When many apartment marketing teams put together their marketing plans, they usually target adults. OK, sometimes student housing communities will target the students, but really, even then it’s mostly to their parents. But why shouldn’t they? Adults are the ones with the money. Why bother marketing to kids? After all, they’re noisy and messy and usually can’t afford the rent. Teenagers are even worse. Completely useless! (Trust me, I used to be one.) Except… Except that the kids will grow up to be teenagers, who will grow up to be adults, who will, in general, want to move out of…

To [poorly] paraphrase that old commercial for bald guys, “I’m not just an editor for a multifamily publication, I’m also a renter.” Or, at least I was. Recently, I bought a house. So, bye bye, renting, at least for the foreseeable future, and, hello, bright pink walls if I so choose (not that my husband would necessarily go for that, but he’s the only hurdle), growing equity (fingers crossed) and lingering guilt about ordering a $4.30 carmel macchiato when I have mortgage payments to make (totally worth it though). And, though I was, and am, focused on the positives of…

Diet Coke is amazing.* You know that as a human being with taste buds, and if you somehow don’t like it because you don’t drink soda and are, in fact, a robot, then you know people who like it. Either way, you definitely know the brand. Coca Cola, if the company chose, probably wouldn’t even need to advertise anymore and could still turn a profit. Yet, it still advertises. And its new marketing plan is genius. You’ve totally seen it: The bottles say “Share a [Diet] Coke [Zero] with” and then they have a name. Have you found your name?…

Luxury is the name of the game in the student-housing industry nowadays. Communities feature all sorts of goodies—fitness centers, pools, tanning beds, screening rooms, fire pits, grills and more. Much more. Kids today, am I right, folks? When I was in college—which wasn’t too long ago, might I add (though I have found that when one feels the need to add that caveat, one officially is old enough to look like a narc if he or she tries to non-ironically wear any college-branded clothing)—my favorite amenity in the dorms was an RA who turned a blind eye to beer cans…

I totally don’t know why Katniss would be torn about her feelings for Peeta. I mean, he was always in love with her. And he put his own life in danger to protect her in the arena. But, I guess Gale is pretty attractive in that, “I’m an anti-establishment brooding rebel” kind of way. If you’re into that sort of thing. Which I’m not. Well, OK, maybe I can see how Katniss was conflicted. What do you think? What’s that? You don’t want to have a conversation about The Hunger Games with me right now because the book came out…

I wouldn’t even consider renting an apartment that didn’t have a microwave. It’s not that I can’t cook. (I can’t, but that’s neither here nor there.) It’s just that the inclusion of a microwave in an apartment kitchen seems so standard, so basic, that if an apartment didn’t include one it would feel like an apartment from the Stone Age. (I know there weren’t apartments in the Stone Age. It’s called hyperbole. Jeez.) A microwave is not an amenity. Recently I came across an infographic on the Lincoln Property Company blog lists the top 20 amenities, according to the NMHC. Included,…

I don’t know about you, but I love staying at hotels. You don’t have to make your bed, you get to look at generic paintings of sailboats or flowers, your key looks like a credit card, you get a free pen, you can make a fort in a king-sized bed…the list goes on and on. So it’s not surprising that some apartment communities are adding more and more features that mirror the hospitality industry. For example, a community in New Jersey recently added a resident-only store, where residents can grab a coffee or pick up other essentials. This is a…

“I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s it seems weird and scary to me. It’ll happen to you, too…” —Abraham Simpson, The Simpsons There are tons of articles about what Millennials are looking for in an apartment. You know the drill already. Come on, sing it with me: Wi-Fi, pet-friendly, areas to socialize, green. But everyone wants these things now, not just Gen Y. And, really, Gen Y is the same as Gen X were when they were younger, as were Baby Boomers. Just with better…