the rental property industry. This seminar also includes people who are residents. She actually invites any renter who wants to learn how to find, improve and hold onto top quality residential rentals. The first year’s results were sketchy. By the third year she was attracting prospective clients, lenders, community leaders and the attention of the local media. People were being to remark to one another about the seminar’s value and its sponsor. Some attendees were so impressed they asked to co-sponsor the seminar the next year. It became so popular that the property manager who began this project didn’t need to promote it or market it. Like a remarkable property management company, the seminar was promoting itself. The reputation of the individual who started the semi-
Shoptalk..continued from page 2
nar was transformed in many positive ways. She was perceived as a positive force for good in her community and was invited to speak before public service organizations like Kiwanis, Rotary and the local Chamber of Commerce. It won’t surprise you that her referrals tripled by the third year and last I had heard she was turning away business because she was so busy. She told me she enjoyed referring them to her competition. Her competition couldn’t believe that she would do this and offered to take her to dinner in gratitude. Over a fine meal she forged an alliance of cooperation, mutual respect and opportunities to collaborate. If you want to be a remarkable property manager be so creative, proficient and willing to do just a little more than the average that your community feels compelled to remark about you to others. PropertyManager.com a Service of AppFolio
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“excuses” and “blame” what is perceived as a “bad location” on EVERY problem that arises. (i.e. “No one can find us because we are in a bad location!” - How colorful and well placed are your signs? How skilled are you at giving specific, detailed directions; even if it means using a local pub as a landmark? “No one will use our laundry facility because it is perceived as being ‘unsafe’ because we are in a bad neighborhood.” - Is your laundry room bright, cheerful and welcoming? Is the interior, as well as the exterior building and surrounding area, well lit? Can residents be introduced to each other and encouraged to use the “buddy system?”) With regards to your neighborhood situation, perhaps your community could become a member of your local Chamber of Commerce and network with other area businesses who care about the condition of your section of the city. Maybe your staff and residents could get involved civically and attend local town meetings to make your voices heard about what’s happening in your neighborhood. What about forming a block watch at your community?
develop and will take time to correct. MUCH patience will be required to bring about any lasting change. Of course many people prefer to stay with problems they understand rather than look for solutions they’re uncomfortable with. (It’s easier to complain than change!) However, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. You may not be able to change the location of your building, but you CAN change the direction of your thinking. - After all, it’s a lot easier to “pick up and move” people, rather than buildings! If you have a question or concern that you would like to see addressed next month, please ASK THE SECRET SHOPPER by making contact via e-mail. Your questions, comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome! ASK THE SECRET SHOPPER Provided by: SHOPTALK SERVICE EVALUATIONS Phone: 425-424-8870 E-mail: joyce@shoptalkservice.com Web: www.shoptalkservice.com Copyright – Shoptalk Service Evaluations
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RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL COLORADO
Can Your Rental Center Walls…Sell?
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f first impressions are formed by a new resident within 10-12 seconds of meeting those on your leasing teams, what impressions do the walls in your office make? Can your walls sell? Can your walls motivate and inspire you and your leasing teams? You bet they can! This article will show you three easy steps to make sure your walls are selling—365 days a year. Inspiring your residents: First, recognize that every time a resident comes into the leasing office of the properties you manage, your leasing teams have a golden opportunity to sell and re-sell the wonderful lifestyle your apartment communities provide. Next, have your leasing teams determine how much wall space is available in their leasing offices and ask them to draft a plan for the types of information they want each resident to see. Here are some strategic items your leasing teams can place on their walls: pictures of their residents having fun at a recent property activity, letters of appreciation from current residents, a mission
by Ernest F. Oriente, The Coach statement from your company, your service guarantee or promise, a current resident newsletter, a reminder about resident referrals, dates for an upcoming resident party or event, sample floorplans, special awards or training certifications, your Facebook page, and a photo of your leasing and maintenance team. Lastly, have your leasing teams professionally frame each of the items they will be displaying on the walls of their leasing offices, as the quality of the framing will make a subconscious quality impression on your residents and future residents. Tip From The Coach: Now that your leasing offices are ready to sell to your current residents, can your leasing teams use this sales tool for future residents as well? You bet! At the start of each property tour, have your leasing teams begin by showing each future resident the fun items displayed on their walls…especially the pictures of current residents having great fun. When the walls in your leasing offices sell, your leasing experts will have higher closing ratios and more team success!
Motivating your team: Once your leasing teams have finished setting up the selling walls in their leasing offices, it’s time to prepare the walls that will motivate them. Ask your leasing teams to locate a wall or two in their leasing offices that is not usually seen by either current residents or future residents. Next, discuss with your leasing teams the key numbers, corporate information or trends they would like to see on a regular basis. Here are some ideas that might be helpful to display: weekly/monthly leasing goals, budget performance on a monthly and year-to-date basis, maintenance requests, a follow-up system for tracking hot prospective residents, bonus programs, a calendar to plan future resident events or activities, a place to share or post new ideas, company awards and collection reports. Lastly, ask your leasing teams to find a creative way to display this wonderful information so they will have a pride of ownership attached to this special area. Tip From The Coach: Many of our property management clients
ask their resident managers to hold a weekly meeting in the area where this information on their walls can be easily referenced. Consistently referencing this information on a weekly basis will show your leasing teams that the information displayed is critical to the success and profitability of their apartment community. Encouraging yourself: As the executive or owner of your property management company, your walls must also sell. Certainly, many of the ideas mentioned above, would be valuable to have on your walls. Some specialized measurements to place on your walls might include: occupancy trends, employee turnover, ROI performance, quarterly graphs recapping this quarter…compared to the same quarter last year, team rankings and industry statistics that will impact your properties. Tip From The Coach: Remember, whatever you place on the walls in your executive office will send a strong message to your company about the key areas of your business. So choose each item carefully, as evContinued on page 6
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RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL COLORADO
The Coach ...continued from page 5
Research Report ...continued from front page
ery person who comes into your office will survey your walls and ask you questions about what they see or read. In addition, you might consider giving new employees a tour of your office walls on their first day with your property management company. This will allow them an opportunity to see and read firsthand, exactly what is most important to you and those on your executive teams Want to hear more about this important topic or ask some additional questions about how to create walls that sell? Send an E-mail to ernest@ powerhour.com and The Coach will E-mail you a free PowerHour invitation. Author’s note: Ernest F. Oriente, a business coach/trainer since 1995 [32,170 hours], serving property management industry professional since 1988--the author of SmartMatch Alliances™, the founder of PowerHour® [ www.powerhour.com ], the founder of PowerHour SEO [ www.powerhourseo. com ], the live weekly PowerHour Leadership Academy [ www.powerhourleadershipacademy.com/pm ] and Power Insurance & Risk Management Group [ www.pirmg.com ], has a passion for coaching his clients on executive leadership, hiring and motivating property management SuperStars, traditional and Internet SEO/SEM marketing, competitive sales strategies, and high leverage alliances for property management teams and their leaders. He provides private and
of the market. Investors are targeting smaller assets east and northeast of downtown Denver, where cap rates start in the high-5 percent range. 2014 Annual Apartment Forecast Employment: Employers are on track to expand hiring by 3.8 percent with the addition of 49,100 jobs, while the unemployment rate will fall to the low-5 percent range. Last year, employers added 38,400 positions. Construction: Builders will boost inventory by 4.3 percent in 2014 with the addition of 10,400 units. Development will likely slow as multifamily permitting is on track to decline more than 40 percent this year. In 2013, 4,600 units were delivered and permits for roughly 10,000 rentals were issued. Vacancy: Construction will outweigh demand this year, pushing vacancy up 60 basis points to 4.6 percent. However, rental demand will
group coaching for property management companies around North America, executive recruiting, investment banking, national utility bill auditing, national real estate and apartment building insurance, SEO/SEM web strategies, national WiFi solutions [ www.powerhour.com/propertymanagement/nationalwifi.html ], powerful tools for hiring property management SuperStars and building dynamic teams, employee policy manuals [ www.powerhour.com/propertymanagement/employeepolicymanuals.html ] and social media strategic solutions [ http:// www.powerhour.com/propertymanagement/ socialmedialeadership.html ]. Ernest worked for Motorola, Primedia and is certified in the Xerox sales methodologies. Recent interviews and articles have appeared more than 8000+ times in business and trade publications and in a wide variety of leading magazines and newspapers, including Smart Money, Inc., Business 2.0, The New York Times, Fast Company, The LA Times, Fortune, Business Week, Self Employed America and The Financial Times. Since 1995, Ernest has written 225+ articles for the property management industry and created 400+ property management forms, business and marketing checklists, sales letters and presentation tools. To subscribe to his free property management newsletter go to: www.powerhour.com. PowerHour® is based in Olympic-town… Park City, Utah, at 435-615-8486, by E-mail ernest@powerhour.com or visit their website: www.powerhour.com
remain strong; net absorption will to reach 10,500 units. Last year vacancy fell 30 basis points. Rents: Effective rents will increase 6.5 percent this year, reaching $1,180 per month. By year end effective rents will be 34 percent above the pre-recession peak. In 2013, operators lifted rents 8.0 percent. Digested from Apartment Research Market Report by Marcus & Millichap for Colorado for the 2nd Quarter 2014. For more visit www.marcusmillichap.com
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5 Keys to Developing Personal Power Working on Emotional Intelligence Skills Can Open the Door to Achievement By: Lynda Chervil
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ersonal power is a core leadership competency that everyone needs to develop before they can lead others. It has to do with being able to lead yourself. "Personal power is the ability to achieve what you want,” according to Frederick Mann, a successful entrepreneur and author of The Economic Rape of America. “More than anything else, it is personal power that brings you success and happiness. The biggest barrier to success in almost any endeavor is powerlessness, negativity, helplessness, and inertia. They belong together. The problem is not only our own powerlessness, but also the powerlessness of those around us." We can help harness and learn to use our personal power by understanding and working on our Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills. Not long ago, when I worked in a corporate environment, there was a strong push to incorporate EI into the organization's leadership training curriculum as an array of skills and characteristics that drive leadership performance. EI is "the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emo-
tions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions," according to psychologists John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey, who co-developed the concept and were two of the three authors of the Emotional Intelligence Test. My EI training and its practical applications to my work team environment still resonate in my personal life. They became skills that I now methodically apply to current situations in both personal and entrepreneurial pursuits. There are several EI models, but the one to which I ascribe is the mixed model introduced by Daniel Goldman, a combination of ability and traits. Here are Goldman’s five main EI constructs, and my views on how each of us can develop them: 1. Self-awareness: the ability to know one's emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and goals and recognize their impact on others while using gut feelings to guide decisions. In order to become self-aware, you need to conduct an honest self-assessment to determine your strengths and weaknesses, such as powerlessness and inertia, and determine the
root causes. You then need to create a plan that will help you overcome your fears, which are barriers to courage and stand between you and your successes. While I am a big proponent of using my intuition to guide my decisions, whenever it is appropriate, I need to caution that unless your gut feelings are often more right than wrong, you cannot make decisions solely based upon intuition. You need to use a balanced combination of intuition and logic.
to be modified accordingly.
3. Social skills: managing relationships to move people in the desired direction. Your social skills refer to your interpersonal skills or your ability to relate and connect with people, which can motivate them to deploy discretionary efforts to help you achieve goals that are best accomplished via partnership and collaboration. Here are some tips for improving your social skills: a. Pay attention to the feedback of friends and co-workers, good 2. Self-regulation: involves conand bad. Train yourself to repeat trolling or redirecting one's disrupthe behaviors that get positive tive emotions and impulses and VALLEY, METRO, ARIZONA feedback and work on eliminatadapting to changing circumstancing those that make people react es. negatively. Simply put, you need to exercise self-discipline and know how to b. View constructive criticism as just that. When we become defensive, control your emotions and be flexwe don’t hear what can be very ible in order to adapt to changing helpful feedback. situations. You cannot continue Feb, Apr, Jun,onAug, Oct, Dec the same trajectory or keep the same c. Learn to handle conflict and confrontation from a perspective of plans when the circumstances or facts have changed. Your plans need Continued on page 8
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RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL COLORADO
Developing Personal Power ...continued from page 7 compassion and caring. Personal coaching can be very helpful in learning to be more diplomatic in your interactions with others. 4. Empathy - considering other people's feelings, especially when making decisions. Some people believe empathy cannot be learned, but I believe just the opposite. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and try to see situations from their perspective. Might they be feeling fear? Shame? Guilt? How do those emotions make you feel? Understanding and addressing the concerns of others is essential to EI. Always consider intent versus impact, and how your actions or decisions may affect the individuals or groups involved. 5. Motivation - being driven to achieve for the sake of achievement. Simply put, what motivates you? What are your benchmarks for success? Once you achieve certain levels of success, you need to consistently set new benchmarks to keep chasing personal excellence! Practice your EI skills on yourself first, and you’ll develop greater personal power. That can lead to
Dear Maintenance Men ...continued from page 3
achievements you may never have dreamed possible. About Lynda Chervil Lynda Chervil is the author of “Fool’s Return,” http://lyndachervil. com/, a new novel that incorporates valuable life lessons in a page-turning tale that touches on technology, the green movement, and other aspects of contemporary society. She graduated from New York University with a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications and has extensive experience in consumer and commercial banking and has held positions in new business development, sales management and executive leadership. Chervil seeks to push the limits of established understanding by exploring alternative forms of spiritual healing, and, through creative writing, to expand the narrative of cutting-edge energy technology to promote sustainability.
Pro: 1: Long lasting, easy to use and install 2: Resists corrosion 3: Environmentally friendly, i.e.: recyclable. 4: Safe for exterior use. Cons: 1: Expensive to buy. 2: Can burst in extreme cold weather if not properly winterized. 3: More connections and elbows needed to complete a pipe run. Before making any decisions about using PEX piping, check with your local building department to ensure it is allowed in your area. However, if it were our building, we would use copper pipe. Copper is straight forward to install, no special tools are needed and any competent handyperson can fix a leak with simple tools and a torch.
Please send us your Maintenance Questions!!! To see your maintenance question in the “Dear Maintenance Men:” column, please send submission to: Questions@ BuffaloMaintenance.com Please “Like” us on Facebook.com/BuffaloMaintenance Bio: Please call: Buffalo Maintenance, Inc for maintenance work or consultation. JLE Property Management, Inc for management service or consultation Frankie Alvarez at 714 956-8371 Jerry L’Ecuyer at 714 778-0480 CA contractor lic: #797645, EPA Real Estate lic. #: 01460075 Certified Renovation Company Websites: www.BuffaloMaintenance.com & www.ContactJLE.com www.Facebook.com/BuffaloMaintenance
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Rental Housing journal Colorado • July 2014