What Is It That You Want? Be Honest!

I can be blunt, if nothing else. Honest to a fault as well sometimes. Maybe that is a bad thing and maybe that is a good thing. Perhaps it depends on the eye of the beholder. Yesterday, I had a couple come in to talk about renting an apartment. They stated they don’t need it until possibly February, one said; March, the other one said. Right off the bat I don’t believe either one of them. They could be the dreaded Shopper.

In any event, I invited them to sit while I finished with a Prospective new Resident filling out an Application and giving me the Deposit. Usually, when others come in to the Leasing Office, as I am assisting someone with the application process, there is added interest on behalf of the new arrivals. They almost immediately feel a certain level of excitement and want to be a part of the energy. Not this couple. They each sat down on opposite sides of the room and took out their phones. Hummm.

The Applicant left and I asked the couple to join me at my table to discuss what was going on with them in their housing search. I asked the usual questions, trying to establish some rapport, trying to gain a sense of their “story.” Everyone has a story.

They seemed to be on guard and then began bad mouthing their current apartment and most especially, their Property Manager. Actually, this didn’t surprise me; this happens quite a bit. They continued a long list of items they didn’t like about their place, the manager, the maintenance team, the flooring, the appliances, the look of the apartment, the feel of the apartment. I finally asked them was there anything they did like and why did they rent there if they hated the apartment. Hadn’t they seen it before they signed the lease?

One of the couple stated it didn’t matter, they move often. In fact, she said, they had moved five times in four years. My brow furrowed. I kind of snarled my lip and leaned forward with my elbows on the table.

“I see,” I said. “Well, let me explain something to you. You may not mind moving so much. That’s your prerogative, but my goal in working with Residents is to find them a home they love. The last thing I want is to have you sign a lease here thinking this is only a temporary place. My whole philosophy is that you choose somewhere that meets your needs and exceeds your expectations. I’m going to show you a couple of styles today and you need to be honest about what you like and what you don’t like.”

One of the couple looked at me with an almost defiant look. So, I called her on it. “Are you upset about what I just said?” I asked. “It’s just that I want my Residents to love being here and if you don’t think you will be happy here then I don’t want you to rent here. I don’t want you to come in to this Office every month to pay your rent and complain because your carpet is not new or the tile is not the color you want or you hate the vaulted ceiling and gas fireplace. When you rent an apartment here, you tell me what you want and I will make it happen BEFORE you move in and you will see what you are getting before you sign your Lease.” I went on to explain that I thought they were choosing too hastily and I was so excited that THIS time, they started early enough to get what they want and what they deserve.

I took them to two different apartment styles so they could experience each floor plan with no pressure. I have seen people who display absolutely no expression when touring (these are usually engineers. Don’t get me wrong; I love engineers – I married one once! – but they can be pretty deadpan in the facial expression department.) But this couple was sulky, unsmiling and domineering in their tones of voice.

When we got to the townhouse though, all of a sudden, they took their gloves off – with one another, not me. It was almost embarrassing how loud and argumentative they were being with one another. But then I got tickled by all their emotion and I started laughing. They stopped and then started smiling and suddenly it was as if we were old friends.

“Well, now, at least I know where you each stand and now I think we can go back to the Office and talk about which apartment home will work for you when you move in 2013.”

Be a Lifelong Learner. It's Free.

I believe with all my heart that we, as human beings, should embrace lifelong learning. I don’t think it matters what we learn, we just need to keep at it. I don’t think we grow if we tuck our heads into our arms and lay our heads on the table after dinner every night. I cannot imagine how anyone could advance in his personal development if he does not seek knowledge from others.

I remember when I was small and struggling to comprehend the fact that the world was not a safe, secure place, the one thing I clung to was my wish to learn to read. Instinctively almost, I knew that once I learned how to read, the magic of the written word would, not to be dramatic, but give me a sense of freedom. Once I did learn to read, I can tell you my books did indeed open up a new quality of life I never knew before. The written word provided hope.

This is why when I found out about a training opportunity being offered by a national multifamily training company, I posted about it on a Linked-In discussion group. Wow, an opportunity to simply let this group know you are interested and would like to learn – all you have to do is post your comment – should be hard to pass up. I know if I were a multifamily professional with limited means to learn how to do a better job, I would take full advantage of this offer! As it is, I take every free webinar and class out there and I pay for others, as well. Education is important to me. (Must be why I used to teach.)

Someone posted a comment asking how much I was being paid to “promote” this offer. Am I naïve? Is that the assumption these days that the only reason someone would share the opportunity is because of personal gain?

No, I am getting zero dollars for posting the link. Nothing expected at all! In fact, I am completely offended that someone is questioning the post. Come on folks! Isn’t this what you would call a true testimonial?

Shadow Market Is Hot This Fall

I spent the last three days taking a look at the private rental market. It’s been a while since I’ve done this and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of what your dollar will get you in the private sector, as compared to the large apartment communities managed by property management companies.

For this adventure, I worked with private landlords who owned their own 4-8 unit buildings and real estate firms that are managing houses that have not sold or are now bank-owned assets. The biggest difference I found was the skimming of basic Fair Housing practices.

At least four building owners asked questions such as, “Got any kids?” or “Married?” Twice, I was offered the unit even though the Owner supposedly had already accepted someone else’s Security Deposit. When I questioned this, saying, incredulously, “Oh, I don’t think I can move next weekend. I need to at least give my current landlord a 30-day notice,” I was told, “Are you sure? The guy that wants this hasn’t called me today and he’s at least 89 years old! You would make a better tenant!”

As tempting as this may be, I declined saying, “Well, if he backs out, please call me.”

It was amazing to me that the private landlords of the small buildings were very accommodating as to allowing modifications to their units. I could paint, install me own appliances if I didn’t like the ones provided, and hang window treatments. One very nice man said he would change out the vinyl and install ceramic tile in the kitchen and bathrooms.

The real estate professionals were not so lenient. They were all about getting a lease signed TODAY. And by the way, you are responsible for all the lawn care and the snow removal. If you have problems, you can call the office but it might take a while before we can get the maintenance crew over there.

“So what happens if the water heater goes out?” I asked.

“Oh, we don’t handle replacement of the water heater. That’s on the tenant. You would have to contact the owner and make arrangements.”

“What? Why would I have to be responsible? It’s a health standard to have hot water,” I said.

“Yeah? Well, of course, you can always replace it and ask the Owner to reimburse you.” he said. (Okay, so maybe this guy is not the real estate professional I would ever choose to work with "in real life" if I was looking to hire someone.)

I will say that almost all provided great curb appeal! There were a couple of small houses in questionable neighborhoods that looked pretty run down. In fact, I didn’t even go inside those. After I completed my showing appointments, fourteen in all, I can tell you that no one can offer the amenities of the apartment communities unless it was a condo community. Nor, could they compete with maintenance issue resolution and the convenience of offering on line work order request submission. And of all these landlords and real estate agents, guess how many followed up with me? One out of three. That was it. The most significant difference I noticed was this: the private sector market is looking to close the deal quickly. Several times, as I was arriving or leaving a Showing appointment, someone else was also there to see the same available unit. This created such a sense of urgency! I admired that and have decided I think booking back-to-back appointments is defintiely a marketing strategy that I will employ going forward with our communities all year instead of only in the spring and summer months.

The best and the worst of the private sector market … One thing was clear, the shadow market is, as I suspected, definitely alive and well and thriving in this area. Obviously this was not a scientific analysis, though I think it is in line with my expectation.

Leaders Have to at Least Show Up!

When was the first time you realized you were more than someone who manages a group, that you could call yourself a leader? For me, that moment occurred in college. I was the Student Government President with no true experience at leading an organization with a true purpose. Oh, sure, I was Club President of any number of supplemental activities in high school but none of those counted where it really mattered, except that they taught me how to lead a meeting, set a goal, gather ideas and come to a consensus, the basics. In high school, though, you have your Teacher Sponsor; you weren’t on your own testing the waters of democracy. The biggest event I ever spearheaded was a Spaghetti Dinner for the Latin Club (yes, I was one of those smart girls who took Latin.)

In college, when I realized that my freshman tuition scholarship was only good for my freshman year, I went panicked to the Dean and asked how I was supposed to get through the rest of my years? He suggested I run for Student Government President as this provided a full ride and it was now too late to apply for any other scholarships. I remember telling my “who couldn’t care less” family I was going to run for election. My much older brothers rolled their eyes and said, “Sure you are. Good luck with that.” THEY knew this would be a stretch for shy, quiet, melt into the walls me. But I did it somehow and this paid for college.

Cut to the chase. Because I was super shy, I never went to high school dances and had no idea how to plan them, book a band, secure a venue, etc. I figured I did not have to know about this kind of stuff since all the rest of the Officers and members all had wonderful social skills and had attended enough dances to last all our lifetimes. They came up with the theme, we discussed the budget, got decorations and booked a band, printed and sold out the tickets and the arrangements fell into place perfectly. Since my boyfriend was working that evening, I didn’t think it would be a big deal to not go.

“You aren’t going?” the members of the Planning Committee asked incredulously. I explained that I was not but I had every confidence that they could pull it off without a hitch. As it turned out, there were a number of problems that night: with the venue, the menu and the band. Without the “person in charge” there representing the face of the College, it was a disaster. No one wanted to take charge. Everyone was upset. Finally somebody gave a couple of directions and approved a change to the menu, but it was stressful and it angered all the Officers.

That Monday we were meeting with the Advisor early in the morning. I was about the last to arrive, and not suspecting there had been any problems came into the room happy and bubbling. In a single instance, the room turned on me and my joy was quickly deflated. I asked what was wrong and several people all started yelling at once that I had let them down and this happened and that happened and no one could have a good time because the Manager at the Country Club where the dance took place was rude, changed the menu and overcharged them. I listened and remained dumbfounded. I could not get it through my head why they were so angry.

Our Advisor looked at me and seeing my confusion said, “Mindy, don’t you understand? You are the President and you were the only one who really had the power to talk to the Manager and you weren’t there. You did not handle things. They were depending on you.”

“And I let you guys down.” It never dawned on me that I was being counted on to fix things, to take charge should a problem occur, to be reliable. I assumed that with their experience any one of the others could handle any problem. Somehow I failed to see that I could not lead them if I was not there. My being present in the moment was important to the success of the organization. Right or wrong, a leader has to at least show up. This was one of the best lessons I ever learned, and it was the first time I took to heart that to be a leader, you need to calmly direct your team through incoming turmoil and get over the pitfalls. To do this, you must be present and engaged.

I was able to go back to the Manager and negotiate the price back to the contracted price, get a refund and I let him know that just because I was eighteen, I was not without the ability to think through the terms of the contract. I also quickly pointed out that he acted in a less than professional way and he needed to apologize to my other Officers. It was a nice touch at our next meeting when I could read a letter of apology to them from that Manager. Yes, leaders must show up and they must follow up as needed. Leaders must put the needs of the team ahead of their pride (and their ignorance) and produce results. Yes, I learned a lot from that position and I am grateful to my team for being patient and giving me the feedback I needed to learn.

Conferences Are a Great Way to Grow Your Career

Can I just say this? Right now, at this very minute, there are several state and national educational conferences occurring in the multifamily industry. In a week or two, there will be another one. This past summer in Boston, there was the National Apartment Association meeting. I wonder if the people who are fortunate enough to attend are happy to do so.

A couple of years or so ago, I attended the Indiana Apartment Association state conference. I enjoyed the entire conference. There was room for improvement, as there is at any conference, but you provide your feedback and I notice that this year so many of the educational topics sound on point and I am so unhappy that I am not there! I also remember there were a number of people who complained the whole time about being mandated to attend. Generally the chief complaint was time spent away from their families, the extra expense of traveling, and the amount of work they would need to tend to once they returned to their properties. I wish they knew how much someone who does not have this opportunity to go wants to go! Without the opportunity to learn, one does not grow. If one cannot grow in his knowledge base, one cannot implement innovative practices and will never see his career blossom. What a waste!

Next year, when the NAA is held in San Diego, I am going, even if I have to pay for it myself.

Hello, Maintenance? I Need Pest Control

When my husband and I first got married, we lived in the 1400 square foot top floor apartment of his ex-girlfriend’s parent’s house. He was living there when we met and after eloping I moved in, too. Never mind that our bedroom was directly over his Ex’s and my husband would end up hushing my sounds of passion but that is a story best left unwritten. Anyway, one night while he was at work (he was a second-shifter) I kept hearing the sound of an animal in the attic. It would run back and forth its scurrying like that scared me. Why was it so frantic? Did it need to get out? Could it get out? How would it get out? I stayed up until Jeff came home and told him about it, but he kind of dismissed my concern.

Well, this went on for a couple more nights, but I told myself there was nothing to worry about and eventually … it might go away? Then after about a week and half, I no longer noticed the sounds so much. Until. Until the evening I was walking from the bedroom to the kitchen, you know, just living the Dream, and I heard gnawing coming from above in the hallway. I was definitely not liking the sound of that. I looked up after about an hour and saw a little hole appearing. Uh, oh. I watched that tiny little hole become bigger by the hour until finally true panic set in and I rushed to the phone and screamed at the Operator to go get my husband, this was an emergency! Usually in factories, employees are only allowed to take emergency phone calls if the person’s house was on fire and there I was screaming that something was eating a hole in the ceiling and I needed him to come home RIGHT NOW! The Operator said she would give him my message.

I promptly ran into the bedroom and closed the door tight.

My husband came home at the usual time and I am locked in the bedroom, sitting on the bed with the covers pulled up to my chin. “Did you see that??? There’s a squirrel up there and he stuck his head out of that hole and looked right at me!!!!!”

Thus began my long torment from all squirrels. I have since discovered them in my fireplace at my house in Indiana – sitting there inside, completely trapped because the screen was tightly closed and they could not escape vertically. I have had them run across the roof many, many times. Apparently the only way to enter the house was through the fireplace.

Their attraction to me is highly established. So, I was not even surprised this past weekend when I discovered a squirrel running around in my townhouse at the community I manage. Turns out, you shouldn’t leave your front door open when you are bringing in your groceries if you also happen to have four large trees right outside your front door. I was amazed that I was so calm. Other than a slight quickening of my pulse, I was really pulled together. I watched poor Henry, as I came to call him, bump repeatedly into the sliding glass door and I could imagine he was just cussing me as he tried to figure out why he could not get to the great Outdoors (because it was obviously there! He could see it.) When I realized he was panicked and I was not, I managed to open the door to the slider but Henry ran underneath the couch. I could see his fuzzy squirrel tail all peaking out. So I tried to open the front door, but then he ran there before I could get there and I inadvertently scared him again. Eventually though he figured out how to go and escaped the torture of the confinement in the Townhouse. Good grief. I hope the next animal that decides to adopt me is a cute dog because a dog is what I have been searching for since mine passed away.

Clearly, Training IS Important!

Has anyone gone furniture shopping lately? My daughter recently moved into an apartment and was excited to shop for a new couch and possibly a dining set, specifically the pub style with four raised chairs. She wanted to accomplish this before the move took place so that her furniture could be ordered and the delivery could coincide with the move in date, or at least close to it.

Now, she had gone with me when I went shopping for my new furniture the year or so prior but I had done most of the footwork by the time I was ready to actually make the purchase. With her, we were starting off together. Now, like most Gen Yers, she had researched on line catalogues and store sites, so she was familiar with what lines each store carried. She just wanted to see the items “in store” before she actually ordered. After all, furniture is not really inexpensive these days.

The first store we went to, we were nonchalantly greeted by a salesperson that did not approach us, which was fine because we really wanted to kind of wander around first anyway. At one point, a saleswoman walked over to us as we were discussing a dining set. I admit, I barely noticed her at first. But then I looked up as she announced to my daughter who explained she really preferred a set located across the store.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah. This set here is kind of cheap. That other one is much nicer. Yeah, I agree.”

This woman was dressed in the shortest, tightest skirt with a low cut blouse and five inch “hooker heels.” She looked as though she had stayed out all night clubbing and had just rolled in on the Walk of Shame carpet that morning. Her voice was raspy (probably a smoker) and her nails were all glittered. Never mind that she looked older than me.

Lauren and I looked at one another. Her language and attitude had piqued my interest. Being in our business – the business of providing homes for our Residents/Customers – giving excellent service is very important.

“Hey,” she added, “Have you ever been to a Big Lots? You can usually find those smaller tables and sets there for pretty cheap.”

I watched my daughter’s face take on an expression I have seen over the years. Uh, oh. She was offended by this salesperson’s implication that since she was young, she couldn’t afford nicer things. Now you have to know and understand that my daughter may have champagne taste on a less expensive wine budget, but quality is important to her and she is patient about comparison shopping and waiting for sales and deals.

“I think we will continue shopping,” I said and looked at Lauren.

Lauren turned to me and asked, “What about me says I even want to buy furniture at a Big Lots?”

Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with a discount store. However, when you are standing in a so-called nice furniture store, WHY on Earth would a salesperson, one, mention a clearly inappropriate store (not even a true comp) and two, risk insulting a customer?

We left that store and went to several others where she ended up selecting a beautiful sofa. She was so happy with her purchase and found a dining set, too, that she is willing to wait to purchase as it is much more than she can afford right now.

Sadly, I noticed that most of the stores hired salespeople who had no training in providing selection service to those walking into their stores. I wonder how many sales they are missing because of that. Plenty, I would say. All these people need is a training program geared to listening to what the customer says and helpfully guiding them to the product. Then they need a basic knowledge of the product! No one could even tell us in half these places what kind of wood a table was made from, plus they had to go to a computer to look up the price! That entire sales force could stand to get some direction from our industry!  

What Holds You Back In Your Life?

The other day one of our service providers stopped in for a Courtesy Call – you know, just checking to see if we needed any collateral marketing materials for the Leasing and Move-In packets. As we usually do, we ended up sitting and chatting about life. Pretty soon, I noticed the conversation take a turn on a much more personal level so I asked him if something was bothering him.

He went on to tell me how sad it is for him these days – still – after a tough break-up with his girlfriend. This kind of life change can devastate even the most stalwart of people. I listened intently. I searched his face (wanted to make sure I had some Kleenex nearby if needed.) All I saw and heard was a sad tale of woe and a man filled with regret. So I asked him if he still talks to his former girlfriend.

“Oh, yeah, we still talk. I still see her; we still get together.”

“Do you try to tell her you’re sorry” (basically for being a jerk and not treating her more like a girlfriend instead of a mother – his words, not mine.)

We discussed a lot of details about the relationship. I looked at him and told him two things. One, he needs to decide what he wants and he needs to forgive his past actions. Then, he needs to let her go. Stop calling her. Stop hearing her say she doesn’t want to get back together right now. Those words, “right now,” are killing your spirit because it encourages you to be hopeful of the wrong thing.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“You are 36-years old. You already said you recognize how you could have been a better partner and not taken her for granted. You just said you want to be married and you want kids and to be a dad, the kind of father you never had.”

He nodded.

“Then go after what you want!” I said. “If you went to her and laid your heart right out there in the palm of her hand and she said this is not what she wants, then let her go. Stop living in the past and stop idealizing this girl. There is someone out there who will want the same things you do, who is ready for that, too, and who will love you as you deserve. But if you sit at home, taking care of a dog you think of as your baby, then you will be exactly where you are now in five years. Then you’ve passed the 40-year mark.”

Let go of the past. We must all do this. Otherwise, how can you remain hopeful and move toward the future? The first step is recognizing where you went wrong, making self corrections, setting a new goal and doing what it takes to get there. This works in our business life, too.

What are you holding onto that is holding you back????

And You Call Yourself "Educated"?

A colleague (President of a property management company!) and I were talking the other day about budgets and reports. He stated he was looking over each Manager’s Business Plan. Since I am not required to submit a formal Business Plan, I was curious.

“That sounds so impressive,” I said.

“Not really,” he replied. “Most of these people couldn’t put together a well written paragraph if their life depended on it. I end up doing it.”

“Kind of defeats the purpose then, doesn’t it?” I asked. “How in-depth is this Business Plan supposed to be?”

“Just a paragraph or two about the property’s goals and objectives for the next fiscal year and how they plan to achieve them,” he said.

“Okay, so what’s so hard about that?”

“For you, not so hard. But you’d be surprised how hard it is for most people to put together a cohesive sentence!”

If you have a manager who cannot write a cohesive sentence, nor articulate a thought in writing, and these people are all college educated, I wonder what college is teaching people these days?

Angry Residents Need Anger Management

While I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago, the on-call Maintenance Tech received a page from one of the Residents. He called the Resident to determine what the problem was (so he could come prepared) and he was told there was a problem with the door sticking preventing him from access to his townhouse.

By the time the Tech got there (within twenty minutes) the Resident had broken the door in and was inside. Apparently, waiting twenty minutes was too much of an inconvenience for the gentleman. I was informed of the incident after seeing the Over Time hours on his timesheet and asked what happened.

I decided not to call the Resident, just sent he and his wife a bill due with his October rent. His wife called me yesterday to explain their “situation.” I listened without saying anything.

“So, you see, we can pay it on Friday. Is that okay?” she finished.

“Let me see if I understand what happened,” I began. “You guys arrived home and couldn’t get the door to open. You called the pager for Greg to come out but you couldn’t wait for the few minutes it took him to get there so you broke down the door because your baby started crying?”

“Yeah. Ryan just couldn’t control himself and got mad because Amelia was crying.”

Would it be appropriate for me to mandate Ryan enroll in Anger Management classes? Seriously? PUH-LEEEEEASE. If something like this coupled with a baby crying annoys him to the point that he takes his frustration out on a door, what will happen the next time something makes him mad and he has no door to hit?