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‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Luxury Student Housing: Friend of Foe
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…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: 5 Ways Property Managers Can Set Themselves Up for Success
Today is going to be awesome. As usual, while on my commute to work, I put on my headphones and listened to my music on shuffle. And a song from my favorite band, Green Day, came on. And then another Green Day song. And another. Older stuff. New stuff. Dookie stuff (which is arguably the best stuff). There were other songs from other artists mixed in, but for the most part, I got to listen to my favorite band play my favorite songs, making my normally dull commute (dare I say it?) enjoyable, and setting me up for a great…
Guest Blog: Between Residents: 5 Things You Should Check
By Mike Wilson, General Manager, Blue Sky Plumbing Although it’s tempting to just give the place a quick spit-and-polish before turning it over, after residents leave is a great time to get some preventive maintenance done on your rental property. There’ll be no need to work around the residents’ schedules, no need to move their stuff out of the way, and since the property has been all cleaned out, there’s going to be less unpleasantness, especially in the bathroom, which is a great place to start. Inspect the bathrooms Check the tile, grout and caulk in the bathroom. Any water…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: How to World Cup-ify Your Apartment Community
According to my Facebook feed, it’s World Cup time. And, though I only know roughly four things about soccer (David Beckham, black and white ball, if you’re forced to play in gym class you can “play defense” and just stand there and stare into space for the period, and David Beckham), it’s the most popular sport in the world. So, it’s pretty likely that your residents are super psyched about the World Cup. Why not take advantage of World Cup fever (take two pints of beer, and call me in the morning), and get your residents involved? Here are some…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Using Pop Culture as a Guide for Staying Relevant in the Apartment Industry
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…
‘The Accidental Economist’ with Jack Kern: Baseball, Hot Dogs and Investments
“Take me out to the ballgame, and the find me an apartment.” I’ve come to the somewhat unscientific conclusion that investing in real estate has some correlative position with professional sports teams, stadiums and apartment pricing. It used to be that only major cities had ball parks. Now they’ve gotten named after powerful industry-leading firms (Chase Field, Miller Park), along with a whole host of minor league places. Recently I was in St. Louis and had the opportunity to walk around the downtown area. I am part of Cardinal Nation, having been a fan of St. Louis Cardinals baseball since…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Apartment Bathrooms and Prospective Residents
It’s a question all prospective renters want to know when they’re touring an apartment, but very few ask: Could they use the toilet? It’s embarrassing for people to ask, but why should it be? A recent article in The New York Times asked if people attending open houses should be able to use the toilets of the houses they were scoping out, and the answer was yes. So shouldn’t it be the same when people are looking at apartments? They’re going to be living there, after all. Shouldn’t they be able to make sure the plumbing works? Don’t you want…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: A Reminder About the Importance of Community Safety Procedures
On Saturday, I was at a restaurant in a mall with a friend. We had just gotten our food, when all of a sudden there was a commotion. Someone screamed that there were gunshots in another area of the mall, and everyone in the restaurant ran to the kitchen to hide. The employees then ushered everyone outside through the service entrance. At the time it was complete pandemonium, and utterly terrifying. Thankfully, it all turned out to be a false alarm—a car in one of the parking lots caught on fire. The smoke from this started a chain reaction where…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Appealing to Renters Who Are Parents
Mother’s Day is this weekend! Which means that your favorite brunch place will have a line out the door. Maybe you should have thought ahead and made a reservation. Your mother was only in labor with you for 15 hours, and all she wants in return is french toast and a mimosa—is that too much to ask? Anyway, to segue seamlessly, a lot of your residents are probably mothers (nailed it!). Fathers, too. So it might be worth it to make your community more kid and baby friendly. Because a happy baby means a happy parent. And a happy parent means…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Why Standard Features are Not Amenities
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,…