RHJ's Multifamily Magazine May - June 2016

MULTIFAMILY Vol 1 Issue 1

May - June 2016

MAGAZINE

What's inside: HUD Seeks to End Discrimination Against Tenants with Criminal Records How to Increase Your Rental Property Cash Flow 14 Points That Must Be In Your Apartment Building Leasing and Marketing Plan Build Community in Three Steps

Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

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Table of Contents O

Welcome to RHJ Multifamily magazine.

ver the last year Rental Housing Journal has seen an enormous amount of growth in reach. We have expanded beyond our regional journals for property managers and apartment owners with our publishing partnership with National Real Estate Investors Association and the launch of the quarterly national publication, Real Estate Journal, and annual Real Estate: Opportunities in Investing (ROI) publications. Additionally, we’ve added featured departments online: RHJinvestor.com and RHJblog.com.

RHJ Multifamily is a bi-monthly digital publication specifically for apartment owners and property managers nationwide.

The editorial content will include market trends, best practices, legal commentary and other pertinent information from many of the most successful and knowledgeable sources in the multifamily industry.

Thank you for reading and, again welcome to RHJ Multifamily magazine.

Will Johnson Publisher

Featured Articles

2. Delivering a Dynamite Digital Experience 6. HUD Seeks to End Discrimination Against Tenants with Criminal Records

10. 14 Points That Must Be In Your Apartment Building Leasing and Marketing Plan

14. How to be a Better Property Manager Everyday 18. How to Increase Your Rental Property Cash Flow 20. Build Community in Three Steps 22. What Millennials are Looking for In a Rental Property Subscribe to RHJ's e-newsletter!

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Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

Delivering a Dynamite Digital Experience

By Eric Markow

Best Practices for Satisfying the Needs of the Multifamily Wi-Fi Lifestyle

Tremendous New Opportunities for Property Owners

M

any apartment buildings, housing subdivisions, and other contained communities have driven incremental revenues by

creating interesting services for their residents, including newsletters, events, parties, and interest groups.

it to every unit under complete control. Contracting with the right provider you deliver a complete service throughout the entire community.

Today’s property owner can take this concept to an entirely new level. By bringing high-speed connectivity to the Internet into your property you can distribute

How do you identify the right provider? When you interview them, they’ll recommend the following best practices.

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Delivering a Dynamite Digital Experience

“Transparent Access”

encounter first whenever they log in to their device. This “portal” With the exception of some younger can be set up to make a host of millennials who were raised with excellent services available to your information technology as a major

are not limited to the internet. You may want to make it easy for your renters to request various physical plant services or community activity services from you.

Comprehensive Security & Privacy The privacy of personal information including online banking, personal health information and more is becoming a “front-of-mind” issue with everyone.

When you’re speaking to the “right provider” you’ll hear plenty about how they protect users from viruses, spam, malware, hacking, and all the other internet threats out there.

Parental controls over website access is another paramount issue part of their lives, most users renter, including services you you can expect to hear about. want to enjoy the benefits of wi-fi provide yourself. These services internet access without having to think about the technology that delivers it. Keeping the technology invisible starts with making the initial connection to the service “push-button” easy. The right provider will offer step-by-step pictorially illustrated instructions for connecting various devices to the service, and may offer a premium “welcome” service in which someone does all the connecting for the renter.

From that point forward the user should seldom if ever need to reconnect.

You may also be able to look to your provider to include a “frontend” website that your renters

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Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

Delivering a Dynamite Digital Experience

Be sure to ask about the interactivity of security services. Often, the renter’s specific bank or other internet resources may require some “custom-tuning” to the firewall and other security services in order to perform properly. This should be as easy as calling in to the support team.

switch lights on and off, lock and unlock their doors, control their thermostats and much more from their smartphones wherever they may be. Home Theater systems are replacing long wires strung around the home with wi-ficonnected speakers. Refrigerators and other appliances are using wifi to serve customers better. Your Easy-Access Technical provider’s support team should be able to help your renters get the Support most out of these emerging new Speaking of the support team, digital lifestyle enhancements. remember that you’re providing your renters with a comprehensive Future-Proofing service that you can be proud of. If they run into a problem and have It is a sure bet that technology a hard time solving it, all the time will keep on improving, and they spent enjoying good service you won’t ever want your renters will suddenly be forgotten. The complaining that your wi-fi responsiveness and ease of access service is antiquated and out-ofto the provider’s support team date. Smart providers are assuring make all the difference. This may that it is easy and inexpensive to be a technical service, but it’s being update your equipment and your used by people, so the people they wi-fi internet access services to interact with when something is keep step with the times. wrong need to be top drawer, easy The availability of a comprehensive to reach, and easy to work with. built-in wi-fi capability in your units will be a huge differentiator User Counseling & for your properties for a long time to come, especially if you make the Advice right choices, implement the right Support should be as proactive as technologies and services working it is reactive. Beyond responding the with right partners. to requests for restoration of services, the support team should also be available to advise your renters about adding new devices, products, or services to their wi-fi network. Smart Home automation is becoming very popular, with more and more users being able to

Eric Markow is Chief Technology Officer of Dual Path, a provider of high speed property-wide WiFi services. Dual Path’s customers include MDU and senior living communities who enjoy fast, reliable connectivity, delivered with old-fashioned customer service. Dual Path’s unique revenue generating model allows property owners to leverage their “Internet real estate” to maximize profits, increase resident satisfaction and retention, and increase property value. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Dual Path offers property-wide WiFi, Gigabit Internet and WiFi calling solutions to properties and businesses coast to coast. For more information, visit www.dualpath.net or contact 1-800-468-6851.

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Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

HUD Seeks to End Discrimination Against Tenants with Criminal Records

By Evan L. Loeffler

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he U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published guidelines in April, 2016, for the proper consideration of applicants’ criminal records when considering them for housing. HUD notes that because a disproportionate amount of people with criminal records are minorities, a blanket policy of refusing to rent to anyone with a criminal history may violate the Fair Housing Act.

Much like the 1991 HUD memorandum regarding occupancy standards (the “Keating Memo”) this new document provides general guidance for how to consider whether a housing policy violates federal law.

The memo is not law in itself, but it interprets how the law may apply to certain situations. As with any new guideline, the legal ramifications will develop on a case-by-case basis as matters are heard in court and the guidance is considered.

Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

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HUD Seeks to End Discrimination Against Tenants with Criminal Records

According to the new guidelines, turning down tenants solely based on their criminal history may violate the Fair Housing Act. While the Act does not list people with criminal records as a protected class, HUD notes that minorities have disproportionately high rate of arrests and convictions. For this reason, while in some cases a landlord may refuse to rent to a party with a criminal record, the policy should not be applied automatically without further consideration.

that the individual committed the crime. Both arrests and convictions may appear on a criminal history.

HUD takes the position that a policy of excluding individuals because of a prior arrest without a conviction is discriminatory. Quoting the U.S. Supreme Court, HUD states, “[t]he mere fact that a man has been arrested has very little, if any, probative value in showing that he has engaged in any misconduct.” In other words, an arrest is not, The guidelines note that there is a difference between by itself, proof of a crime. A housing provider who an arrest and a conviction. An arrest may occur if a categorically denies housing to a person because of an police officer forms the belief that someone needs to be arrest on their record violates the Fair Housing Act. detained for their own safety, for the safety of others, or for the investigation of a crime. A conviction may Convictions, on the other hand, are different. HUD occur only after a party has been formally charged states in the memo, “In most instances, a record with a crime and had an opportunity to defend of conviction (as opposed to an arrest) will serve himself or herself in a court of law. A judge or a jury as sufficient evidence to prove that an individual must determine that it is beyond a reasonable doubt engaged in criminal conduct.” Even so, a blanket

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Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

HUD Seeks to End Discrimination Against Tenants with Criminal Records

policy of excluding all people with a criminal conviction probably violates the Fair Housing Act. The landlord with a policy of excluding applicants with a criminal history must be able to point to a “substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory interest” served by the policy. The landlord must also be able to prove that the policy achieves those goals. A housing policy must take into consideration the nature and severity of the crime, and the amount of time that has passed since the criminal conduct occurred Whether the discrimination is accidental or intentional, during screening or just at the inquiry stage, the landlord or property manager is still at risk of a discrimination lawsuit. The best practices are: ∙∙ Do not impose blanket bans on renting to those with criminal history or arrest records. ∙∙ If there is evidence of a conviction, consider the nature and severity of the crime and how long ago the

criminal conduct took place. ∙∙ Ensure everyone who interacts with applicants is trained well on current Fair Housing policies. ∙∙ Keep screening policies pertaining to arrest records and criminal history specifically related to safety of persons and property. The policy must distinguish between criminal conduct that indicates a demonstrable risk to resident safety and property and criminal conduct that does not. ∙∙ Obtain and use a standard screening policy in compliance with Fair Housing and HUD regulations, and apply it equally to anyone who applies. You may want to consult an attorney or housing specialist to develop a rental criteria relating to criminal conduct.

Keep in mind that HUD has not stated that criminals are a protected class. HUD recognizes that housing providers have an interest in providing safe housing to all their tenants. These new guidelines do not require landlords to rent to convicted felons, but do require landlords to examine the criminal history (if any) of its applicants with more care than

before. Naturally, there will be applicants who refuse to provide details about their criminal history or provide inaccurate information revealed by a screening company.

An incomplete or inaccurate application may be denied.

Following best practices will save you thousands of dollars in litigation and court costs, so it is well worth the effort. If in doubt about a policy, contact your legal resource for help dealing with tricky questions related to this new HUD guidance and the Fair Housing Act. Evan L. Loeffler is the principal attorney at the Loeffler Law Group PLLC in Seattle, Washington.

His firm’s practice emphasizes landlord-tenant relations. www.loefflerlawgroup.com

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Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

14 Points That Must Be In Your Apartment Building Leasing and Marketing Plan

by Theresa Bradley-Banta

I

recently received the following request from a multifamily investor:

“Can you please send me a marketing plan post purchase for an apartment building I am buying (my bank wants this)?”

This is a fantastic question! When you approach a bank to finance your apartment deal they most assuredly will want to see your apartment building leasing and marketing plan. Without a solid strategy you risk losing financing and you’re more than likely ready As an apartment building owner to walk into apartment building you have to be proactive. In order ownership with blinders on. to succeed you must: Let’s make sure you’re ready with a great plan and strategy from day one of ownership.

∙∙ Know exactly how you will market and lease units. ∙∙ Have a solid understanding of your market and your competition.

∙∙ Put the best team in place. ∙∙ Prepare an accurate budget forecast.

All before you buy the building.

This information will help you finance your deal and it will most likely help you negotiate a better

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14 Points That Must Be In Your Apartment Building Leasing and Marketing Plan

deal with the seller. Here are 14 A top-notch maintenance team points to include in your planning: goes a long way in keeping happy residents. Promptly addressing maintenance requests equals less 1. Your team: It’s time resident turnover. Describe your to show that you have team and their experience. Put a plan in place for maintenance best around If you are light on experience or request response times and your you are a seasoned professional method of communication with real estate investor this is your residents. Include the details in opportunity to let your lender your marketing plan. know that you have the best multifamily real estate team in the business ready to step in the day you close on the deal. Your list should include: ∙∙ Your third party apartment building property manager. Some lenders may make this a requirement of your first year of ownership—they will insist you bring in professional management while you get your feet wet. ∙∙ Your leasing agents. If your property has vacant units you may decide to bring in a professional leasing team for the first few months of ownership.

3. Apartment unit rent and concession comparables Describe what your competing market is doing and how you stack up today. You must know the rents that your submarket competitors are receiving for comparable apartment units and also if they are offering concessions or discounts in order to rent units. Include your research in your report.

If your units are currently leasing below market rent address this in your report. Describe how you plan to make changes—in both rents and concessions—in What experience does each team order to attract new residents to member bring to the table? Don’t your apartment building. This hold back. Tout their talents and may involve: experience to the skies. Be sure ∙∙ Bringing in a new professional and to include the company name, seasoned management team. contact person and telephone ∙∙ Updating apartment units. number for each member of your ∙∙ Offering creative concessions and team. incentives to new and existing ∙∙ Your renovation and trade contractors. These professionals should have experience at the apartment building level. Be sure to point it out.

2. Responsive apartment building maintenance

residents.

∙∙ Creating greater curb appeal to improve marketing. ∙∙ Establishing a new leasing and marketing plan and,

∙∙ Hiring a temporary leasing agent in addition to the leasing services your management company provides.

4. Creative concessions If your market is giving away free or discounted rent in order to lease units, you and your management team can come up with alternatives that don’t cost you in property income. For example, if you charge for parking and your spaces are not full, give your resident free parking for three months instead of lowering the rental amount.

5. Current and prospective resident incentives Entice your current residents to get the word out about your apartment building and apartment units to their friends, family and coworkers.

Create an incentive for prospective residents to help lease apartment units in lieu of offering them other concessions such as discounted rent. For each new lease signed give the referring resident a $25 gift certificate or other attractive bonuses and incentives.

6. Current vacancy Providing a current rent roll and historical financials will be a requirement of getting financing.

Your lender will ask for these documents and they will be fully apprised of any vacancies at your property. Don’t shy away from describing where you are today and where you plan to be in 6 months,

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14 Points That Must Be In Your Apartment Building Leasing and Marketing Plan

12 months, etc. Let your lender know you have a solid plan for leasing and lease renewals.

7. Upside to current rents

easily catch up to the competition. By having solid market research on the comparable rents in your submarket you will be able to address your plan knowledgeably.

A lender does not want to hear that you will be blazing new trails with the rents you plan to get.

Do not be tempted to claim you can rent units for amounts that are far above what the apartment market receives — unless it’s true. And if you purchased a property that cannot command current market rents you’ll need to address how you plan to make appropriate changes in order to catch up to your local apartment market.

8. Annual income and expense budget forecast

On the other hand your lender will love to hear that your rents are below market and that you can

Your commercial property management company can prepare an annual budget. Use

Provide a 12-month spreadsheet budget for income and expenses.

This spreadsheet will include all income and all expenses for the property from day one through the next 12 months. You should also include all planned capital expenses that exceed normal property operation requirements such as major building system repairs or replacement.

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it not only to project future cash needs if any, but also to monitor your property operations.

If your income falls short of projections or your expenses exceed projections you have a baseline to work from when you address the issue with your property management company.

lease unused parking spaces, increase laundry coin operation amounts or implement a utility reimbursement plan (commonly called RUBS) where your tenants will pay for their utility usage.

It is not unlikely that the current owner has overlooked additional sources of income. Let your lender know you Read Creating an Annual have the expertise to Operating Budget increase revenue. for Your Multifamily Property to understand 10. Advertising the benefits of preparing an annual income and strategy expense forecast.

How and where will you advertise units for rent?

Make a list that includes: 9. Additional

sources of income

If you have untapped sources of income describe them. For example you might be able to rent out unused storage space,

∙∙ Online rental sites. ∙∙ Newspapers. ∙∙ Local merchants.

Clearly define your marketing budget, frequency of posts/ ads/notices, system

Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

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14 Points That Must Be In Your Apartment Building Leasing and Marketing Plan

for ad response follow-up and professional appearance. Will you have a designated leasing agent?

If so, include that individual in your list of team members with appropriate contact information.

11. Property curb appeal An apartment building with great curb appeal is easier to rent. By investing a small amount of your time and renovation budget you can change the entire look of your property. New shrubbery, signage, blinds and landscaping can have a major impact on your ability to attract new residents.

12. Local apartment market “sizzle” Market sizzle comes in all shapes and sizes. Your submarket renters might want free WiFi, wood floors or in unit washers and dyers. Study your local apartment market and let your lender know

that you can give prospective Theresa Bradley-Banta renters what they’re looking for. Founder + CEO Bradley-Banta writes, speaks and Plan for these expenses in your Theresa mentors on investing in real estate while renovation budget. avoiding the pitfalls that plague many

13. Current leases and lease expiration dates Review all current leases and demonstrate a solid understanding of your current resident status and lease renewal dates. Have a plan for staggering lease renewals for all new leases.

14. Local police department premise history Most police departments keep a log of all visits to a property.

This is typically called a premise history. If it’s clean use it in your marketing. For example you might advertise a “Safe, secure, quiet building.” A good report speaks volumes about the neighborhood in which your property is located.

investors.

Over the past ten years she has owned or had primary ownership roles in singlefamily rentals, multifamily properties and international single-family development projects from $50K to greater than $9M. Theresa has performed due diligence on hundreds of multifamily properties and is a consultant to clients with an aggregate portfolio value in excess of $150M.

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Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

How to Be a Better Property Manager Everyday E

arly in my career I worked for a large recruiting & staffing firm. My sales manager, who was about my age, was the typical company man. He dressed sharp, drove a nice car, constantly smiled, was awkwardly positive about any situation, and was a never ending fountain of motivational quotes -- a budding young Zig

Ziglar or Tom Hopkins.

When it comes down to it, the single most important part of property management is making sure that your business is in compliance with federal and local fair housing and landlord – tenant laws. Lawsuits and fines can be devastating to a real estate investor or property management company.

As cheesy as that may sound, I still regularly quote some of his gems with my own staff. One such quote is “If you’re the best you’ll ever be, you can’t work here.”

Simply put, if you really want to achieve continued success, you must continually improve yourself Most violations committed by and hone your skills. landlords are unintentional, and completely avoidable. The best Stay Educated on the protection you can have against Law these sorts of mistakes is continued

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How to Be a Better Property Manager Everyday

education. Laws are continually changing and it’s very easy to forget certain nuances. Make a point to take a refresher course on fair housing and local landlord – tenant laws at your local landlord or apartment association every year. Also, keep your eyes open for seminars and trainings addressing legislative changes. Similarly, make sure you’re always using the most up to date state and local specific attorney or rental housing associate lease forms and rental forms.

Find A Mentor / Be A Mentor

daily business will make you more successful. There is no better way to learn great habits and skills than to learn from someone who’s at the top of their game. Whether it’s your boss, a co-worker or someone you meet at an apartment association function, find a really successful property manager and learn as much about what they do and why they do it as you can. Most successful people are more than willing to share a little of their time and expertise with people who are hungry to learn.

Likewise, be a mentor. When you are focusing on training and Learning and implementing helping someone be the most they industry best practices into your can be, it makes forces you to recall

and review skills and knowledge that you might not on a regular basis. The exercise of imparting such knowledge, solidifies that knowledge in your own brain.

Further, helping others produces positive feelings, which builds success.

Network Having an active and vibrant business network is one of the true keys to success in any industry, and property management is no different. The best property managers in any market are constantly making contacts and cultivating relationships. Again, this is a great reason to be an active

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Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

How to Be a Better Property Manager Everyday

member in your local apartment people still matter, but outfitting or real estate investor association. great people with great tools is a recipe for success.

Get to know other property managers, because one never Keep up on the latest and greatest knows when they need to hire gadgets and software for the talent, or will need a new position. industry. Allow yourself time to Networking is the most effective investigate and learn about tools way to fill an open position, or find that can help your business. This a better opportunity for yourself. includes giving those pesky sales You can also glean great market executives a few minutes of your information and best practices time now and then. After all, when from your competition. one comes along who actually can show you how to save time and Make sure you’re meeting and money in your business, while building relationships with growing revenue, isn’t it worthy industry service providers. Get to your time? know what they do. Learn their strengths, and, if applicable, their Just as importantly, pay attention weaknesses. At some point, you to the technology that your will most likely need the products residents and prospective tenants and services these people provide use in their day-to-day lives. and it’s always best to be informed Property management is a largely and have a relationship, before you consumer driven industry and have an emergency need. those new gadgets and apps that your vendors are selling, are Lastly, get to know the real estate usually inspired by what kinds of investors or apartment owners technologies renters are using, and in your market. Whether they how they are being used. are self-managing, or simply using a competitor, build those Make Time For Yourself relationships. In order to grow your business, you want to be on Our society was built upon the their short list when they decide Protestant work ethic – the concept they need to make a change and that hard work and dedication hire a (new) property management will lead to success. While there’s something to that, there’s also company. something to sayings like “Work smarter, not harder” and the Embrace Technology concept of work life balance.

We live in a world where he or she with the most effective and No matter the industry, you efficient technology usually finish will find that the people who first, or at least near the top. Great experience sustained business

success and happiness always have some balance in their lives. By this, I don’t only mean balancing your career with your friend and/ or family time. I also mean taking some “me time.”

Making some time to get away from stressors and obligations, even if only for a few minutes a day, is absolutely vital to being able to sustain high performance on the job. This can be different things to different people. I like to take some time to play and listen to music, or read. Others may enjoy cooking, painting, writing, hiking, running, etc. Still others might enjoy prayer or meditation.

What ever that “thing” is for you, make sure you’re making at least a little bit of time for yourself to do whatever it is that gives you relaxation and allow you to recharge your batteries.

In summary, property management is a competitive industry that can make for a wonderful career. If you’re regularly keeping up on the laws that govern the industry, stay actively engaged in networking within the industry, work to continually learn and teach best practices, keep up with technology and make time for yourself, you will continue to grow and a person and professional. Do this and each day, you’ll be a better property manager than you were the day before.

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How to Increase Your Rental Property Cash Flow N

obody buys a property so that they can take a loss, the goal is always to make a strong return on your investment. But sometimes real estate investors don’t take full advantage of their property.

You might say yes, but the truth is that most residential real estate investors leave money on the table.

Whether it is because they don’t know the tactics for making more money, or because they don’t have the motivation to do the little things, most real estate investors Maybe you bought in the right don’t squeeze as much money out neighborhood, bought the right of their property as they could. type of property for your city, Together, Active Renter Property and you placed a tenant quick. If Management and Rental Housing so, congratulations, you’ve done Journal set out to resolve these better than most investors. But problems for you by assembling what if you could make more a list of 51 ways to increase your money every single month. What rental profit. Among these tips are if you could make an additional 5, actionable ways for you to increase 20, or even 1,000 dollars month your rent every month. One tip after month? Wouldn’t you do it? can increase the monthly rent for a

single-family home by $400!

Below you will find 5 of our tips.

To find out the rest of the ways you can make more money, download the ebook: 51 Ways to Increase Rental Profit.

5 Ways to Improve Rental Property Profit 1) Add Parking People don’t like to search for a parking spot on the street. Tenants, like most people, are protective of their cars. So not only is it irritating to take the time to look for a spot on the street, but they also feel

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How to Increase Your Rental Property Cash Flow

like their car is less safe. If you can provide a parking space, you can justify higher rents every month.

5) Put a Washer and Dryer in the Unit

No tenant wants to carry all their clothes down to a laundromat. Think about all that extra work for them 4-Year ROI = $1,000 to $1,200 every month. If you can eliminate that for them, they will be willing to pay a higher rent. You can buy a 2) Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets used washer and dryer from anywhere between $400 Not everyone can paint their cabinets because of the and $700, which will allow you to raise your rents by type of cabinet in the home. However, many people about $50 a month. can, and doing so will make the kitchen look much better than before. It can make your cabinets the 4-Year ROI = $1,560 to $1,800 centerpeice of the kitchen, and this added bonus will allow you to make more money in rent every single month. People love kitchens, and they are willing to pay to have a nice one.

4-Year ROI = $1,000 to $1,240 3) Repaint Your Interior Walls This is one of the most inexpensive ways to improve a property - if you take the time to paint the walls yourself. Over the years your walls will get (hopefully) light damage and the colors will fade. By adding a new coat of paint you will easily freshen up your rental, which will make it worth more in rent every month.

4-Year ROI = $885 to $1,365 4) Upgrade your Fridge Do you have a really old white fridge? Or worse, do you have a fridge with those old fake wood handles?

If so, you should definitely consider replacing it.

You can easily find a nice, stainless steel fridge on craigslist for anywhere between $300 and $500. We believe this will easily make you an extra $30 to $40 a month.

4-Year ROI = $1,140 to $1,620 Click here to download the full free e-book, 51 Ways to Increase your Property Cash Flow (And 10 Ways to Ruin It)

Taking Your Investments to The Next Level Using these tips, you can easily profit more every month. But don’t stop there. Download the eBook 51 Ways to Increase Rental Profit. Among our 51 tips you will find a way for single-family owners to make an additional $15,000 to $20,000 over the next four years. If you own a multifamily property we have a special tip for you that will allow you to make up to $72,000 more over the same period (without investing a dime!) Not only that, but we’ve included a cheat sheet with all of our calculations, this takes into account the cost to implement the tip and the projected increase in monthly rent.

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Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

Build Community in Three Steps

By Jen Piccotti, SVP Education and Consulting, SatisFacts and ApartmentRatings.com

A

s an industry, we’re consistently focused on developing a sense of community. A critical budget line item is Resident Events. And yet, participation in our pizza parties, breakfast-onthe-run, Disney movie sing-alongs, or Super Bowl viewing parties are minimal, at best. To make matters worse, when asking residents about their satisfaction with “Sense of Community,” the national average is 3.40 on a 5-point scale.

That translates to a “Warning” classification on our rating scale. Ouch!

convinced that what we’re seeing in the classrooms is not very different from what you’re seeing onsite. Yet why are we convinced our residents feel any differently? According to the 2015 SatisFacts Index, when asked why residents weren’t “Very Likely” to renew, “Neighbors” was in the top 5 reasons. And when asked what could be done to improve the community, “Better Residents” ranked in the top ten.

Let’s face it, residents are not welcoming each other to the community with goodie baskets and borrowing cups of sugar – the “love” is just not there.

For added confirmation, we look to our data and an in-depth analysis of surveys from over 1.6 million residents. What we see is that when residents are evaluating “Sense of Community,” they’re not expressing their desire to become best friends with their neighbors or even having more or better events.

When residents are evaluating sense of community, The typical response from a room full of around they are actually evaluating their relationship with 150 people is 3 or 4 raised hands. After a year of you, the property team. They’re thinking about conducting these non-scientific experiments, we feel how connected they feel to those who care for and Lately, as we’ve been presenting workshops and seminars, we poll the audience by asking, “As you think about the upcoming weekend, how many of you are looking forward to hanging out with your neighbors?”

Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

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Build Community in Three Steps

maintain the community, not the population that makes up the community itself. So, how do we build that connection?

1. Be the Go-To Guy or Gal. Ideally, everyone on staff should have the ability to provide assistance to any resident, but it’s such a luxury to be able to get in contact with your “go-to” person, A “go-to” already knows your back story, they know what’s already been done or what your particular challenges are. As Lisa Giedd, of The Bluffs at Nine Mile Creek (Dominium) shared as a best practice, “If a resident asks for a specific team member or the manager, do what you can to connect them with that team member. Even if someone else was able to answer the question or resolve the issue, the resident will mostly remember that the team member or manager was not available to them.”

2. Expect the Best One of the best pieces of advice I ever received from a supervisor was, “Go into the meeting expecting that it will go well. 9 times out of 10, it will.” It’s a selffulfilling prophecy.

If you expect that a resident meeting or call is going to be a disaster, it probably

will be. But if you anticipate your own ability to provide a good resolution and that the resident will walk away feeling good, then most likely that will be the outcome.

Relationships with residents, like all other relationships, are built on communication and shared experiences, which can lead to trust. Give them reasons to love you, believe in your ability to work well with them, and enjoy the result.

3. Dress to Impress Residents want to be proud to show off their home to friends and family. Now, more than ever, the appearance and condition of common areas is being evaluated when a person chooses to rent or to renew. Be obsessive about neatness and tidiness. Ensure walkways are swept, trash cans are emptied, cobwebs are brushed away, and bare dirt is attended to. Your community doesn’t need to be brand new to look well kept. The same goes for you and your entire team. You’re part of the scenery, so take pride in how you present yourself. Clothing should be clean and pressed. Your hair and nails should be neatly groomed. Are your residents excited to walk their guests around the community?

Are they excited to introduce them to you (or do they steer them away)?

The point of this article is not to get you to scrap your event calendars or do away with contests and opportunities to celebrate what makes your community a great place to live. However, instead of planning events strictly to connect residents to each other, plan events with the goal of the team connecting with the residents.

Require team participation, and set a goal of getting to know at least 5 residents you haven’t spoken with before.

Residents don’t “just” leave apartments. They most often leave people. Because our business is built on relationships, our ability to build those relationships is going to determine the big winners and the colossal losers in our industry.

“Sense of Community” = “Sense of Connection with the Staff.” Build your relationships one resident at a time and you’ll suddenly find you’ve built a thriving community!

About the author: Jen heads up client support for SatisFacts and ApartmentRatings.com, by developing dynamic, practical and effective educational programs and resources, conducting resident feedback analysis, directing customer experience re-design, and providing digital strategy coaching.

Jen has over two decades of customer loyalty and process efficiency experience.

A noted author, keynote speaker and highly followed blogger in the multifamily industry, Jen has spoken at such events as the NAA Education Conference, NAA Education Institute (NAAEI), AIM: Apartment Internet Marketing, and the Multifamily Social Media Summit. Contact Jen at jpiccotti@satisfacts.com

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Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

What Millennials are Looking for in Rental Properties Millennials.

While, a close friend of mine moved to Nashville, Tennessee with her boyfriend and opted to purchase a We are the young 20 somethings all the way through home than to rent, most of my friends are renters. For to the very early 30 somethings. We are the tech-savvy, example, two of my close friends decided to take the young urban professionals stricken with wanderlust renting route instead and just moved into a beautiful two bedroom apartment together. and independence.

It’s been a noticeable trend that a lot of millennials are choosing to live with their parents for much longer than past generations have, but we can’t bum off mom and dad forever. But, we may come home to raid the fridge from time to time.

There are 83.1 million of millennials out there in the US, and the majority of us are opting to rent than to buy.

These two friends, let’s name them Alicia and Kelly, had a list of requirements for their new home that had similarly lined up with the results of J Turner Research’s renter survey, A New Lease On Millennials.

A survey about what Generation Y, the millennials, are looking for in a rental property.

Location According to A New Lease On Millennials, 33% of the surveyed renters said that location was one of

Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

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What Millennials Are Looking for in Rental Properties

the top most important factors in choosing a rental property. Like many other renters out there, Alicia and Kelly were looking for a place that was located reasonably per everyone’s needs. As Alicia and Kelly both work at the same company, they wanted to find a home that was as close to the middle point between work and their families.

Based on Expatistan’s updated cost of living index for Portland, Oregon in March 2016, the average rent for a furnished one bedroom apartment in a “normal” location cost was $1,445/mo. The average yearly income for millennial women in Oregon is about $30K.

Price Point

Amenities

Separately renting a one bedroom apartment that Kelly’s family is located in two different parts of town, would run around $1,000 a month while still being both about 15-20 minutes away, while Alicia’s family able to afford food just was not an option for Alicia is in a different city that’s about 40-50 minutes away. and Kelly. However, they were able to afford a two The compromise? Finding a place near a highway. bedroom with their combined income.

Based on the A New Lease on Millennials survey, 22% of the surveyed renters considered price point as one of the most important factors considered while apartment hunting.

While Alicia and Kelly really focused in on location and price, amenities was another huge issue they took into consideration. Alicia had spent several years living in apartments and townhomes that did not have an in unit washer and dryer. As a lady that While some millennials are making moves for enjoys her clothes shopping, this became a huge and their prospective professional careers, we aren’t all expensive hassle very quickly. So, in unit washer and necessarily making exuberants amount of money. So, dryer was a must. price point was definitely one of the top issues that needed to be take in consideration.

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Rental Housing Journal − Multifamily Magazine

What Millennials Are Looking For in Rental Properties

Did I mention my generation has an affinity for all things cats? Alicia has two. We ran into several apartment complexes that fit all of their other requirements except for allowing pets. Alicia is just not the type that would let go of her cats for a move.

new apartments with the option of a garbage pick up service right at their door. Finally, they have no excuse but to take the garbage out all the way out to their front door.

On-Site Maintenance After moving in with my significant other in the condo that he owns, one of the re-occuring thoughts I’ve had is, “There’s always something to fix”, “I wish I knew how to fix this.” and “How much is this going to run us?”. While I can speak for myself, Kelly and Alicia we are aren’t that handy, knowledgeable or willing when it comes to fixing things around the house. So, when you have the option of sending in a call to have someone come and fix whatever issue for free or fixing it yourself and paying for it, it’s a no brainer that millennials would opt for the former than the latter.

With that being said, Alicia and Kelly’s new apartment has a washer/dryer in unit, allowed for Alicia’s two cats, was at a reasonable location per everyone’s needs, offered bonus amenities they didn’t initially take into consideration and was within their price range. How could they pass this up?

There’s almost a preference to rent amongst millennials because of the simple convenience of There is a projected 80 million millennials that’s amenities. For example: projected to start moving out on their own. Now that you’re aware of what they’re looking for, what are you Garbage Pick-Up going to do to better prepare your property for them?

How many of you parents out there have had to badger your kids about taking the garbage out? Now Kristin Flores is the Media Manager at Rental Housing Journal. imagine those same kids, all grown up in their own