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?

Silver Linings

Can I tell y’all a secret???? Our company implemented a RUBS program a little over a year ago and now all Residents have been absorbed into the program. It actually went well even though there was quite a bit of “push back.” However, because there really is a trusting relationship between the Residents and me, I was able to finesse my way through all the explanations and other pitfalls without offending anyone. That said, the billing company we use to issue the monthly billing has been less than satisfactory, in my humble opinion! They use a system not compatible with my beloved Yardi software and it is just a headache every month. (Gives new meaning to the phrase “time of the month” for me.)

Anyway, I have been praying – yes, it’s true – that something would happen and the billing company would finally only be able to show the actual water charges on the bill instead of the all inclusive bills listing rent and other charges. The reason being that they always get some residents’ amounts WRONG and it drives me crazy. If someone has a credit on their account, they will credit them and then continue to credit them, which means that I have to send the poor Resident a BALANCE DUE notice at some point. Every month, I am always submitting a credit here, a balance due there when I submit the billing file to the billing company. It is frustrating, to say the least. It seems no matter how careful and precise I am in checking the amounts at Approval time, the company simply reverts back to whatever was charged the month prior despite my efforts!

So, guess what happened this month? Yes, it happened! There was a problem and the billing company couldn’t send the all inclusive amount to the Residents. Never mind that the Residents just received their bills in today’s mail … that is a complaint of another sort. Even though it is a pain in my behind, I will tell you it has been super nice to talk to almost every resident this month. Almost all of them have become so accustomed to seeing an amount that they have problems figuring out what they should be paying, so they are stopping by the Office, emailing me or calling me – and I LOVE it! I can easily ask if everything is okay in their apartment homes and they are telling me all their life updates. I do enjoy it. I like knowing what they think and how they are feeling.

Not to mention, now all the accounts will be caught up and straightened out, if only for this month. I don’t know if my asking for a hiccup resulted in this problem or not, but I am grateful nevertheless. J