A Note Of Thanks From a Resident

When I was going through my divorce and hard financial times, for two summers between the start and finish of the new school years, I took summer jobs working as a teacher in a childcare facilities. One year I worked with the Two-Year Olds (my favorite!!!) and one year with special needs Four-Year Olds (very challenging and rewarding.)

At nap time, I would write notes to each of the children’s parents telling them all about how their child’s day had been. I would write things like, “Micah enjoyed the story we read at Story Time so much! I suggest you take Micah to the library and check out these books.” Then I would list some books to be read together. Or, I might write a note about Elizabeth "seems very interested in learning to tie her shoes. We practiced this morning together – she was so interested in learning that she chose this activity instead of playing in the Housekeeping Corner! Her fine motor skills are well ahead of her age level.” Sometimes I would have to say that Benjamin had had some sadness that morning so I helped him work through his aggression by letting him play at the Water Table for an extended period because the water play seemed to lessen some of his stress. Pretty soon he was happy with his whole underwater sea adventure. Maybe he was a bit tired? He went to sleep right away!”

These notes apparently were much different from what other teachers wrote. Theirs usually consisted of “We played, had snack, lunch, no potty accidents.” My parents loved the notes and told me they kept them in their children’s Baby Books and oftentimes thanked me for writing so many details of their children’s days.

When I fell into property management, I continued to write little notes to Residents. Generally these were little notes of cheer if I knew someone wasn’t feeling well, or notes of condolence if someone’s loved one or pet died, or even thank you notes for planting flowers in the community’s empty container (admittedly it takes me a while to get to all the containers in the community!) Since the news has now broken through the veil of silence about the impending property sale, Residents have started to come in to ask me if I am staying or going. One wrote me a particularly touching note that in part, I will share:

 The note reads: “You’ve created a community of care and consideration, of respect for residents, a place (especially your longer-stay residents like me) are happy to call home. If the new owners or managers let you go, they’re crazy and losing one of the best things about living here.”

I know though that all the time spent writing those little notes do make a difference in our Residents’ lives. We touch lives every day. No one may tell you this, but it doesn’t make it any less true. My entire goal as a Manager and the one aspect of community management I hope to instill in others is training the teams I work with to think of each Resident as a vital part of the community. Sometimes all it takes is a smile or the special little note slipped into the door jamb to make our Residents feel appreciated. After all, we ALL need to feel appreciated every once in a while. And I am grateful of this little note I received!

The Final Days of the Property Sale

A little piece of my marketing soul died this week. Remember when you had your first real boyfriend (or girlfriend) and you broke up, well, because this was your first relationship and as relationships go, the first one usually doesn’t make it to your high school days. Anyway, here we are in the final days of the impending sale and the Owner calls me and says matter-of-factly, “Stop.” What he meant was, don't lease any more. And I was heartbroken - as if we had just broken up.

Do you know how difficult that directive is for me to follow? It goes totally against all the grains of my Pre-Leasing Strategy. The Business Manager side of me understands because I know at this stage of the game, there will be final prorates done, etc. and it all washes out for him at the end of rainbow. But for anyone who calls me needing to find a home, I am left in utter limbo. So, now I have become YOUR best leasing link as I am assisting people in finding homes with YOUR communities … and you don’t even know it. But I cannot in good conscience just ignore those who are trying to move before the holidays, and trust me, there are still quite a few that do.  

Working With the Senior Resident

My daughter told me the other day that I should manage a senior community. She said matter-of-factly that after all, I was the “Old People Whisperer.” I am not sure the elderly population would feel flattered by that attribute, but I laughed anyway. In fact, her assessment could possibly be quite accurate.

When did that happen? I can remember being bored by people over the age of thirty!

Looking back though, I can tell you it happened the day I became a Manager of a property that had been marketed as a Senior Community. It wasn’t legally classified as a Senior Property, but because the Manager and Leasing Consultants said it was, no one much under the age of fifty went there after they called since that was what they were told. Hello? Fair Housing?

When I came on board, and was moved into the role of manager there, I was forced into learning how to deal with the older population. It turns out I have a knack for it. I seem to have infinite patience with seniors and I always make time for them. It is such a pleasure to talk to someone who has experienced so much change in his lifetime! The older men flirt shamelessly and the older women sometimes just need a hug. Sometimes, they all just need to know someone cares – they are so lonely.

How much trouble is it to stop by to check in on someone who is lonely and would never confide that to you? Does it really take that much time to fix a cup of tea for someone and sit for a moment? I love to do this. But my daughter is right; I have noticed that many people in our Leasing Offices look with disdain on a slow-moving person who is coming in to report a work order request. They never stop to think that they come in because they want some human interaction. And if the older resident complains, it may be because they want some attention! Give it to them, please. They appreciate your kindness more than you can ever know. In fact, I guess just about everyone does.  

Here are some things to do for your Senior Residents:

1. Subscribe to the newspaper. Subscriptions are expensive these days and this may bring more of your Residents into your clubhouse.

2. Serve coffee or tea in your clubhouse.

3. Make sure your dumpsters have side openings. Many Seniors cannot open those large lids on dumpsters.

4. Allow pets! Pets help banish loneliness for all our Residents, let alone "shut-ins."

5. Print your brochures, flyers and party invitations in a BIG FONT - easier for seniors to read.

6. Hold Resident Events earlier in the evening. Many do not like walking home in the dark.

7. Hold card parties! Bridge games are still popular.

8. Allow gardening and patio containers so Residents can have flowers in their outdoor areas.

9. Make sure your Groundsperson salts by outdoor mailboxes! Getting the mail is an important activity for many senior residents. Mitigate the danger of them slipping on the ice.

10. Teach them how to access the internet if they don't know how. Have a continuing ed class just for them.

Are there other things our property managers can do? Please share your ideas!

Sales Tip When Your Property Is For Sale

When your property is for sale, every person who walks through your Leasing Office door is not a real Prospect. Though you know you should behave as if they are, it is sometimes a difficult task. I won’t say I always know a True Prospect when he enters, but … Generally what happens during the pre-contract stage, is every potential buyer – even before they come to tour your community – sends a Shopper or has someone call you to test the phone skills of whoever answers the telephone. For Leasing Team members, there is no additional stress in this. However, the telephone call could determine a potential job offer if the Shopper turns out to be the new Buyer and thus, Owner. Managers, on the other hand, generally do not answer these phone calls. I am a Manager, but I also answer the phone.

Have I told you lately that for me, answering the telephone is a learned skill? 

Last Friday I answered the phone and a gentleman began asking questions about accepting a short term lease proposal. At this time of the year, that is really all I want to accept! (But I did not say that.) I set up an appointment for him and his wife to come and tour one of the townhouses to see if that would meet their needs. Now, there wasn’t anything special about the conversation but I always have a nagging doubt these days if the person is “for real” or not.

Let me say this. There is nothing in the world more paranoia-producing than when your property is for sale. People will call all day long asking every market survey question you can imagine. They will ask you every Fair Housing question, including, “Do you take people of color there?” What????? People of color? The last time someone asked me that (three weeks ago), I said, “Sure, I will take blue people, green people, yellow people. What color are you referring to specifically?”

The couple arrived in the morning instead of our agreed upon afternoon appointment time, but that was fine with me. We sat and talked for a long while about their decision to move and downsize and all the other probing questions. Very well mannered, very nicely dressed, this retired couple was engaging and I began thinking I did not think they were game playing at all.

We toured the available townhouse and came back to Office to discuss the terms of a leasing contract. As they walked to the door to leave, the wife turned to her husband and told him to fill out all the paperwork and write a check because she was happy with everything and saw no reason to look anywhere else.

She was shaking her head, “Oh, this is going to be so nice! I am not interested in going anywhere else!” she said. Her husband held her elbow and he escorted her through the open door. He turned to say over his shoulder, “We want to move into our home before the holidays!”

I nodded and told him I would make it happen. It would be my pleasure. Sales tip: not every one is a Shopper and you cannot always know by talking to them over the phone.

Interviewing Is Not Fun!

“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing while others judge us by what we have already done.” ~ H. W. Longfellow

A couple of weeks ago I was interviewing over the telephone with an Asset Manager I had never met before. He asked me how I would know I was successful in my role as an Assistant Regional Manager. Honestly, the first thought that popped in my head was, “When you keep adding to my portfolio, then I will know I am successful.” But I didn’t say that.

I answered with what I thought was a politically correct response regarding being diligent about checking all the statistics and reports in Yardi (the company’s accounting software program) and knowing that when all the properties were hitting their numbers, when I could see we were making a profit and vacancies were filling, then I would presume I and my team were becoming successful. What I also wanted to add was, “I guess if no one is quitting on me and running screaming out the door, including me, I would think I was being successful.” Of course, I chickened out and didn’t say that either.

There are so many things I feel capable of doing. There are so many jobs I am doing NOW but I don’t have the title to back it up that I wonder how I can catch a break in this job market. Hahaha! As a Manager and a Consultant, I see a lot of what doesn’t work in the multifamily industry, but the truth is, the most important asset a community and company can have is its people. Who would you rather have on your team: someone you believe in because of attitude, skills, and that “gut feeling” that they would give you their 1000% or someone who looks good on paper but may not necessarily have that same personality, drive and attitude of someone who is “hungry” and willing to do what it takes to succeed?

I probably should have just said what I felt instead of what I thought he wanted to hear because clearly he was not impressed with my answers. Live and learn.   

Time To Start Believing In Yourself

When I was living in Grand Rapids, Michigan I was like a lot of young mothers whose friends were the other mothers of our children’s classmates we met and bonded with at PTA meetings, field trips and room mother assignments. Chances are you may still be in touch with these other kindred spirits. One of these mothers who became one of my most cherished friends was named Louise. She and her husband were raising three children, two of which were the same ages as my two.

Louise, at that time, was studying to be a teacher and had just gotten through her student teaching phase when I moved – again. Over the next few months of my settling in to a new town, getting my oldest situated in a new school, decorating a new house – you know – life, Louise was hired for her first teaching assignment: Fifth Grade at an inner city school. Like most first year teachers everything was stressful. Her class contained students who wanted to be anywhere than there in a classroom; her principal was obnoxious and hard to deal with and expected more than any one person could deliver. After a few months, Louise noticed that on her drive in to school, her stomach was hurting. Soon she would become nauseated and would vomit each morning, even before the drive.

Ever helpful, I offered, “Maybe you’re pregnant?”

No, that wasn’t it. She went to her doctor and he diagnosed stress as the culprit. I shook my head while we were talking on the phone. “I don’t know, Louise. You’ve never been like that before and having three kids can be pretty stressful!”

Long story short, Louise agreed. She kept going back to her doctor and finally, after the umpteenth visit, he ran some basic tests. She had a CT scan and it revealed a huge tumor in her abdomen. It was cancer. She began treatments. Her persistence in her belief that it was not all in her head, as some had told her, led to the diagnosis and eventual treatment that saved her life.

I kind of marveled at her tenacity! If it had been me, I am sure at that time in my life, I would have discounted that little voice telling me something really was wrong. But Louise did not ignore it. She pursued it. It makes me wonder, still, do we feel confident in our beliefs? Do we ride that tide of belief in our decision-making processes? How easily do we throw in the towel and surrender?

I have tried to embrace Louise’s level of self assuredness in my profession. I want to project a confidence that comes with knowing and believing in what I am doing. After all, if I don’t believe in my community and all it has to offer its Residents, how can I convey to them my joy that this is the place to call home? I know this starts with me and my ability to communicate my love for this community as home. It always starts with one and that one is me.

Know a Veteran? Say, Thank You!

My son made his decision to join the military in high school. In fact, he was not legally able to sign the enlistment papers because he was underage. I did not know that he had made his mind up until he casually announced he was joining. I saw the serious expression on his face and swallowed hard.

“What branch are you signing up with?” I asked.

“I think the Army. I’ve been meeting with the recruiters at lunch at school.” I asked him if he was sure if the Army was right for him. He wanted to know what I thought. So, again, I paused and swallowed.

“Well, if you’re going to enlist, why not enlist with the Marines?”

A couple of days later, Thomas Sean told me when I walked in from work that someone was coming to see me in a few minutes. “Oh, who?” But I knew. I could tell from my son’s poised, confident expression that I would be signing the paperwork for him to enlist. He was just seventeen and suddenly I was scared. What if my baby gets shipped off to Iraq and gets killed? I could not bear that thought so I pushed it from my consciousness.

I met the Recruiter, signed the paperwork and then spent the next forty-eight hours arguing with my ex-husband over this decision. I finally told him that it was going to happen and he needed to accept it. He said he would not give permission. And, this is what I love about the United States Marine Corps. They simply do not take no for an answer. They sent in three big Marines to my ex’s office in Houston, Texas and placed the paperwork on his desk, handed him a pen and told him to sign. My son’s dream of joining an organization geared to protect came true.

My son did indeed join the bravest men and women of this country. He did indeed get shipped off to war and he could not have been happier. He was doing what he wanted to do, what he was trained to do, and he was confident in his ability to lead his merry band of brothers into combat.

If you know a Veteran, please thank him or her. They make many sacrifices we will never fully understand or appreciate.