Need a refresher on your best practices for property management? Refocus on these two simple tips from Maria Stanton, Director of Operations for Property Management at Miller Valentine: Get your team on the same page, and focus together on your customers. They are lessons she learned as a young leasing manager for a high rise apartment community in Cleveland, and have been the foundation for a successful career in the property management industry. In her first multifamily experience, the then 21-year-old Stanton managed a staff of 40 people, and many of the employees were older than her. To make the community successful, she focused on building a strong team and working together cohesively to serve every resident – with 1,100 units, no easy task. “Understanding how your people can make or break the success of a community was one of the biggest lessons I learned. Getting that whole team together to accomplish the common goal was really important. You have to get everyone on the same page, understand their responsibilities and buy into the whole picture,” Stanton told us. What’s in the picture? Remembering that the customer comes first. “We sometimes get caught up in so many parts of our business that we can forget about the customer. It’s so important to maintain that understanding of what the customer wants.” Her early experiences in real estate helped hone that skill – while going to college, she simultaneously earned her real estate license and sold homes for a developer. After landing at the REIT-owned Cleveland high rise, Stanton became a community manager,  Sales and Marketing director, then Regional Operations manager before moving to her current role as Miller Valentine’s Director of Operations (she has been with the company for over six years). Today, she oversees...

Take an average sized apartment  and reduce it by 90 percent. Could you live there? With all the buzz in the news lately about micro-sized apartment living – particularly in markets like New York and San Francisco, where space is limited and renters will pay top dollar for even a closet-sized space to call home – we wanted to get the inside scoop. Literally, what is it really like to live in a teeny, tiny, itsy bitsy apartment? Is it sustainable? Does it drive you crazy? So we found Genevieve Shuler, who calls herself the Small Space Savant, to get our questions answered. For the last eight years, she’s called a 105 square foot “studio” in New York’s Greenwich Village her home sweet, albeit very small, home. Genevieve is a regular gal who like most of us owns a few extra pairs of shoes and loves her cat. She’s managed to make her micro living situation work with a few creative adaptations, like washing her dishes in the shower. Read on to find out more about how she functions in her pint-sized apartment. It’s inspiring insight for simplifying your life. She’s become a creative organization expert, even helping her friends and strangers create solutions for their own small spaces.  TBS: What adaptations have you made to your life to make life in such a small space viable? GS: The biggest adaptation I’ve made in my life to make my small space work, is doing my dishes in the shower! I don’t have a kitchen sink, and my bathroom sink is too small to be practical for washing dishes, so my mother came up with the idea for me to do them in the shower. I have a corner shower caddy rack with those triangle...

Linda McFarland’s work at Yardi’s Amsterdam office has been a homecoming of sorts. The Netherlands native lived for eight years in the U.S., where she worked in property management and met her husband, before coming home to Holland nearly four years ago. A world traveler, Linda has an adventurous spirit that drew her to live abroad in Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula as a college student, and to move to the U.S. shortly afterwards. Settling in the Atlanta area, she entered the Ritz-Carlton hospitality management program and worked in the hotel industry for several years, meeting her husband Robert in the process.  Then she moved on to an assistant property manager position in midtown Atlanta, entering a new industry that she thoroughly enjoyed. As part of her work for First Communities, she was a Yardi Systems user. After their first child was born four years ago, Linda and Robert decided that if they ever wanted to live in the Netherlands, it was time to make a move. They didn’t want to be settled in Georgia and then uproot their family, so they made plans for a trans-Atlantic relocation. Before leaving the U.S., Linda noticed an opportunity for an office manager position at Yardi Systems’ Amsterdam office, and jumped at the chance. She was familiar with Yardi from her work in property management, and just the sort of “international, growing, dynamic” company that she wanted to work for. Yardi’s Amsterdam office serves primarily European commercial real estate clients. Linda has recently taken on some marketing responsibilities in addition to her tasks in human resources and the front office, and says she loves the variety of her job. She starts every day with an hour-long run from the family’s Amsterdam home to the beach....

When he was 14, Yves Hajjar’s father gave him a gift that would influence the course of his life. It was a used personal computer, and along with the remote control airplanes he loved to fly as a kid, it soon consumed Yves’ free time. With the guidance of a computer engineer mentor in his hometown of Lyon, France, he learned not to be afraid to take the PC apart, put it back together, and replace any parts that he broke in the process. Most of his friends didn’t yet have PC’s , so he was lucky to have hands-on experience with one. Soon, he made an interesting discovery. “I quickly realized while poking around the files on the computer that everything was written in English. ‘Print’ means something in English – it means nothing in French. That made me want to come to the U.S.,” said Yves, now a development team lead for Yardi Systems. Based in San Diego, Calif, Yves is part of the Realtown team. Yardi Systems acquired Realtown in 2011. Four years after his dad bought him the used PC, Yves came to the U.S. to attend college at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, which had an exchange program with a French university. He struggled at first with the transition to a completely new culture, but received a terrific education. The UMass Dartmouth computer engineering program put students together in groups and emphasized problem solving as a learning exercise. Students’ desks faced each other instead of the front of the room. “We were troubleshooting issues, and learning how to fix problems as a team instead of with a teacher,” Yves recalled. The skills he developed, and one significant moment involving a special girl, were the highlights of his undergraduate...

Mindy Sharp is the type of property manager who does it all. From lease-ups to balance sheets to carrying the maintenance pager, the Ohio-based property professional tackles all aspects of multifamily life at Ashton Glen, a picturesque townhome and apartment community in southern Dayton.  When she’s not marketing units or touring with prospects, she finds time to handle social media and even have tea parties with young residents. Her grasp of the local rental market and knowledge of her own property is so strong that Mindy manages to rent up to 25 percent of her vacancies sight unseen. “That’s the Mom skill in me,” says the former teacher and mother of two grown kids. “It’s just listening and finding out what they want. I know this property; I know this entire Dayton market like the back of my hand. Once I know what it is that (the prospect) wants, I can assure them that they’ll be taken care of.” Despite challenging times for the Dayton area apartment market due to the economic downturn, Mindy has kept Ashton Glen close to full occupancy at all times. The community has military families among their resident base, so deployments often contribute to leasing turnover. She’s especially proud that two of the deploying families made plans to return home to Ashton Glen once they return stateside. “Home to them means not just the United States, but also this apartment community. Wow. And one of these families is actually paying rent on their apartment while absent. This says it all,” she wrote on her blog, where she is brutally honest about the ins and outs of daily property management. Some days, there are more outs than ins. When we talked with Mindy last week, she was on duty as...

How did a professional artist end up with a passion for affordable housing documentation? Karin Nelson’s work at Yardi‘s headquarters  in Santa Barbara, Calif. is vastly different from her past life as a wood sculptor. It’s also allowed her the chance to pursue a personal passion – an affinity for music that turned her into a performing artist. Karin plays the flute, an instrument she took up 10 years ago. She started her Yardi career in 1999. Her work requires her to make sure that Yardi’s software is up to date with all government standards and protocols for documentation, a task that entails dealing with near-constant change. “If we aren’t adding features, then the government is changing their rules,” she says. Change is something that she is really good at. After all, she made a successful transition from artist to compliance expert and from someone who was afraid to perform to an accomplished flautist. “I hate to perform, but I love to practice,” Karin said. Overcoming her fear, she plays the flute in chamber music performances in her hometown of Santa Barbara and often performs in conjunction with her twin sister Maren Henle, a violinist who also works at Yardi Systems in the Professional Services Group. Karin’s coworkers have seen her perform at the company’s annual Children’s Day. Employees are invited to bring their kids to work, and a highlight is enjoying the music performed by Karin, Maren, and other colleagues. One thing that Karin no longer has time for with her busy schedule is sculpting – she says that after dedicating her life full time to art for ten years, pursuing it as a hobby wouldn’t be same. But the better life balance she has thanks to Yardi has enabled her to find...

Never underestimate the value of early work experience. Kim Mathews of Unified Property Group was first introduced to property management in high school at the age of 17, with a job working for a commercial firm. Not long after college graduation, she found her calling – property management accounting – and has stuck with it ever since. “I love the variety in property management,” said Mathews, echoing the words of so many fellow industry employees. She’s come up through the ranks from a property accountant to her current role as Chief Financial Officer at Unified Property Group.  In between she held a variety of roles including Financial Manager, Controller,and  Asset Manager. Along the way, she’s had the chance to work in all of the housing sectors Unified Property Group manages, including senior, commercial, multifamily, and affordable. One of the verticals she’s found most interesting has been senior housing, where Mathews observed that there’s a trend toward older residents with more pronounced medical issues who are more likely to need assisted care. “Our primary focus has been independent living,” so this has prompted a new initiative at one of Unified Property Group’s Independence Village properties, she said. “We’re starting out by adding memory care and assisted living at one of our properties and (if it is successful), we plan on expending that to all of our offerings.” Unified Property Group manages about 100 properties with 12000 units, with 40 percent of the portfolio made up by affordable tax credit housing. One of Mathews’ current initiatives is moving Unified Property Group towards paperless offices at its properties. Yardi PayScan and CheckScan are among the products helping that effort. “We’re trying to get everything automated with latest technology to find efficiencies and make sure we have best practices...

There probably aren’t too many people out there who can say they met their significant other at a Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference. Robert and Deidre Podlesnik are among them. The Podlesniks happened to be in the same line for dinner at the Doubletree in Santa Barbara, Calif. back in 2001. He was a consultant, and she worked for a Yardi client.  Fast forward 11 years, and they have two kids, ages 6 and 3, and live and both work for Yardi in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Robert is the Director of Canadian Operations for the Professional Services Group, which handles software implementations for Voyager International clients. With a background in on-site property management, he finds his work to be a little less dramatic than condo operations, where he literally put out fires (in a condominium building hallway) and was twice threatened with fisticuffs by residents. “People get emotional with their homes. With that, you have to be able to manage those emotions and keep these people in check. I think I was able to carry those experiences into the Yardi world, where you’re dealing with clients who get emotional about their software implementations. I’ve learned over the years – no matter what situation you’re in, you can brainstorm a solution. Keep an open mind, be calm about it, and work toward the end goal.” Robert heads up a team of 10 consultants and project managers in the Canadian office, who handle standard service and full service implementations. Yardi’s software has been customized to meet the specific needs of specific Canadian market niches, including Canadian social housing, which is similar to the affordable vertical in the U.S. market. Yardi Voyager International makes multifamily property management easier for companies around the world. He loves the variety of...

With dual expertise in Human Resources and Information Technology, Carrie A. Traeger of Property Management, Inc. (PMI), is well-equipped to make smart business analysis decisions. Pennsylvania-based PMI, specializing in commercial, residential, manufactured housing and homeowner association management, has 225 employees and is predominantly a third-party, fee-based management firm. PMI manages 5.4 million square feet of commercial office space, 80 homeowner’s associations (6000 units), 14 manufactured home communities (1400 units) and 45 residential communities (4000 units), all in Pennsylvania. The company has made a name for itself with professionalism and proven results for holders and investors, and has recently seen tremendous growth in its commercial sector. We recently had the opportunity to gain Traeger’s insight on trending topics in HR and IT, a combination she calls “a fun umbrella,” as well as best business practices.  A member of PMI’s team since 1994, she is active in the Society for Human Resource Management and the Human Resource Professionals of Central Pennsylvania. Traeger holds a MBA and accounting degree from Pennsylvania State University. In her free time, she serves as director of the PMI Charitable Foundation, which  provides funds to not-for-profit organizations from programs which seek to enhance human dignity for those who are economically, educationally, and emotionally challenged. Traeger is also  a member of her Church Finance Committee and as a leader in the Awana Program (children’s program). Many thanks to Carrie Traeger for agreeing to answer these questions for us. TBS: How do you manage dual oversight of IT and HR? CAT: My daily focus is on PMI’s mission statement. Our mission statement is to “provide superior property management services which exceed the expectations of customers and clients by focusing on prompt service, reliability, dedication, teamwork, education, training and innovation.” Almost every one of the...

Dena Xifaras started her professional life as an international management consultant, work that involved international travel to oversee decidedly for-profit projects. But she’s found her true calling back home in Massachusetts, where Xifaras has built a successful career in multiple roles for Boston-based Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), a national non-profit and Yardi affordable housing client that focuses on rehabilitating properties and retaining their affordable status. She’s worked in development and financing, restructuring troubled properties, as a systems development lead, and was recently named Vice President of POAH’s Asset Management division. Xifaras is also an attorney, and earned her law degree in night courses from Suffolk University while working full time. Making the transition from her former life at Accenture to the nonprofit sector has been immensely rewarding for the former globetrotter. “I didn’t even realize until I had switched how meaningful it would be to me to do something (professionally) that contributed to society,” Xifaras told us in a recent interview. A lifelong volunteer and athlete with boundless energy, her passion for improving the lives of affordable housing residents was confirmed by her very first POAH project. The project was in Narragansett, Rhode Island, an affluent coastal town where housing is often out of reach for median-level wage earners. The work brought Xifaras in touch with some of the residents of the small affordable housing community POAH was redeveloping, among them a firefighter, and teacher and a nurses’ aide. “These were great contributing members of society who otherwise could not live in the town where they worked,” she said. “The idea that they could live in rental housing, stay in the community, have a four minute commute, and have their children go to school with the same kids that that they were teaching...

Anyone who has ever worked in onsite property management probably has a small arsenal of stories to share. But WinnResidential’s Emily D’Urso is the first mom we’ve met whose kids ask her to entertain them with tales of a property manager’s daily life. “I had so many stories about things I had to fix or crazy residents. They have their favorite stories that they love for me to tell them over and over,” she told us during a recent interview at YASC DC. Her 6 and 8 year old will say: “Tell me the one about how you put the locks on the doors, or tell us the one about when the sewers backed up into people’s closets.” Now an experienced business systems analyst for WinnResidential, D’Urso describes her first job out of college, working as an assistant property manager for five affordable properties in Boston, as “the most not boring job ever.” Though she took the position simply to be self-sufficient after finishing college, her onsite property management work turned out to be an entry point into the multifamily world, leading her to a fulfilling career doing what she loves. And it gave her a first-hand look at the challenges faced by on-the-ground property staff. After moving up the property management ladder, her technical problem-solving skills were recognized during implementations of new technology, and she accepted a position in the systems department.  (WinnResidential’s merger with Lend Lease Real Estate, preceded by Lend Lease’s acquisition of Boston  Financial Group, brought D’Urso to the Winn team.) WinnResidential’s multifamily portfolio includes 94,190 units across the United States, the majority of which are affordable housing. The company is known for its rehabilitation of historic structures, and has received numerous awards for turning decaying old buildings into newly vibrant...

You never know where life’s journey will take you. Jo Marie Ziegler didn’t start life as a Michigan resident or envision a career in the property management industry, but that’s where she ended up. In 1990, Jo Marie and her husband, Amos, moved to the Great Lake State so he could study at Michigan State University.  22 years later, Jo Marie has become a veteran property professional. Based in Lansing, DTN Management Company’s portfolio includes 6800 residential units, mainly in the Lansing and East Lansing area.  This includes a significant number of properties serving Michigan State University students. A “can do attitude” is at the forefront of the DTN company values, and it’s a quality that Jo Marie exemplifies. She’s always ready to pitch in no matter what the need.  For student housing providers, move-out and move-in is an “all hands on deck” time of year. Jo Marie described it as, “long hours and you’re constantly busy but it feels really good when you’re all done.” During move-out, her job transitions to managing the rehab and freshening up of numerous DTN properties. Armed with a spreadsheet and well-versed in how to communicate with contractors, she works to turn the units as quickly as possible. The rest of the year, Jo Marie’s job has a very different focus. A self-described “Yardi Guru” who helps with Yardi support and internal training, she has a natural knack for databases. Here’s how it started: “When we converted our property management software to Yardi, one of the owners asked if I would move from the Cedar Village hub to the corporate office so I could help get that conversion to Enterprise up and running. From there, with the help of our Spartan-Net IT department we progressed from 5.0 to...

We’ve frequently shared news with you here about Yardi Systems’ numerous donations to various philanthropic causes that help people across the U.S. and beyond. Today we’re focused on an effort of people power by Yardi employees in our Dallas, Texas office. Led by Michael Sheaffer, 20 people from the Customer Service Desk gave their own time on a recent Saturday to volunteer at the North Texas Food Bank. This organization supports hungry families and individuals throughout the North Texas area with healthy and nutritious meals. “Our team discussed options and we all agreed that we are very fortunate to have jobs and to work for Yardi.  We determined that we needed to do some sort of outreach where we could directly impact those that were not as fortunate and give back to our local community.  The North Texas Food Bank is a very reputable organization that relies on volunteers to ensure they maximize their food and financial donations to help reduce hunger in our local area,” Sheaffer said. During their volunteer day, the Yardi team was packaging nonperishable food items for delivery to seniors. A regular box delivered to these seniors in need helps them supplement limited foodstuffs that they’re able to afford. In just three hours, 16,000 meals had been packaged for donation. “We chose the food bank based on individuals in the group volunteering individually in the past and the impact they were able to make.  Our thought was that we would give up a Saturday once a quarter to give back to our community and make sure that we see that there is more to our lives than just the normal 8-5 that we work for Yardi,” said Sheaffer. “Surprisingly, we had almost perfect attendance from our group and we even...

From his high-rise office in downtown Denver, Dave Woodward has a great view of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains just beyond the Mile High City. He’s also taking the long view with his new company, CompassRock Real Estate. Formerly the CEO of the Laramar Group for 12 years and prior to that a senior vice president at Archstone, UC Berkeley grad Woodward has spent his career as a property management executive. He’s now using those years of experience in a new firm that focuses on properties from special servicers, lenders and other institutional owners. “One of the things that’s really exciting for me is that CompassRock isn’t just a multifamily company, we are providing property management and other services to all real estate product types.”  Dave told us. “CW Capital is my initial financial partner, with six other clients also signed up. They will help by contributing some of the management assignments in their portfolio.” The initial portfolio will be comprised of distressed assets, mostly taken back through foreclosures. In some cases, CompassRock will also be stepping in as court-appointed receiver while the properties work their way through the foreclosure process.  Generally a two to four year window to maximize values, clean up the assets and position the properties for sale is common. “Our plan is to manage a lot of these properties and then retain management when possible upon sale.  In addition, we’ll be managing for longer-term owners as well.”  Dave explained. His business model at CompassRock will maximize efficiency with two key best practices he’s identified over the years for cutting down costs: -A shared services system for back office human resources, accounting, information technology and risk management will streamline those functions across all management categories. -Outsourcing some lower-level services, such as monthly...

Oh, those hard-to-pin-down, picky renters and their hearts’ desires. Every year, major research and development dollars are spent by trade associations and independent companies to try to figure out what will make renters choose one property over others, pay more rent for certain amenities, and stay on as long term residents. What’s being most closely scrutinized is the predilections of the “Millennial” apartment renters – the kids of Baby Boomers, ranging in age from recent high school grads to those in their early 30s – who are expected to favor renting over home ownership. As a result, some have changed their generational label to the “Rentennials.” Is it accurate? A recent National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) panel that looked at these trends expects these renters to want urban-proximate multifamily housing, with easy access to efficient public transportation as well as walkable neighborhoods, for ease of commuting and lifestyle convenience. NAHB is betting that the Rentennial trend will be a source of income for their industry in the years to come. We decided to take this research one step further and ask a group of Millennials/Rentennials how they feel about renting, home ownership, and what they want in their “ideal” apartment building. Here’s what they said. The perfect apartment? According to the NAHB, it’s the location of a property that will be the pivotal factor in attracting most renters, who dislike traveling long distances to their jobs. This insight is accurate, according to the young renters we heard from. And it’s also true that renters today want convenient public transportation access and walkable neighborhoods. “It’s all about the lifestyle for today’s renters. They want the urban experience of less commute time and immediate access to various activities,” said Jeff Kayce, vice president at Bozzuto...

Dr. Bob Holmes, executive director of the Colorado Springs-based Homeward Pikes Peak, isn’t trained as a social worker. He has an MBA and a background in education. Holmes is also a Vietnam veteran who fervently believes that job training, support and residential stability is the way to get homeless Americans back on their feet. His innovative model for doing so, Homeward Pikes Peak’s Homeless Outreach, is one of three programs Holmes oversees that support the homeless population of Colorado Springs. The Homeless Outreach effort focuses mainly on women and kids, and has served 1,868 homeless in the last 27 months. “Our total helped toward self-sufficiency is 1,409 or 75% of those entering our program,” Holmes said. “The program budget is $217,200 per year and I raise this through the generosity of foundations, such as Yardi; faith-based organizations and individuals.” Once jobs are found, the families are allowed to stay at the Aztec long enough to build up their savings for a deposit and first month’s rent on an apartment. Average residency time at the Aztec is two to three months.With room for up the 80 residents at the Aztec Motel, a struggling local property that agreed to rent exclusively to the program, Holmes and his team of 2 full time, one part time case workers assist their residents not just with housing but identifying job skills, seeking out interviews and support. Homeward Pikes Peak adults must make multiple job contacts daily, and they also participate in cooperative child care and eight hours of community service per week. Children – there are 42 at the Aztec this week – must be in school. The success stories come from all sides of the spectrum. One resident, a jobless tech worker, landed a position at Hewlett Packard....

With an international background in accounting and property management, it makes perfect sense that Shridhar Sheshadri landed at Yardi as a Senior Consultant in the Professional Services Group, based in Yardi’s Toronto, Canada office. His career has spanned four continents, taking Shridhar from his home country of India to the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Australia and New Zealand, Dubai, and now to Toronto, where he and his family have lived for nearly seven years. The opportunity to work for Yardi came along after his Canadian immigration paperwork had been approved. Shridhar told us he was struggling with the decision to leave Dubai, since he had a good job there as a controller for a large property management company. But after being referred for an interview by his brother-in-law, everything fell into place. “It was lightning speed. I think it was providence,” Shridhar said. After spending much of his life moving and also traveling for professional reasons, he hopes that Yardi Systems will be the company he retires from. His widely varied experiences, from his career start as an accountant in India to his oversight of factories in Nigeria and property management of one of the world’s largest residential towers in the Middle East, have given Shridhar a unique perspective that comes in handy when he visits Yardi clients. He travels to assist clients in the U.S. and Canada with their professional implementation processes. “This position has allowed me to mix my past experiences, my background of being a Chartered Accountant, all of my professional experience – and sit across from a Board of Directors and discuss their business rules, how their entire organization works, and try to translate how Yardi programs can best help them,” Shridhar explained. The move to North America has been advantageous...

With more than two decades of experience in the residential property management industry, Ken Doble, Partner at Atlanta-based Quantitive Realty Capital (QRC), is well-versed in what’s trending in multifamily today. A technology-savvy executive who shares updates via his Twitter feed daily, Doble began his career 20 years ago as the on-site property manager of a 24 unit apartment community of Atlanta apartments. He’s also a military veteran, and served as a paratrooper in Panama and the Gulf War. We asked for his insight on current happenings in multifamily in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, where QRC is in the process of acquiring more properties, including distressed assets that need improvements. Most of their current 12 properties are comprised of class B and C apartments. There’s strong bidding competition among investors for class A inventory in the southeast, Doble noted, especially in top markets like Atlanta. QRC has focused on opportunities in the secondary markets and properties that need rehabilitation. In 2011, the company spent $7 million on renovations.  Improving those properties is Doble’s favorite part of the work he does today. “I like seeing the transformation of the property. We typically go in and buy distressed properties that have deferred maintenance. I like to go in and do the renovations on those properties and see the properties come up from a low occupancy, say in the 60s, to the 95-96 range. I like to see the properties really stabilize, see the happy residents, and see the properties and staff really take off and perform.” At the Parkview Apartments in metro Atlanta, where 18 units were down and there were crime, aesthetic and mold issues on site, QRC achieved a complete turnaround in just a number of months. With large numbers of families in residence at...