When disaster strikes anywhere in the world, Direct Relief International leaps into action. The non-profit organization supports relief aid around the world with food, first aid, medical care, and other much-needed supplies. They depend on corporate partnerships for much of their donations, and Yardi Systems has been a consistent supporter of their efforts over the last 12 years. Currently, Direct Relief continues to support victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and also provides ongoing care for medical patients in Peru and India. They also have numerous projects around the United States for those without access to basic medical care. The non-profit aided the disaster relief effort after the Japan earthquake in 2011 and essentially respond to any global  or domestic crisis in which people are hurt or displaced. Major outlays of support also took place for the Asian Tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Yardi’s support helped fund those responses. Direct Relief also ships medicine to those in the greatest need of medical attention in 72 countries and in all 50 United States. In Santa Barbara, Calif., where Yardi’s corporate headquarters and that of Direct Relief are both located, the Healthy Smiles program provides materials to improve the dental health of children and their families. You can read more about Direct Relief and their many projects on their website. Yardi has also supported Direct Relief in its work shipping medicine to those in the greatest need of medical attention in 72 countries and in all 50 United States.  Locally, Yardi has helped support Direct Relief’s Healthy Smiles program, which provides materials to improve the dental health of children and their families in the Santa Barbara area. “Every dollar donated to Direct Relief means at least $25 of medicine for someone in...

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...

ECI Group owns and manages 9300 units of multifamily housing, with 37 communities in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, and Alabama and more on the way. David Hirsch, Chairman, tells us that ECI has new developments in the works as the multifamily market continues its strong performance. Occupancy rates at the company properties are in the 90s and the regional apartment market is strong, Hirsch said. Based in Marietta, Ga., the company is privately owned and has been recognized as one of the leading developers and providers of housing in the Southeastern United States. The newest ECI Group apartment projects are located in Apex, North Carolina, and Charlottesville, Virginia. The Apex project will consist of around 300 conventional garden apartments, and Charlottesville is a “Texas donut” midrise complex also around 300 units. Keeping up with amenities to meet tenant desires and demands is one of ECI’s many priorities. Some ECI properties feature fireplaces, 9 foot ceilings, washer and dryer connections, large patios and balconies, screened-in porches, large walk-in closets, designer kitchens, high speed internet access, and water views. Among the companies top properties are the Columns Apartments, such as the Columns at Bear Creek (New Port Richey, Fl.), Columns at Cabana West (Panama City Beach, Fl.), and Columns at Pilgrim Mill (Cumming, Ga.). ECI has made near-comprehensive use of Yardi’s product suite to streamline their business practices and aid their employees in establishing an uber-efficient workflow.  Using Voyager, Portal, PAYScan, Procure to Pay, Site Stuff, CHECKscan, and Yardi Energy Solutions, ECI Group’s onsite staff have been able to work faster and smarter by eliminating tasks that used to eat up significant amounts of time in their day, such as making individual orders for site supplies (Site Stuff makes all procurement a snap) and even trips...

Janet Spargur, a quality assurance lead for Yardi System’s Commercial division, has two children of her own, but she’s helped bring many more into this world. Her personal passion for assisting with childbirth as a doula – someone who provides emotional support and encouragement while a new mother is in labor – has led her to become active as a fundraiser and volunteer for birth-related causes. With a professional background as an accountant, Janet made a move to join the Yardi team more than 14 years ago after working as a controller for a property management company. She quickly found that she had a true interest in the company’s products, and enjoyed being part of a team that helped make them run smoothly. “The thing I like best is having being on the edge of what commercial development is doing and being knowledgeable about that. It feels good to have the latest and greatest information,” said the longtime Santa Barbara resident. Though her busy Yardi schedule doesn’t always allow her to pursue support requests from expectant moms, Janet worked to found the Central Coast Doula Association, a resource non-profit for parents that helps connect them with experienced doulas. She was the only area doula asked to join the board of the Santa Barbara Birth Center, an alternative to a hospital environment for childbirth that opened in Fall 2011. The center “targets people who want to have something in between home births and the hospital,” she explained. As a resource for first-time Yardi moms, Janet said she is always happy to answer questions about pregnancy, childbirth, and the variety of options available to parents. “She spent a lot of time with my wife in the months leading up to the delivery and was a great...

With a long history in property management that started in his hometown of New York City, Alex Ruiz of Picerne Real Estate Group is on top of the latest developments in tax credit, project-based Section 8, and public housing agency regulations. Alex was one of the many terrific clients to join us for training at YASC DC this week. He coordinates the use of Yardi products for 128 properties in Picerne’s affordable management division, trains on-site property management staff on how to use Yardi’s systems, and picks up compliance paperwork duty as needed. “It’s an IT job but it’s not really an IT job,” Alex told us. “I get to do a little bit of everything. I visit the properties, interact with the staff, listen to their recommendations, and find out what they want Yardi to do for them. I’m an accountant one day and an IT person the next.” He’s made great use of his former experiences as a property manager, both in New York City and Orlando, in order to better serve his coworkers’ IT needs and implement software and report-writing customizations that allow them to do their jobs more efficiently. “When someone comes with a request or wants to see something in Yardi, I can think the process through from the end user’s perspective,” he said. “And when I do Yardi training, I understand what they go through.  When people come into IT straight out of school, they just know the database side, and not the day to day operations for property management or accounting or finance.” One of his major goals is moving the Picerne properties he works with toward a paperless office, which can be tough when compliance requires so much paper work. Procure to Pay is the next...

Is the era of magnetic storage is coming to an end? Those of a certain age will remember a time when cassette tapes were used to store data – please do not raise your hands, we see the gray hair and we know who you are. Those of a slightly less certain age will remember 5.25-inch floppies. 3.5-inch floppies live on in noble spirit as the “save” icon for a host of applications. Hard drives have ruled the consumer memory roost for over a decade… but it will soon be time to bid them a fond farewell also. Thanks to falling prices, rising capacity, and numerous other advantages, the solid-state drive (SSD) is here to stay. Solid-state drives are not new, but price has previously kept them beyond the reach of consumer electronics technology. The format originated in the ’50s and matured through use in the supercomputers of the ’70s and ’80s. SSDs use integrated circuit assemblies to store data. There are no moving parts, and they retain their data even without electrical power. Memory capacity is steadily increasing, which has made possible the format’s debut into the consumer market. Today, affordability is driving the switch for mainstream users. By the end of the year prices for SSDs in the most popular PCs could fall to around $1 per gigabyte, a level which is seen as the tipping point that pushes consumers through the door en masse – at that price, they are no longer faced with the unpalatable choice of supplementing their $800 computer with a SSD that costs almost half as much. With the price barrier removed, the advantages of SSD memory over rival formats are almost irresistible: faster transfer rates instant boot lesser power requirement much improved resistance to shock &...

We’re back for another great day of learning and insight at YASC DC 2012. Everyone seems very excited for another full day of training and opportunities to meet with Yardi experts and fellow real property professionals. Miss any of our Day One highlights? Check out the full Tuesday recap. Hopefully you’ve had a chance to break away from the busy conference schedule to check out some of the beautiful Washington D.C. neighborhoods right outside the Hilton. I took a quick run around Dupont Circle and over to Georgetown early this morning, and happened upon the Old Stone House, which was built in 1766 and is the only surviving pre-Revolutionary War building in the capital. The house, which was built by Christopher Layman, sits on one of the first 80 lots that were surveyed in the Port of Georgetown in 1751. 260 years later, it’s down the block from an American Apparel. This simple two story home, with a beautiful garden in the back, is a great example of how real estate is one of those universal points of interest, no matter what industry vertical you represent or where you may travel. What’s the most interesting building you’ve seen in D.C. so far? The blocks around Dupont Circle are comprised of beautiful older homes with stately architecture. They’re interspersed with embassies representing countries from around the world. *** 8:30 a.m. – Heading into our first round of sessions this morning, there’s a very diverse selection of offerings to choose from, many focusing on solving particular technical challenges relevant to your vertical. In the “Evaluating Your Business Processes,” Yardi Atlanta GM Don Rogers is leading an open flow discussion that aims to brainstorm solutions to participants’ unique business problems. So far the conversation has centered around...

After a busy day of training and networking for the nearly 1000 attendees at YASC DC 2012, it was time to relax and socialize a bit at the Washington Hilton on Tuesday night. Attendees enjoyed a buffet of delicious food, cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks, and the company of their fellow YASC attendees. Many chatted and networked before heading out for a great meal at one of the many gourmet restaurants near Dupont Circle. We had the pleasure of meeting many of our great clients and coworkers. All photos by Alina Patel, Yardi Systems photographer. Kerry James and Elizabeth Giles Paul Sherman Richard Goff, Jim Walsh and Samuel Lopez Diane MacAdam, Linda Bradley, Margaret Furman, Steve Huikko, Jennifer Shannon Todd Barthel, Sonia Hamilton and Matt Martin Angel Savers, Carole Casale and Marjorie Spaulding Elizabeth Perez and Adam Cashmore Jeff Hull, Sean Shoemaker and Jerry Long...

Welcome to YASC DC 2012. We’re here at the Washington Hilton in our nation’s capital, where warm spring rain showers and lightning greeted YASC attendees as they arrived from all over the country to attend this exciting conference. 10 a.m. – This morning’s general session in the International Ballroom got today’s classes off to a fantastic start with insight into the latest developments at Yardi, and several dynamic demos. Anant Yardi, Yardi founder and president, reflected on the last 30 years of Yardi history. When he started the company, Yardi said, he thought it might take a year or so to write the perfect property management software. Eliciting a chuckle from the crowd, he noted that three decades later that goal is still the same. Today, Yardi is a global company, with 25 offices around the world, 2,500 employees and over 10,000 clients using one or more Yardi products. In 2012, Yardi has acquired three new companies: ALMSA, which focuses on the senior housing market; Lead Tracking Solutions, client relationship management experts; and ista Utility Billing, which focuses on utility billing and utility expense management. Noting that trends in technology sales that have gravitated towards tablets and mobile devices, and away from desktop computers, Yardi explained that the focus of Yardi Systems and its employees is increasingly focused on this technology. Social media’s phenomenal growth has also changed the landscape of online user habits. Yardi confessed that he’s not an avid Facebooker – but he does keep up with what’s trending on social media, even checking on the latest Lady Gaga video to stay “in the know.” How does what’s trending on Twitter, Facebook, Google + or LinkedIn relate to property management? “The message in all of this is that we all need a...

Isabella Mitchell’s  outlook on life is simple: One hundred years from now it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, or how much was in my bank account, but the world may be a little better because I was important to a child. But it’s not just children that Isabella, a mother of two, wants to make a difference with.  She has a passion for creating an experience. As an implementation team lead for residential and condo clients of Yardi based in Glen Head, N.Y., Isabella takes great pride in connecting with clients. “If you can form a relationship with the client it just makes the whole journey better. From the kickoff call till the upgrade to the live team phone call, it should be a Yardi experience:  a professional, friendly, personal experience,” she said. Creating the Yardi experience is second nature to Isabella because Yardi combines all of her favorite things: people, real estate, and computers.  She was first attracted to technology in primary school and later attended St. John’s University, where she earned a degree in computer science.  After college, she spent several years at Dale Carnegie Training (her parents happened to work there as well) in the IT dept.  The experience helped foster Isabella’s love of people and she was able to take some of the management training courses they provided, developing skills that she still uses daily. Born into an Italian family, Isabella’s kids are first generation Americans. Culture and extended family are two vital parts of daily life. On holidays, those priorities move to the forefront.  Christmas Day at the Mitchell house is an event, the same way her mom has always done it. Twenty-two guests enjoy a seven course...

Twice a year, Yardi Systems offers multi-day intensive training courses for its clients who use Yardi products to do business every day. Known as the Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference – YASC – the gatherings take place in Santa Barbara, Calif. in the fall and Washington, D.C. in the spring. Tomorrow YASC D.C. 2012 kicks off at the Washington Hilton with a welcoming address from Yardi founder and president Anant Yardi. Nearly 1000 attendees – an attendance record – will then  head  into two days of intensive classes that will focus on specific aspects of using Yardi software. The goal is to help our valued clients do their jobs smarter and more efficiently. YASC attendees include day-to-day users of Yardi products,  corporate management, property owners and institutional investors. Course selections are based on requests from clients and feedback from past events. According to Bryant Shoemaker, who has been going to YASCs for over 10 years: “People come to YASC to learn how other people use the software, how to use it more efficiently, and to get tips from Yardi staff.  Maybe they have some parts of the software they would like to run smoother so they can get ideas on how to do that. Maybe they’re implementing a new version or module and want to hit the ground running,  The conference provides an opportunity to focus on increasing productivity without the distractions of everyday  office duties.  Networking with other industry professionals and sharing best practices and tips is another highlight of the event.” Shoemaker serves as  Vice President of Government Projects for Yardi. Attendees enjoy hosted lunches and dinners each day, where they can chat with industry peers. YASC also offers an opportunity for Yardi staff to gain great feedback and added insight from those...

John G. Picerne’s desire to give something back to the military families, many of whom who live in Picerne Military Housing properties, was the impetus behind Our Family for Families First, a non-profit that funds educational scholarships for the children and spouses of U.S. Service Members. The organization was recently feted at the White House after being honored as a winner of the People’s Choice award in the Joining Forces Community Challenge, an effort to celebrate organizations that benefit America’s military families Maria Montalvo, executive director of Our Family for Families First, told us that receiving the award was overwhelming. “It was just fantastic not only to be recognized to but see all these other great organizations that are doing such good work, which I think is one of the best things about the Joining Forces program. It’s identifying a lot of resources that are out there for military families,” Montalvo said. When John Picerne created the Our Family for Families First initiative in 2006, he wanted to do something to impact military families on a very practical level. “It is important to me that we serve the families of our active-duty Service Members, and continue to be active and dedicated members of the communities we live and work in. My daughters, Alexandra and Caroline, and I, are honored to play a small role in helping military family members attain their educational goals,” Picerne wrote on the organization’s website. Montalvo explained that the hope is to support the award recipients both financially and emotionally. The foundation stays in touch with those who receive scholarships both to monitor their academic progress but also to offer support and encouragement. The first class of graduating seniors to receive the awards finished their studies last year and are...

We hope that you’ll check out our coverage, starting Monday, of the Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference in Washington, D.C. This biannual event is an opportunity for Yardi Systems clients to become trained in our latest product updates and offerings, network with other industry professionals and experience spring in the nation’s capital. One of Yardi’s priorities is to help our clients work smarter and more efficiently. It’s always exciting to experience the great energy of YASC and answer as many questions as we can during the event. Our blog conference coverage will include updates from the conference’s General Session on Tuesday morning, where Anant Yardi will speak to the nearly 1000 conference attendees; highlights from select breakout sessions and courses; new product release news; comments and feedback from attendees, and photographs. You can also follow the conference on Twitter using @YASCDC and if you’re attending, post your own questions, comments and observations with #YASCDC. Find the full schedule of courses and other YASC information here. And if you can’t make it to D.C., the October 2012 Santa Barbara YASC is scheduled for Oct....

Yardi Systems announced today that it has acquired ista North America’s Multifamily Services Group (MSG), a company that provides utility metering, billing, and management for multifamily, military and manufactured properties. With the acquisition of ista MSG, Yardi will become one of the largest providers of energy management services in the U.S., serving more than 700,000 apartment units. “Yardi is excited about adding nearly 200 employees from ista MSG’s three offices. They will work with 170 members of Yardi’s YES Energy Management team in Colorado Springs, Colo., to support the industry’s growing demand for energy management services,” said Gordon Morrell, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Yardi. “With these resources and Yardi’s technology roadmap, we are gearing up for significant growth.” MSG’s staff will retain their offices in Alpharetta, Ga., Jacksonville, Fla., and San Diego, Calif. Read the full press release on...

Has it really already been two years since Microsoft debuted their innovative Surface tabletop computer? That’s a trick question – it’s actually been five years, a veritable eternity in the lifetime of any consumer computing product. Surface was supposed to be the first shot of a revolution in business and game computing, the vanguard of a bold new enterprise technology. How did that work out? Microsoft introduced Surface in May 2007 and the first units shipped a year later. Opportunities to view this curious creature in the wild have been vanishingly rare. Harrah’s picked one up for the bar at their Rio Casino in Las Vegas; Disneyland added one to their Tomorrowland exhibit; Sheraton put units in the lobby of five of their hotels worldwide; MSNBC used a Surface on-air during their 2008 election coverage. But they haven’t reached the mainstream business market anticipated by Bill Gates when he forecast a five year time frame for product roll out. After Surface, there were several attempts by various manufacturers to turn tabletop computing into a viable technology, including the Linux MPX, Ideum MT-50, spinTOUCH iBar, and the most recent iTable from PQ Labs. None has been able to meet even the minimal success achieved by the Surface. You’re more likely to see Bigfoot on a Segway or Nessie talking on an iPhone than a human using a tabletop computer… where did they go? Tablets bear most of blame for taking the thunder out of the tabletop computing storm. Tablets and tabletops feature quite a bit of overlap, including their basic design and the touch interface. However, tablets add the ultimate conveniences of portability and a scale that is comfortable – it’s just not easy to relate to a tabletop computer, or consider it as something...

Two publications that deliver news and insight about the multifamily and commercial sectors of the real estate industry, Multi-Housing News and Commercial Property Executive, are moving to an online-only content distribution model. “We determined that the resources associated with printing and delivering are better allocated to giving our readers the absolute best content in the business. Readers of both MHN and CPE have told us they want more information and faster than we can provide it in a printed, monthly magazine,” said Daniel Waldman, publisher of both magazines. The change is effective beginning with the magazines’ July 2012 issue. The move echoes the decisions of many print publications to optimize their online content for a readership that increasingly prefers to read news via laptop computer, mobile devices or tablets. Read the full press release on Yardi.com. You can also catch regular insight pieces from Diana Mosher, Editorial Director of Multi-Housing News, and Suzann Silverman, Editorial Director of Commercial Property Executive, weekly right here on The Balance...

Pam Morrison is a longtime employee and leader at RentGrow, a Yardi subsidiary in Waltham, Mass., who has great passion for her work as RentGrow’s manager of business analytics. She’s an expert on creating custom reports for clients and is excited about further integration of Yardi’s new business intelligence offerings, especially Yardi Orion for Sharepoint with RentGrow’s platform. Outside of the office, Pam has the same commitment to her hometown of Chelmsford, where she grew up and now serves as the Recording Clerk for the town’s Finance Committee. She’s also a dedicated volunteer for the Chelmsford Women of Today, which supports education, service and fundraising projects on behalf of all kinds of causes and local organizations. The Chelmsford Women are a division of United States Women of Today, which advocates leadership, personal growth and community service for by its members. Pam has recently helped make quilts for pediatric patients, urged grocery shoppers to purchase a donation for the local food bank, picked out Easter baskets for children affected by domestic violence, and bowled in a fundraiser for a battered women’s shelter. (She was a collegiate bowler at the University of Massachusetts, where she studied technical communications.) The Chelmsford Women also supply the local fire and police departments with stuffed animals that they can give to children who might be affected by one of their service calls. And they purchase and deliver Mother’s Day gifts to the women living in a local battered women’s shelter. “It’s been a big part of my life for many years. I’m extremely involved with the community through that, and I’ve made a lot of friends that I otherwise would never have met,” Pam told us. A rural community of 30,000 where preserving open space is important to residents, Chelmsford...