As 2023 closes, take some time for reflection and introspection to gain some valuable insights from the past year. Consider exploring the following aspects so 2024 is the most successful year yet! Achievements and milestones. When popping the champagne for the new year, celebrate the big and small accomplishments made throughout the past year. Each achievement is a triumph, a testament to dedication, hard work and perseverance. Whether it was a project that exceeded expectations, a personal breakthrough or a significant professional accomplishment, these moments are the building blocks to success. Remember that milestones are the markers of progress toward a larger goal, and achievements are specific accomplishments. For example, achievements are receiving an award or recognition, whereas a milestone is buying a new home or getting a promotion. Both deserve that extra clink and cheers at midnight! Challenges faced. Challenges and obstacles can be opportunities for personal and professional growth. Some milestones and achievements are challenges that have been conquered. Acknowledge these challenges with pride, for they are the foundation of future endeavors. These insights are invaluable and offer a blueprint for navigating future challenges. Remember, a smooth sea doesn’t make a skilled sailor! Learnings and takeaways. Identify lessons learned from the past year that emphasized personal development and self-awareness. Each lesson learned is a wealth of knowledge. What worked? What didn’t? Reflect on the strategies, decisions, and actions contributing to milestones and achievements. Incorporate SMART goals for the new year and make them a priority. Gratitude. Practice gratitude by reflecting on the positive aspects of the past year. Journalling is an excellent way to practice gratitude and reflect on the year’s achievements and milestones. List everything you’re grateful for and read it daily. Foster a positive mindset for the future. More positivity...

Winter is here, which means lots of snow for the Northern Hemisphere. Let’s explore the captivating world of snowflakes by delving into their intricate structure and formation. To quote Aristotle, “To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.” Snowflakes are captivating, with each delicate ice crystal’s unique hexagonal shape. The dendrite form of snowflakes is a study in water chemistry. Professor Krystopher Chutko of the University of Saskatchewan explains, “When ice forms at the molecular level, the angle between the hydrogen and oxygen atoms will always be 120 degrees—put the three of these together to get a complete ring of molecules with a six-sided structure. Since a growing snowflake doesn’t change too much, those attachments tend to occur evenly across the six points of the hexagonal flake. “Molecule by molecule, the snowflake grows and eventually begins to fall. This takes the snowflake to a new part of the atmosphere where temperature and humidity are different, resulting in new ice structures forming but still with the same angles,” defined Chutko. A typical dendrite is made up of about a quintillion individual water molecules. Between that and the slight changes in temperature and humidity, no two snowflakes likely form similarly, resulting in no two snowflakes being alike. Snowflake size and shape are determined by cloud temperature and humidity. The colder the air surrounding a growing snow crystal is, the more intricate the snowflake will be. More elaborate snowflakes are grown when the humidity is high. If the temperatures within the cloud are warmer or the humidity is low, expect the snowflake to be shaped like a simple, smooth, hexagonal prism. The mesmerizing beauty of individual snowflake patterns is incredible. Not only are these minuscule structures very intricate, but...

After two years of stellar growth, rents decelerated in 2023, despite demand still at strong levels thanks to a resilient economy. The 2024 Multifamily Outlook from Yardi Matrix anticipates a year of challenges, including slowing national rent growth. National rent growth moderated to 0.4 percent year-over-year through November 2023, from a combined 23.5 percent in 2021 and 2022. Absorption stabilized at 300,000 apartment units in 2023, compared to 600,000 in 2021 and 200,000 in 2022. Yardi Matrix expects that rent growth and occupancy will be heavily tested next year. Of the 1.2 million apartment units under construction at the start of 2024, 510,000 are expected to be delivered by the end of the year, the highest number in decades. “We expect demand for multifamily to remain healthy in 2024, but headwinds that include slower job growth, increasing supply and waning affordability in some markets will keep rent growth restrained again,” state analysts, forecasting a tepid 1.5 percent rent growth nationally. The 2024 forecast calls for Midwest metros to lead rent growth, and the Sunbelt and West markets to continue to experience in-migration from the coasts both by residents and businesses. Sunbelt markets such as Austin, Nashville, Charlotte and Orlando are already seeing stalling rent growth, and despite robust population and job growth, they boast high levels of new supply, which will further suppress rents. On the investment front, already down by 70 percent year-over-year, multifamily sales will likely remain sluggish in 2024, due to the impact of interest rates and pricing uncertainty. Gain more insights in the latest U.S. Multifamily Outlook from Yardi Matrix. Yardi Matrix offers the industry’s most comprehensive market intelligence tool for investment professionals, equity investors, lenders and property managers who underwrite and manage investments in commercial real estate. Yardi Matrix...

Happy holidays! Tis the season for festive celebrations and heartfelt gift giving. Unfortunately, along with the year-end holidays comes peak season for porch piracy. A porch pirate preys on parcels and steals them from homes. These thieves can strike in any neighborhood at any time and target all sizes of packages. Porch pirates are opportunistic and work quickly. Package theft has been a persistent affliction since online shopping has taken over, and porch pirates show no sign of yielding despite porch theft being a felony in many states. According to a recent statistic from Security.org, 44 million Americans have had a package stolen in the last three months. Porch pirates strike regardless of climate conditions, but some states are plagued by porch pirates more than others. Forbes compiled a list of the worst states with porch piracy packages stolen—New Hampshire ranked first, and Florida ranked last. Luckily, by incorporating some simple measures, you do not have to fall victim to these thieves this holiday season and beyond. Let’s explore some cutting-edge technologies and practical tips to ensure safe package deliveries this season. Outsmart porch pirates with clever strategies such as choosing secure delivery options, using delivery lockers and coordinating deliveries with neighbors to minimize the risk of porch theft. In mixed-use buildings, delivery lockers are the best option for residents and tenants. If working in an office building all day, have the necessary packages delivered to the office. There are various smart mailboxes and high-tech security devices for protection from porch pirates and environmental threats. Perhaps you are pretty fond of your mailbox but would like some smart features. Ring WiFi smart mailbox sensor fits inside the mailbox and will automatically send an alert to your phone in real-time whenever the mailbox is open....

NAMI Greater Cleveland was founded in 1979 in Cleveland, Ohio. For more than 40 years, this organization has been smoothing out the challenging path that emerges when someone is diagnosed with a mental health condition. This arduous journey is often through feelings of shame, fear and uncertainty and is compounded by a lack of understanding and the persistence of societal stigma. NAMI GC offers free mental health education and support programs as essential bridges and supports medical protocols. Support Groups: Led by trained volunteers, individuals or families provide emotional support and understanding, coping and problem-solving strategies and form a supportive network. Family and Peer Education Courses: families and individuals are offered education courses to understand better mental health diagnoses, treatment, coping, and navigating public assistance and medical care. Community Education and Outreach: NAMI GC staff and speakers, including clinicians and subject matter experts, make informative presentations to professionals, the community, and the public on topics related to resources, diagnosis, treatment, recovery, and how to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health challenges. Information and Referral services: Individuals can call the NAMI GC helpline and email to support accessing community resources and navigating the mental health system. These programs offer valuable insights, resources, and perspectives to people living with a mental health diagnosis, their family members, and community members, helping them navigate the complexities of mental health with greater understanding and support. NAMI GC is working on building its reach to serve populations that have historically had poor mental health outcomes, including those in stigmatized racial groups, LGBTQ+ and communities of faith. Funding from Yardi goes a long way in helping NAMI GC meet the increasing demand for its programs and services. “NAMI Greater Cleveland’s Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers are grateful to Yardi’s employees...

The self storage industry is feeling the impact of the housing market slowdown on demand for storage units, states the latest Self Storage National Report from Yardi Matrix. The average annualized same-store asking rate per square foot for combined unit sizes and types averaged $16.57 nationally in November, a 4.2 percent drop on a year-over-year basis. Street rates also remained negative on an annual basis in November in nearly all top metros. Combined same-store rates for non-climate-controlled units decreased in all but one of the top markets tracked by Yardi Matrix on a year-over-year basis. Meanwhile, the asking rates for same-store climate-controlled units fell in all major metros. “Rising housing costs and incomes that have not kept pace has resulted in one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the past thirty years, stifling home sales. As a key storage demand driver, a slowdown in the housing market is dampening occupancy and weighing down street rates,” say Matrix analysts. At a national level, Yardi Matrix tracks a total of 5,028 self storage properties in various stages of development, including 883 under construction, 1,940 planned, 631 prospective, 1,489 abandoned and 85 deferred properties. Yardi Matrix also maintains operational profiles for 29,376 completed self storage facilities, bringing the total data set to 34,404. Gain more insight on the performance of the self storage sector. Yardi Matrix offers the industry’s most comprehensive market intelligence tool for investment professionals, equity investors, lenders and property managers who underwrite and manage investments in commercial real estate. Yardi Matrix covers multifamily, student housing, vacant land, industrial, office, retail and self storage property types. Email [email protected], call 480-663-1149 or visit yardimatrix.com to learn...

National multifamily asking rent decreased for the third consecutive month in November, according to the latest Yardi Matrix National Multifamily Report. The average U.S. asking rent fell $6 to $1,713 in November, with year-over-year growth at 0.4 percent, on par with September. Occupancy remained steady at 94.9 percent since August. Metros in the Northeast and Midwest remained in the lead for rent growth, while Sunbelt and West metros lagged. More so, seven of Yardi Matrix’s top 30 markets were down 3.0 percent or more year-over-year, with the most significant rent declines registered in Sunbelt metros where developers delivered new supply in volume.  “One could say the multifamily market is metaphorically hunkering down for the winter as property owners face the prospect of weak near-term rent growth due to inflation, the loosening job market and a surge in deliveries in some markets, while values and capital markets liquidity deteriorate as interest rates remain higher-for-longer,” states the report. Although rent growth was restrained in the middle of the last quarter of 2023, it posted a 23.5 percent increase since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The current slowdown resulted from stock expansion in some areas and stretched affordability in other areas. Planned deliveries over the next two years will likely create some balance. Rents contracted across asset classes, steeper in the Lifestyle segment (down 0.4 percent) than in the Renter-by-Necessity segment (down 0.2 percent). Overall, monthly rent growth was negative in 25 of Yardi Matrix’s top 30 metros. Single-family rents fell $8 in November to $2,115, for a 0.7 percent year-over-year increase, down 30 basis points from October. Rent growth was solely sustained by the RBN segment, up 3.2 percent year-over-year, while Lifestyle rents declined 0.1 percent during the interval. Gain more insight in the...

Let’s head to Georgia and introduce the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation (AVLF), founded in 1979 and created through joint efforts of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, the Atlanta Bar Association, the Atlanta Council of Younger Lawyers and the Gate City Bar Association. AVLF’s mission is to create safe and stable homes for families and fighting for equal justice. “We believe no one standing up for their rights should have to do it alone. That’s why we stand with, for, and in support of low-income Atlantans as they demand safe and stable housing and break free from domestic violence,” says Libby Rother, development director of AVLF. AVLF is the largest pro bono legal services provider in Atlanta and Fulton County, Georgia and serves those of domestic abuse, children in high-conflict disputes, and residents in disputes with property owners. “At AVLF, ‘here’ means many things. It means beside them in court, at our downtown legal clinics nearly every Saturday of the year, in our two offices inside the Fulton County Courthouse, our communities’ schools, and our clients’ homes,” explains Rother. Together, this foundation is working for a fairer and more equitable Atlanta, one family at a time. In 2022, 4,340 clients were served, and more than $725,000 in emergency assistance was distributed. At the heart of AVLF is its community, which aligns with Yardi’s motto of “taking care of the community.” AVLF is constantly looking for innovative ways to deepen its reach in the community. In 2016, AVLF established school offices with a Community Advocate and Attorney who would meet with parents to discuss housing issues. Now, AVLF has an office location on the Westside of Atlanta—a community with high rates of evictions and domestic violence. After establishing this office location, AVLF launched a Mobile Advocacy...

Today, we introduce the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, founded in 1980 in Raleigh, NC, with offices in Wilmington, Greenville, New Bern, Durham and Southern Pines. It works daily to provide food to people in need while building solutions to end hunger in the community. The Food Bank collects donated, government-allocated purchased food, sorts it into family-sized portions and distributes it to a network of approximately 700 partner agencies such as soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and meal programs for children and adults. All foods are healthy and nourish families, children, seniors, and individuals. Through partnerships, education and evidence-based programs, the Food Bank empowers communities to overcome hunger, creating an environment where all North Carolinians can thrive. “Our mission is to nourish people, build solutions to hunger, and empower communities to work with us to solve hunger,” said Andrea Maron, manager of the foundation partnerships for the Food Bank. The Food Bank’s core mission is to distribute nutritious and culturally meaningful food to underserved individuals. Intending to distribute and target children and seniors, the Food Bank serves over 100 million pounds of food—83 million meals, including 50 million pounds of fresh produce. Realizing that they cannot solve hunger without addressing its root causes, they will continue to expand the cause of hunger work, including investing in policy and advocacy work to strengthen policies that can end hunger. The Food Bank additionally wants to focus on culturally meaningful foods to provide more variety to extend to other communities.   Inflation is hitting the Food Bank and partner agencies hard. Food and freight costs strain the budgets. Funding from Yardi helps the Food Bank buy nourishing food and transport it to those who need it in central and eastern North Carolina. “We are...

Nobel Prizes, especially those awarded in the science categories, are often unfathomably exotic to the average consumer. But Nobel-level tech lies no farther away than the computer on your desk or the smartphone in your hands. As an MIT blog post noted in October, “Regardless of what display you’re using to read this, it is almost certainly powered by … technologies with roots in the Nobel Prize in Chemistry or Physics. (Even if you’re using a CRT display for whatever reason, the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for the invention of the cathode ray tube.)” The list of Nobel-winning tech that’s used in smartphones and other present-day devices dates at least to 1909, when Italian Guglielmo Marconi and German Karl Ferdinand Braun received the Physics prize for wireless telegraphy. The list of Physics and Chemistry winners since then encompasses the invention of integrated circuits, transistors, charged coupled device sensors in cameras and more. Blue light and lithium batteries In 2014, for example, three researchers from universities in Japan and the U.S. earned their Nobels for creating blue light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, which consist of electrons moving through several layers of semiconducting materials and directly converting electricity into light without the heat-waste of a traditional bulb. Building diodes that emit red and green light from their semiconductors had been achieved years earlier, but producing blue light, a necessary component of white light, was elusive. The three light colors combine to make the bright white produced by LED lightbulbs, which are more efficient and longer-lived than traditional bulbs with filaments. It’s also present in your smartphone’s flashlight and displays. “The first bright blue LED in the early 1990s marked one of … the most important breakthroughs in lighting technology,” says the MIT blog. The...

Yardi’s global offices make essential contributions to property management and investors worldwide. Meet Biswakam Mishra, a programming manager based in Dubai. Meet Biswakam Mishra Biswakam Mishra has been working at Yardi for 17 years. He worked in the Pune office for ten years, and for the last seven years, he’s been working in the Dubai office. Before starting his role with Yardi’s latest product, Voyager 8, Mishra was previously part of the technical service team for CSD and PSG. In addition to development tasks, Mishra assists the CSD and PSG teams in troubleshooting Elevate issues in the Middle East region. He also supports the CSD team in addressing performance or TA-related issues and organizing training programs for new hires. “I have a keen enthusiasm for learning and am always curious about my assigned tasks. I find great satisfaction in helping team members and fostering collaboration,” shared Mishra. After many years at Yardi, Mishra says Yardi has become like a family, “The culture is characterized by collaboration, innovation, friendliness, and fun, providing a healthy work-life balance.” Mishra advises new hires to bring fresh ideas, highlighting Yardi’s comprehensive training and easy onboarding processes, ensuring that team members feel comfortable and can contribute effectively. “Yardi’s strong motto sets a foundation for success, emphasizing employee well-being and teamwork,” said Mishra. Yardi is hiring globally! Interested prospective employees can explore opportunities on the Careers site. Taking Care of Our Community Mishra aligns with Yardi’s motto, inspiring him to join a nonprofit organization, Bandhu, in his native state in India. Bandhu works to support children in completing school education successfully. “We organize various activities for village kids, including outreach programs, career counseling, and yoga. I contribute to the group both technically and financially,” Mishra explained. Early Bird Gets the Worm Mishra...

Unconventional resident events can add a fresh and exciting dimension to a property management company’s community-building effort. The benefits of stepping outside the traditional event model will help to retain residents and attract new ones. Unique gatherings can strengthen the sense of community among residents. Here are some types of think-outside-the-box events to explore over the holiday season. Spice up the community with Escape Room Challenges or Mystery Dinners. Transform common areas or vacant units into escape rooms where residents work together to solve puzzles and mysteries. Include a mystery dinner to solve the crime during the meal, then have residents go out and explore around the building. Add a scavenger hunt and have prizes at the end for the winners. Plants and Pets. Plants are so good for the environment and cleanse the air around them. Arrange a gardening event where residents exchange plants, seeds or gardening tips. Microgardening is popular in smaller apartments, so maybe provide a small basil plant to start residents out with. Don’t forget about the four-legged residents. Look for a local pet mobile photographer for the holidays so residents can get their holiday cards made. Culinary Adventures. Delve into the world of cooking classes as a resident event. Cooking classes can enhance residents’ culinary skills, foster connections and offer a fun and educational experience. Find a local chef or culinary expert to lead the classes and provide some sample recipes or themes for these classes. For example, set up some spaces in the common area to learn how to make fresh homemade pasta, which can be a romantic date night for those during Valentine’s Day. Another example would be to decorate holiday cookies together. Provide the cookies already baked, then have various colors of icing in pipping bags...

Consumers are agog over the Samsung Galaxy, Motorola Razr, Apple iPhone, Google Pixel and other advanced smartphone models. These devices can make calls, send texts, take photos, respond to verbal instructions, provide a games platform, access digital assistants, navigate routes, generate budgets – the list of capabilities gets longer just about every day. Starting in 1908, when a U.S. patent for a wireless telephone was granted, mobile phone capability evolved into two-way radios and networks with very powerful base stations that covered wide areas; signals weren’t passed among cells. Motorola prototype A major milestone came in 1973, when Motorola mass-produced the first handheld mobile phone. This was 0G of the 5G technology progression. Motorola engineer Martin Cooper initiated the first handheld cellular phone call in New York City on April 3 of that year using a 2-1/2 pound prototype nearly the size of a shoebox. “I’m calling you on a personal, handheld, portable cell phone,” Cooper told the call’s recipient, an executive at Motorola competitor Bell Labs. Motorola launched commercial cell phone service 10 years later with its 2-pound DynaTAC 8000x, which retailed for $3,500—$4,000. In the 1990s the modern cell phone took shape with much smaller and more user-friendly products. “Roughly every ten years since 1979, each newer generation has changed how we communicate, further improving our way of life,” says CENGN, a coalition of Canadian technology interests. As of 2021, 97% of Americans owned some type of cell phone, Pew Research Center reported. Smartphones take off Between 2004-06, “smartphone” entered the vernacular. That’s when, according to British IT services provider Air IT, “phones began to seriously bridge the gap between something you used to make calls and send text messages, to something altogether more useful.” The 50-year progression of cellular technology generations,...

The fall semester may just be coming to a close, but preleasing for the 2024-2025 school year is already underway and off to a strong start, states the latest Yardi Matrix student housing report. Advance leasing for next school year started off extremely strong, reaching 25.2 percent for the Yardi 200 in October, well ahead of the previous record 10.4 percent preleased in October 2022. Preleasing this year is indicative of solid renewal activity early on and high demand for housing at many major universities, with 14 schools already more than 40 percent preleased. As for this year, final occupancy for the Yardi 200 markets for the fall 2023 semester settled at 94.6 percent in September 2023, compared to 96.2 percent in September 2022. Lower occupancy this year can be partly attributed to new properties that delivered late or struggled with preleasing. Properties that were completed in 2023 only reached 81.7 percent occupancy for the fall 2023 semester. Last month, average asking rent per bed was $854 among the Yardi 200 markets for the 2024- 2025 school year, slightly higher than where it ended the 2023 preleasing season in September 2023 and 6.6 percent higher than October 2022. “Some of the schools with the fastest preleasing are already seeing rents up 15-25 percent year-over-year, as operators take advantage of the surge in demand,” states the report. Read more findings from the latest student housing report. Yardi Matrix offers the industry’s most comprehensive market intelligence tool for investment professionals, equity investors, lenders and property managers who underwrite and manage investments in commercial real estate. Yardi Matrix covers multifamily, student housing, vacant land, industrial, office, retail and self storage property types. Email [email protected], call 480-663-1149 or visit yardimatrix.com to learn...