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‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: 5 Ways to Impress Your Residents and Earn Extra Income
I don’t like country music. It’s more likely that I’d spike my hair into a mohawk before I’d ever don a cowboy hat. But there was a country song that crossed over to the pop charts back in ’97 that they played all the time that still pops into my head every now and then. Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much.” And now it can be in your heads the rest of the day too. You’re welcome. In the song, she meets all these guys, but she’s all, “That’s nice, but what have you done for me lately?” (I’m paraphrasing.)…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Boomer, Gen X, Millennial–Same Difference When it Comes to Renting
Everywhere you turn nowadays, there are articles on Millennials. Of course, in the apartment industry, this is no exception, especially in terms of what amenities Gen Y is looking for. (Spoiler alert: It’s WiFi.) But are Millennials so different from other generations? In all the articles about designing for Gen Y, it’s always mentioned that they are more tech savvy. That they have a group mentality. That they care more about sustainability. That they for some reason find handlebar mustaches the pinnacle of high fashion (with nary a woman to tie to the train tracks in sight). True. But the…
‘The Accidental Economist’ with Jack Kern: Shadow Inventory Disappearing?
“Life is tough, but it’s tougher when you’re stupid.” —John Wayne 1907-1979, Actor, Director, Philosopher The most recent report by Corelogic suggested that the shadow inventory as of July dropped to 2.3 million houses. I found myself thinking about this a lot lately because conceptually shadow inventory really does compete with professionally managed apartments. The real issue is where is it located and how it impacts apartment rentals. For the most part, research shows (I love to use that phrase) that residents living in single family or row-house units tend to rent from individuals who have one or at most…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Ways to Appeal to Introverted Residents
It’s all well and good to offer events for your residents. Ice cream socials, screening parties, bbqs, are all fun and allow residents to mingle and feel like they’re part of the community, which, in turn not only helps with retention, but also with positive word of mouth about the building. But, sometimes residents just don’t want to hang out with their neighbors. And that’s OK. Some people are shy. Some people work crazy hours and would rather come home to a nice quiet apartment and watch DVR-ed episodes of Dexter and enjoy a nice glass of wine (actually, take…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: How Exclusivity Could Attract More Residents
There is a park in Manhattan called Gramercy Park. You can only go in if you live in one of the surrounding buildings, which gets you the honor of a key to the park. But, so what, right? There are tons of other parks in the city. Like Central Park, which has a zoo and boat rentals and jogging paths and concerts, and is, of course, iconic. And there’s Madison Square Park, the home of the original Shake Shack, which has the most amazing burgers, fries and shakes. What’s in Gramercy Park? Just some trees and flowers and stuff. Who…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Why You Shouldn’t Assume Anything Regarding Your Renters and the Lease
You might not think you need to spell out every little thing in your lease agreement with your residents because some things are just common knowledge—everyone knows them, everyone follows them, and there’s no reason to waste time or paper writing them out. But you’d be wrong. It turns out that there really isn’t “universal knowledge.” What might be a “no duh” thing for you might not even occur to your renters. Case in point: I was recently talking to a coworker, and referenced the classic teen movie Clueless. You know the one, of course—the updated version of Jane Austen’s…
‘The Accidental Economist’ with Jack Kern: Capital Flies South for the Winter
Life is funny. Sometimes just when you have it figured out, you get bopped on the head and realize how wrong you can be. I’m usually in the prediction business and have been fairly successful at it. My interest is in commercial real estate sectors and multifamily is a regular guest on the circuit. One of the more interesting facets about multifamily is how popular it has become. Recently on a trip to Chicago, a taxi driver from Senegal told me he comes from a wealthy family by Senegal standards and they’re pooling their resources to buy an apartment building…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Managing Resident Turnover with Exit Interviews
Have you ever quit your job? Well, if you haven’t, there’s often an official order of business that you have to attend to in between telling your boss that he can take this job and… fill it, and trying to get to your car without all the pilfered post it notes and highlighters falling out of your pants pockets. That’s right, the dreaded (?) exit interview, where former employees are asked to review the company, their position, their manager, all that, so that, I don’t know, it can go on the manager’s permanent record or something. For a company, I…
Guest Blog: ‘Human Capital’ with Matt Slepin
This is my inaugural blog for Multi-Housing News. I’ve been writing columns for awhile, but this is my first ongoing blog. Since this is a new venue for me, I wanted to start with a mission statement on what readers can expect. In the real estate business, we focus on deals, deals, deals. Sometimes we talk about operations and the art of maximizing value in properties and portfolios. But it usually all relates to deals and financial returns. This column will explore a third front—the human capital side of the real estate business with a focus on the multifamily sector….
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Going ‘Psycho’ Over Real Estate Design Sites
I feel a little bit like Norman Bates sometimes. Whoa, whoa, whoa. It’s not that I dress up in my mother’s clothes. I just get the voyeuristic urge to peer into other people’s apartments. Wait—that sounds way creepier than wearing my mother’s clothes. It’s not like I actually look into my neighbor’s apartments. (Curse you, inventor of blinds!) But I could (and have!) sit for hours on design sites such as Pinterest, Houzz and Apartment Therapy. It’s not just me, either. These sites are insanely popular right now (And why not? We all go a little mad sometimes.) Everyone seems to…