Guest Blog

While the home ownership dream is still alive and kicking, people who actually pursue it are fewer and less determined to act on it right away.

By Edward Jiang, Business Development Manager at PadMapper A successful marketing strategy for every multifamily community recognizes how renters in your area look for new places to live, and being available and visible in the right locations. With 27-million monthly unique visitors to the top 6 apartment search websites according to ComScore (and that’s in January, the middle of slow season), you can’t ignore the fact that many people start their hunt for a new place online. Websites like Google and Amazon train users to expect easy access to information about products or services: reviews, photos, open hours, etc. However,…

By David Smith, Florida Division President, AV Homes Baby boomers are known for their commitment to progress, and their pursuit of revolutionary new ideas. It is only fitting, then, that the generation that redefined activism decades ago is changing what it means to be an active adult today. As developers, managers, board members and property owners know, 55-plus communities are evolving dramatically, employing thoughtful new design elements, a range of highly customized amenities and even a new approach to marketing. The most successful active adult communities are defined by the choices they offer, particularly in terms of their residences, which…

By Darren Vanecko, President, Places4Students.com Over the past decade, the student housing market in the United States has been rapidly expanding with the boom of purpose-built student housing. With each passing year, the number of student housing bed deliveries seems to be increasing alongside enrollment rates. The same, however, cannot be said about Canada. Yes, enrollment rates are increasing in Canada, but student housing isn’t advancing in conjunction with these rates. There are a variety of potential reasons why Canada is lagging behind USA, such as smaller population, regional disparity, lack of market research, unwillingness from major REITs to invest…

By Nicoleta Iudean Halloween—the most fang-tastic celebration of the year—is just around the corner. Most of your residents, both kids and grownups, will keep busy these days with choosing the spookiest costumes, buying sweets, carving pumpkins and putting up creepy decorations in their apartments. On the other hand, you—as a landlord or property manager—face some serious concerns: the safety of your residents and of your rental properties during this festival of mischief. So, should you “trick” or should you “treat”? There’s a fine line between being too strict (by issuing specific property regulations for October 31st in order to ensure…

By Brian Taylor, Executive Director, Talega Maintenance Corporation, Managed by FirstService Residential Managers of multifamily properties face critical challenges every day. They perform multiple tasks simultaneously, proactively assessing and enacting strategies to improve property features and systems, developing and implementing marketing plans and reacting to the troubles that surface on any given day. Inevitably, managers are likely to spend at least some time putting out fires, regardless of the amount of time spent planning and organizing. Of course, we are talking about the figurative kind of fire here, but managers need to be ready to combat the real ones as well….

By Homer Yim, Territorial Manager, Simpson Strong-Tie Twenty-five years ago, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area. Lasting only seconds, the quake measured 6.9 on the Richter scale and left thousands of residents homeless. The images were unforgettable: Neighborhoods on fire, failing bridges, and homes in the Marina District collapsing in heaps of shattered wood. Almost immediately following the quake, the City of San Francisco initiated the Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety (CAPSS) working group to study impacts from the next major earthquake, which included a 30-year resiliency plan to prevent the collapse of buildings in…

By Nat Kunes, Vice President of Product, AppFolio Property Manager In today’s competitive market, multifamily professionals need to bring their “A” game. While the market ebbs and flows, finding the best team to run your business and making the most cost-effective decisions are always going to be essential components of a strong business strategy. Making sure you have the most modern tech tools to keep an edge is essential. Don’t let your current management practices prevent you from saving time and money, and adding more value to your properties. We recently commissioned SurveyMonkey to uncover the success secrets among the nation’s…

By Christine Kehoe, Executive Director, California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative Chances are you’ve seen a plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) on the road, parked at the mall, or even driving in your neighborhood. These days, it’s not uncommon. There are more than 234,000 PEVs in the nation and many vehicle models from which people can choose. Cities such as Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle have the highest rates of PEV adoption in the country, which includes a large number of people living in apartments and condominiums. This presents a big opportunity for properties to install PEV charging…