Blog
‘Business Development 101’ with Marilynn Mendell: Planning is Key
The days of long range convoluted business plans are over because the world changes too quickly. But, short-range goals and scenario planning will help move a company or person forward.
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Ways to Keep Your Community Safe from Bad Guys (Or Bored Teens)
The other night, I was sitting in my apartment watching some TV with my husband. Then these two guy drove up in a van, parked in front of my building, and sat there. And blasted music. For two hours. I was totally creeped out. And not only was it creepy that these two guys were just sitting there in their van, but the music was really, really annoying. Now, maybe I’ve just been watching too much Breaking Bad. Maybe I would have been more at ease if they were playing Bon Jovi or Green Day, or other music I like,…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Roger Federer and the Danger of Complacency in Apartment Marketing
Last night I went to the U.S. Open and saw the Roger Federer vs. Tomas Berdych quarterfinals match. Now, I’m not a huge sports fan, but I still had a few expectations when I got to the tennis center: 1. The food would be expensive. 2. I would see celebrities. 3. Roger Federer would be handsome in real life. And 4. Federer would win. Well, I paid $7.50 for ice cream; saw Pippa Middleton, Anna Wintour, Arethra Franklin and Yup, Federer, the number one tennis player in the world, lost to Tomas Berdych, who is…actually, I’m not sure what number he is (thought it’s…
Guest Blog: Business Development 101
Business development excellence is based on four main principles: ethics, planning, appearance and appreciation. Part 1.
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: What to Do When Your Building’s Selling Point No Longer Sells
Back in the day, you could get a bucket of fried golden goodness at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Then people got super into health and fitness. Plus, in the ’90s, not only did the term “supermodel” come into existence, but belly-baring t-shirts were all the rage (thanks a lot, Gwen Stafani and Sporty Spice). And in 1991, Kentucky Fried Chicken faced a dilemma. “Fried” was in the name, after all, and admitting to eating fried food was no longer en vogue. So Kentucky Fried Chicken rebranded itself as KFC. Did they still sell fried chicken? Of course. Still do, in fact. But…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: How to Compete with that New Building on the Block
Lisa: What’s so special about this game anyway? It’s just another chapter in the pointless rivalry between Springfield and Shelbyville. They built a mini-mall, so we built a bigger mini-mall. They made the world’s largest pizza, so we burnt down their city hall. Homer: Heh, heh, heh. Yeah, they swore they’d get us back by spiking our water supply. But they didn’t have the guts. Marge: [drinks the tap water] Ooooh. The walls are melting again. -The Simpsons The multifamily industry is hot now, and that’s all good for all of us. Tons of people are renting. Which also means that…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: What Do You Consider a “Luxury” Apartment?
When you think of a luxury apartment building, what do you picture? Is it a building with a doorman and elevator? Or one chock full of amenities? Or, I don’t know, full of Donald Trump-inspired opulence, like solid-gold toilets or something? (And if it there were solid-gold toilets, and it happened to be super cold in the apartment, could there ever be an incident similar to when that kid got triple dog dared to lick the pole in A Christmas Story and ended up getting stuck? Because, if so, I know what I’m going to get my younger brother for…
‘Gimme Shelter’ with Daniel Gehman: The Search for ‘Gen Y Zero’
Over the last half-decade or so, I’ve spent a lot of time studying and speaking about Gen Ys, and was on another panel back in June at the Pacific Coast Builder’s Conference in San Francisco. Since then, I’ve received two more requests to speak about it at industry events. While it’s encouraging to see such widespread interest in this demographic cohort, I’m feeling a bit ready to move on to the next thing. Even before PCBC, I was already feeling I’d heard too many presentations about Gen Y that treated the entire block of 18-33 year olds as a monolith,…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: 5 Things to Put in a Welcome Basket for Student Housing [For the Parents]
It’s August, which means the time for commercials for school supplies has officially commenced (and even though many of us have—thankfully—been out of school for some time, this is very depressing. Probably because we are just realizing that we didn’t take any vacation days to go to the beach like we promised ourselves we would. Summer slips by so quickly when you don’t get a mandatory three months off). And college freshman are getting ready to leave the nest and live in student housing—either on campus or off. And once the housing is picked out or assigned, and everyone is…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: How to Protect Your Apartment Community’s Brand (By Not Following Ryan Lochte)
I’m not a fan of watching sports, but by that I mean baseball, basketball, football…pretty much anything that has my husband hogging the TV and preventing me from watching reruns of How I Met Your Mother. That doesn’t include the Olympics. I love the Olympics, especially the Summer Olympics (excluding baseball, basketball, and football—which I’m not even sure if they play). My favorite sport is swimming, because I was on the swim team back in high school. Oh, and also because the U.S. men’s team, as a whole, is really, really ridiculously good looking. Anyway, everyone is super into the Michael Phelps/Ryan Lochte…