Business has been crazy as of late and the blog has been left to suffer. Not good for a number of reasons and in the same respect I appreciate the time to focus. That being said, thank you for the various emails some of you have sent questioning the next post. In some ways – it’s a good precursor to the quote I want to share.

“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” -M. Scott Peck

Could I take that one step further in the way of being a leader in the Property Management Space?

Until you value your time you won’t value the time of others either.

Being on time is huge in the eyes of others – if you make the commitment – be there.

What are you doing with your time as it relates to others?

Response from NAA:

Many of you may have seen the segment that aired Tuesday morning on The Today Show about residents negotiating rent with their apartment owners. Please click here to view the clip of the interview between Meredith Vieira and real estate agent Barbara Corcoran about the rental market in these tough times.

Scenario: If a current resident or a prospective resident comes to your community’s leasing office and demands free rent and any other unreasonable amenities/concessions, be prepared to speak to the value of apartment living. Do not simply give in to their requests.

First and foremost, apartment staff must consider Fair Housing. It’s the law. What you offer to one resident, you legally must offer to all. And, whatever “deals” that may be offered to residents should first be put in writing by the owner and shared with the leasing staff. Leasing professionals should not “wheel and deal” with current residents or prospective residents and should not offer “rogue” renewal agreements.

Following are some other key “selling points” to use in such cases:

1. For current residents who are seeking a renewal, owners should consider offering the same concessions as they would to prospective, first-time renters. Again, details of such “deals” should be communicated in writing to leasing agents from upper-level management.

2. If a resident specifically mentions “The Today Show” segment, remind them that the guest on the show is from New York City, which operates in a different “type” of rental and economic climate (i.e. condos). What is acceptable in NYC does not necessarily equate to conditions in Seattle, Denver, Orlando or (fill in market) from most of the rest of the country.

3. Tout the benefits of living in a professionally managed apartment community, compared to signing a lease with inexperienced owners of condos or single-family homes. Staff at professionally managed communities are experienced and capable of serving their residents’ needs in an effective way.

4. Mention that the ownership of some single-family homes and condos can be unstable in today’s economic climate and these properties run the risk of suffering foreclosures in the near term. Apartment communities owned and managed by established companies are more stable, as their owners invested in these homes for the long term. Operating apartment buildings is their core business. They are not in it as part of a get-rich-quick plan.

5. For communities owned or managed by large firms, remind prospective residents that they have set their rents based on yield management software, which determines rental rates on a daily basis, using sophisticated formulas and algorithms, and that the resident truly is getting the best price, based on the competition, in that specific submarket.

6. If your community offers flexible lease terms (such as a monthly or six-month plan), promote the benefits of signing a lease under those conditions to create more flexibility for these residents’ lifestyles. And with a set rent rate, these residents are living “inflation free,” especially if they lock in their leases for longer term leases, such as two years.

National Apartment Association: NAA Link | 4300 Wilson Blvd., Suite 400 | Arlington, VA 22203
phone: 703-518-6141 | fax: 703-248-9440 | Feedback

Today Show, Apartment Rental Market

I am re-introducing myself to Tom Peter’s via Thriving on Chaos, The Pursuit of WOW and In Search of Excellence. TP was on to this social media movement back in the eighties. Not that he was predicting the FB’s and MySpaces of the world but rather the principles that govern each of those mediums.

I often get the question – How many of the companies that TP wrote about are still around? Respectfully – I think that question misses the point of TP’s writings. Maybe that number is 25%, maybe 50%, maybe more or maybe less – the point is in the principles. The principles are enduring and companies that execute the principles well are enduring.

Tom is not for everyone as his style of writing is radical and sometimes over the top. I would, however, encourage everyone to pick up a piece of work by Tom – every one of them are applicable.

Have an amazing day and for those in the Midwest – try to stay warm.

Tom Peters, Tom Peters Quotes

Look at this headline and think of the ramifications for the multifamily space

There are more than six million more job seekers than job openings
nationwide — an average of 2.9 unemployed workers per available job —
according to researchers at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

It appears that many of the basic fundamentals turning south for the apartment as a whole. What plays out is sure to be interesting.

What do see happening in the next twelve to eighteen months?

Apartment fundamentals, Apartment marketing, Multifamily market

I say all that to suggest that some of the key fundamentals of our business are turning the wrong way. At least that is my view.

Let me know what you think.

Your trying to remain optimistic apartment maniac,

M

Apartment household formations

Dale Carnegie: “You can make more friends in two months by becoming
interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get
other people interested in you.”

Apartment leasing, apartment marketing, Dale Carnegie

Knowing that would it suffice to say that the talented people that work with/for us should be appreciated most? ]]> http://mbrewergroup.com/2008/05/deepest-human-need/feed/ 0 http://mbrewergroup.com/2008/05/iphone-mobile-applications/ http://mbrewergroup.com/2008/05/iphone-mobile-applications/#comments Wed, 14 May 2008 10:37:32 +0000 Mike Brewer http://mbrewergroup.com/2008/05/iphone-mobile-applications/ Is anyone out there working on an application for sharing apartment information iPhones? How many of you have an iPhone? Just curious.

Learn from … anyone. Anywhere. Any time. – Tom Peters

–Marten Mickos,
SVP Sun Microsystems

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