This Thanksgiving ...

During the next few days, many people will be buying lots of ingredients for recipes they prepare once a year for a crowd of people they see once a year and offering prayers of gratitude they say once a year. For me, this is my favorite time of year. Not because of the food, not because of the people, and certainly not because I offer prayers of gratitude only once a year. For me, this is the time of year that reinforces my faith in all that has blessed me: the changing of the season from hot as hell to one as colorful as rainbows and sunsets. This is the time of year when my children and I share stories and dreams and wishes (even if we are all adults now.) This is the time of year where we gather to become present in the moment, in each other, in the goodness we have as a family.

Our family of three does not find relatives traveling many miles to see us (heck, they don’t even pick up the phone or email); my children pretty much grew up without any grandparents doting on their every milestone and sharing those cute little Brag Books to anyone who would look at them because their grandparents passed away when they were very young (except for their father’s mother who disowned us when their father and I divorced.) They grew up without a lot that others take for granted. We all grew up together and learned to rely on one another, trust one other to guide us in our decision-making which carries on today. My two probably figured out that Mom didn’t always know best the day I went to the Pound and got a dog (which, it turns out, was a great decision after all. Just saying.)

But at this time of year, I like to reflect on all that I know, all that I have, and all the joy I share in each day. Because when you hear those words that you aren’t in remission, the little things in life become all important. Because when you run (well, mostly only walk) your first 5K and do it without any feeling in your legs and excruciating pain in your feet that are plopping along in an unnatural pounding sound, you are grateful that you can still move at all. Because when you find that the Regional in your life treats you like you are nothing and worthless and stupid and he is sorry he listened to the company president and hired you, you are grateful to find the strength and courage to walk away, literally, and never look back. Because when you look around your new office and realize that the team you are training and building is exactly what this property needs, you are grateful for the opportunity to share your knowledge, enthusiasm, and talent.

For what, I ask you, are you grateful?

  

You Can't Only Show Up, People!

Two weeks of actual management on my new sites has made an impact on me and frankly, I am not proud of my initial emotional reaction to the situation. However, regardless of any problems with the team (lacking any team spirit), with insane micromanagement (a survival technique necessary when there is no onsite manager), with adjustment to new technologies (there’s a different software program for every property management task, no kidding) and just trying to find my way around a new area, I am adamant that I find a way to break through and turn this situation around.

These communities have had no consistent leadership for months on end, let alone anyone committed and passionate about building the communities into something more than “The Projects” as they are currently known to everyone I have mentioned the names to while exploring outreach marketing opportunities. That is sad in itself, of course, and at the very least it gives me a starting point. Ideally, I would love to change the communities’ names (I don’t think that is possible … yet?) and I would like to market our programs differently (which is totally, absolutely possible.)

Our communities lie next to a beautiful luxury community for seniors age 55+ and in close proximity to two other communities, one of which was revamped as a Green initiative offering recycling (They are all sister communities.) Of course, I am just “brainstorming” and “daydreaming” but I believe that my communities can become a place of connection: connecting Residents to not only safe, decent, and sanitary housing, but also to social resources, including a new youth initiative that is working to become self-sufficient. Bringing services into the property will build us into a real community – that is my goal. Apartment communities MUST develop themselves into cohesive, comfortable places for Residents to feel at home, to come home to and to see what possibilities may lie ahead so that they grow and prosper.

It isn’t enough that our maintenance and management staffs come to work every day. Just showing up is not enough. I intend to challenge our attitude that it is. It starts tomorrow – either we come together and focus on our Residents or we stay apart selfishly focusing on the philosophy of “What’s In It For Me?” I do not see myself as a boss. I see myself building a team that thinks about what is in the best interest of the property, Residents, company, team and themselves last. The self-centered way of doing things stops tomorrow. This may be a rocky road for a lot longer, but I know this is the only way for these properties to gain a better reputation, happier residents, and a new “lease on life.” It starts with me and it starts right now.

All In a Day's Work For a Property Manager

A friend of mine posted the statement on her facebook page that she had been working for the past couple of days at the elementary school where she teaches setting up her classroom and making copies of these little booklets she uses with her kindergarteners. May I be honest with you? When she included the statement that most parents don’t realize that she has worked these two days – UNPAID – I took pause. It really irked me, I have to say.

Friend, I want to say, you use this same little booklet EVERY year. Why don’t you proactively make them before the end of the last school year so you don’t have to waste your time doing it prior to the first paid work day of the new school year? 

As a teacher, you have now obtained tenure, which means, basically you can screw up any number of ways and still keep your job, which pays you about $65K per year. Your work day, by contract, does not start a minute before 8:00 AM or last a minute past 3:30 PM. You never have recess or lunch coverage duty. Your contract makes it impossible for a parent to contact you outside of those hours except by email, but you are under no obligation to answer it. You have a huge number of sick days (because they accrue from one year to the next and can be banked.) You also have personal days. If you cannot be at work, there is a qualified substitute available at a moment’s notice. Your students are dropped off for art class, music class and PE class each week, which I know lessens your actual instructional time.

I understand this. I worked in the same school you teach in and I know the culture there is wonderful, welcoming, nurturing, very relaxed and friendly. You may have to submit lesson plans to your Principal but they are pretty much rubber-stamped with his approval. You are not obligated to attend PTA meetings, sponsor any extra curricular activities, or cheer on your Sixth Grade football or basketball teams. You do not have to attend the Spell Bowl meets or put together the Yearbook.

Let me tell what a property manager deals with whether she wants to or not. There is no choice to not participate. Property Managers are on call 24/7. That’s twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. They have to handle irate Residents who show up unexpectedly, out of the blue, often for no really good reason. They have to deal with emails from Prospective Residents, Current Residents, other Managers requesting verifications on past and current tenants whom they had no idea were considering moving leaving the property with a potential vacancy to be filled. They deal with scheduling painting contractors, carpet cleaners, landscapers, carpet installers and other contractors for special projects or emergencies. They create newsletters, marketing materials, Goodie Baskets for Move-Ins, perform Outreach Marketing, usually weekly and they must update websites, ILS services with the new rents and other property info. They must be Team Leaders to all the Maintenance Techs, Assistant Managers and Leasing professionals. They have complete responsibility for the total financial health and outcome of the asset they manage, including preparing and submitting a detailed, line item budget every year. A large majority of these professionals have no health insurance, very few sick or personal days, and cannot schedule time off if it is “inconvenient for the property.” They have to mediate between all conflicting parties and if the parties want to, they can take their complaints over the Manager’s head, up the corporate ladder and usually “win” and eventually get their issue resolved, whether it should be in their favor or not. They must decorate mini models and Model Units, show apartments and sell the property so that occupancy does not drop. They must submit daily, weekly and monthly property reports even though no one usually reads them and then calls to ask about the information directly because they “don’t have time to go through all that.” They walk the property whether the thermometer reads 105 degrees or -5 degrees below zero.

I know I haven’t listed all that a teacher does in the course of a day. Nor, have I listed everything a Property Manager does either. Both professions require continuing education, dedication, a passion and desire to educate and help others become and create. Teachers may be more concerned with developing an individual and a Property Manager may be more interested in helping others create homes, but come on, putting two “free” days in is really nothing to complain about in the long scheme of life. 

Sooner Or Later, Something Shocks You

If you stay in the property management field long, you are bound to run across something that shocks you. This happened to the on-call maintenance tech during the recent Fourth of July holiday weekend. Apparently, he received a page from the Resident in apartment X reporting the air conditioning was not working. He received two different calls, as a matter of fact, and because he couldn’t make out the phone number of the second call he called me to decipher it. I have an excellent track record of doing this.

We confer and I figure out whose number it is and think nothing more about it. I call the Resident and tell him the on-call Tech will be there in about an hour. It was a Saturday night. At 11:02 P.M. I receive the first distress call, followed by another a couple minutes later. Suffice it to say it was not a good time for me… we’ll let it go at that. Two words: Food Poisoning. Use your imagination. Anyway, I call him to find out what the matter is.

Apparently, the first call went fine and he went to attend to the second page. When he reached this unit, he was greeted by an aggressive female, baring breasts and asking him for a little sexual escapade. Really, I’ll tell you, most Maintenance Techs at one time or another encounters this very thing. However, what my Maintenance Tech soon discovered was the female, who was not on the Lease, was staging the encounter to be “filmed” and broadcast over the internet by the actual Resident on the Lease. He was horrified. No kidding. I was horrified but not shocked. My Maintenance Tech was shocked. I worked a Section 8 property once where a couple was making pornographic “shorts” (no pun intended) to be viewed by paying customers on the internet. I caught a little discrepancy in their reported income when it came time for their annual recertification. <grin> They no longer live there.

The Tech kept asking me what I was going to do about this. I told him to report it to the police department and I’d take care of it on Monday.

On Monday I served the “Guest” a Trespass Notice with a police officer. In fact, we escorted her into a cab and sent her to the bus station. Once I had police reports in hand dating back to incidents from the previous month (Month!) I gave the Resident a Notice of Non-Renewal. It took him more than a week to call me to discuss the letter and ask if he could stay. “No,” I told him. “This is now an issue where I have an employee who feels as though he cannot do his job properly. He feels threatened. So, no, I can’t allow you to stay when your lease ends. You will need to find a new residence.”

“Okay,” he replied. He is now looking for a new home. I don’t feel bad about it either.