The senior housing industry is taking steps to transitioning from the COVID-19 era with policies that emphasize safety and resident service. Nicole Moberg, COO of Atlanta-based Thrive Senior Living, offers insight into successfully marketing senior communities during and after the pandemic. Below are excerpts from her recent interview with Multi-Housing News. How has the outbreak impacted Thrive Senior Living communities? Moberg: From early on, we were one of the first senior living communities to prioritize testing—backing our belief that every resident and team member should be tested as often as possible for the safety of the residents as well as our community. We also developed the “Take Off to Thrive” marketing concept, with a 30-day new resident communication checklist. This served to minimize resident isolation and loneliness and even included an adapted red carpet “landing day/move-in” experience. We view our communities as the safest place to be [with our] proper training and education, personal protective equipment, disinfection procedures and aggressive COVID-19 testing programs. How have your marketing strategies changed? Moberg: We pivoted by creating COVID-19 sales strategies including altering our messaging to focus more on care and safety and how we can help people during challenging times. Digitally, we worked to bring on a chief storyteller who showed a behind-the-scenes look at Thrive culture, created a YouTube channel to share online content to increase awareness when families could not visit and increased online presence as we allocated more toward digital spend to drive more traffic to our website. We saw increased sales throughout the pandemic with safely executed event activity. What role does technology play in your marketing? Moberg: We sourced a new video app that allows us to send videos to prospects as a follow-up; a platform to enhance virtual tours; a “thank you”...

The demolition of a decrepit public housing project in Annapolis, Md., is making way for new memories and a brighter future for families. The project is six years in the making and will boost the quality and quantity of affordable housing in the city. New growth in Annapolis Yardi client Pennrose recently broke ground on the Newtowne 20 project. The redevelopment site will be home to 78 much-anticipated affordable housing units. Families can choose between one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans. Most units will surround a central garden while others stack the perimeter. A 3,500-square-foot community center, basketball court and playground accentuate the property. “Through persistence and determination, we have reached a great milestone in the rebuilding of this great community,” said Melissa Maddox-Evans, Executive Director/CEO of the Housing Authority of The City of Annapolis during the virtual groundbreaking ceremony. “We thank all of our partners for their hard work and support as we move forward with the construction phase. We are glad our residents will be able to have this opportunity for a new start for themselves and their families.” Patrick Stewart, Regional Vice President at Pennrose said, “We’re excited to continue our partnership with HACA as we transform outdated public housing into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood with high-quality affordable housing, community amenities and open green space.” He continued, “Today’s milestone brings us one step closer to completing this full-scale revitalization and welcoming residents back into their new, modern homes.” Neighborhood revitalization offers new opportunities to existing residents The site of Newtowne 20 is the former home of 810 Brooke Court, a public housing project constructed in 1971. After more than 50 years, the site is receiving a new lease on life with high-quality, energy efficient units. Existing residents of the neighborhood will benefit from...

At Yardi, we are constantly exploring ways to help you and your team operate more efficiently. With additional conveniences and functionalities, our payment processing solutions have become even more robust. ACH Account Validation reduces fraud Skip the high cost of fraud. With the new ACH Account Validation feature, you can reduce fraudulent payments. It’s also a convenient way to decrease data entry errors that result in returns. Before initiating a payment, ACH Account Validation authenticates a resident’s bank account using a micro deposit. The resident must verify the deposit details before completing a payment. Residents initiate the process, eliminating the chance of staff keying errors. ACH Account Validation is in compliance with the WEB Debit Account Validation Rule which takes effect March 19, 2021. PayNearMe makes walk-in payments even easier Yardi has partnered with PayNearMe to take our walk-in payment system (WIPS) to the next level of convenience. The PayNearMe partnership allows residents make payments at more than 27,000 retail locations across the nation. These locations are as convenient as the local CVS or 7-Eleven. To improve ease and accuracy, residents can download a unique barcode to their phone which then allows them to easily connect to the RentCafe Resident app. Make payments and earn credit You know the satisfaction that comes with earning points on your credit card? Our new Bill Pay payment method is even better. When you pay vendors with a Yardi virtual credit card, you earn an annual credit. You can also dodge the per-transaction fees you used to pay with check and ACH transactions. The new Yardi virtual credit card makes vendor payments completely automated, seamless and contactless. Fee-free upgrades on Payment Processing Want the latest features in the Payment Processing platform? Upgrade now at no cost! Get the newest...

Did document management get lost in the shuffle as you shifted to a paperless office or remote work environment? Your team may now struggle to track down files and keep versions organized as they send copies back and forth. Fortunately, it’s never too late to achieve the level of organization, accessibility and security that you need. Paperless made easy Paperless documentation is an industry standard. Yet without the right technology, managing electronic documents can be even more challenging than paper files. Users face a series of challenges related to organization, access, storage, searchability, security and integration. Yardi Document Management for SharePoint integrates with Voyager property management software and Microsoft 365 to eliminate paperless documentation challenges. Centralized storage Centralized document storage can take place on local servers and in the Cloud. The latter permits secure access to documents for staff in office, in remote work environments and on the go. Work together from anywhere Improve collaboration without redundancy or version control issues. When combined with the power of SharePoint, interconnected document management software empowers users to collaborate. With Cloud syncing, each team member stays up-to-date with the latest developments. Document management also integrates with Microsoft 365 and other Yardi applications to improve accessibility to and security of your documents. Secure and accessible Managing permissions and end-user access can be a pain point for organizations. Skip the hassle of creating new profiles and credentials within your document management system with Voyager integration. SharePoint permissions will reflect your security settings in Voyager. As a result, users can access files quickly and securely with no VPN required. Intuitive organization Folder structures and hierarchy make organization simple. You can track version history of documents as well as individual contributions from users over time. Such tracking makes it easy to...

With multiple communities each submitting up to 200 invoices every month, Linda Adams was shuffling a lot of paper. The accounting manager for Burlington, Mass.-based senior living provider Northbridge Companies spent much of her time digging up receipts or tracking down paper records across numerous decentralized offices. “When I had questions, I had to call another office for answers. They’d have to find the invoice, scan it and send it to me for review. It was very time consuming for all concerned, she recalls.” But now, solving a discrepancy at any property is easy thanks to Yardi PayScan, which is part of the Yardi Procure to Pay Suite, a single connected solution for supply procurement, invoice processing and vendor management. Yardi PayScan allows the accounting department to access invoices and check whether payments have cleared without having to pick up the phone to call another office. In other words, team members could self-serve, reducing internal dependencies and churn. But time savings wasn’t the only benefit. Yardi PayScan eliminates copying, mailing, and storing paper—and minimizes touch points that can lead to lost invoices and data entry errors. “There’s no need for us to use up valuable office space with paper invoices anymore when everything we need is available electronically. Once the tax returns are done, we can throw the documents out,” Adams says. “I can go back and look at invoices from 2012, and they’re right there. Plus, it really cuts down on all that lugging paper back and forth when I work from home.” Adams and the rest of the Northbridge Companies team also appreciate the versatility of Yardi PayScan. “You can make the approval process as intricate or as easy as you want, which I love,” says Adams, noting that custom workflows, flexible...

Yardi offers robust, configurable software to meet the needs of nearly 20 verticals. From students to seniors and parks to ports, property management runs on Yardi! But what do you do when you want to get more out of your user experience? There are many opportunities to attend Yardi trainings. Explore the list below for ways to learn Yardi from experts and users in your industry: Yardi Training on Aspire Yardi Aspire is the go-to learning tool for employees who want to become Yardi product experts. Users gain access to hundreds of in-depth courses taught by product specialists. Through learning checks and tests, you can assess your product knowledge. You can then review materials on demand and get help from the experts. With greater product knowledge, you will be equipped with the tools needed to optimize product usage, promote time and cost savings, and expedite ROI for your organization. YASC Global Digital Conference Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference (YASC) is one of the company’s largest real estate software events. It offers everything from product introductions to deep dives sessions on the latest innovations in real estate software. YASC Global, our digital event, brings the power of the conference to your fingertips. Log-on to learn more about the latest software and services, ask questions in our product lounges and connect with other Yardi users. In 2020, more than 20,000 industry professionals attended YASC Global, representing 2,500 companies in 58 countries. Attendees viewed over 12,000 hours of informative and engaging content. As our first virtual conference, we are thrilled that 98% of survey respondents said the sessions met their expectations! YASC Global digital conference offers CPE credits and is free for all Yardi clients. Current clients can access 2020 content through the end of April 2021 via...

Project Destined is an organization focused on providing education and access to the commercial real estate industry for minority students. Programs are targeted towards high school and college students, with the goal of introducing real estate ownership to people who may not have previously studied or worked in the commercial real estate industry. Yardi Matrix has provided 10 complimentary education licenses to Project Destined for use in their curriculum and internship programs. Students will have full access to Yardi Matrix’ industry-leading data and analysis to use when researching, underwriting and presenting potential deals to their teachers, industry mentors and competition judges. Chris Nebenzahl, editorial director for Yardi Matrix, has been actively involved with Project Destined. “I have been volunteering to teach the market research segment of the curriculum and offer guidance for how students can use Yardi Matrix with the projects they are working on,” said Nebenzahl. “I focus on our data at the property, submarket and market level. The students are tasked with creating an investor presentation and pitching their deal to a panel of industry judges. Through the process, they need to provide valuation models, market research, forecasts, and cash flow models, all of which can be developed and leveraged by using Yardi Matrix data.” Nebenzahl began working with Project Destined in early 2020 and has lectured virtually at each session held by the organization since then. Project Destined was started by entrepreneur Cedric Bobo to expand opportunities for minority students within the commercial real estate field and to encourage his students to become owners and community stakeholders in the cities where they live. Project Destined started 5 years ago and has grown significantly to include students in many major markets around the country. Bobo, who grew up in Memphis, was fascinated...

Do you remember when learning was fun? So fun that you didn’t realize you were learning because it just felt like playtime? I grew up playing “mad scientist” with my older brother, replicating his school experiments in our kitchen. My neighborhood friends and I played Jurassic Park as we trekked through the woods exploring plants, insects, and animal tracks. Those days of childhood play are at risk for many of today’s kids. kidSTREAM is a non-profit dedicated to preserving the art of effortless learning through play. Yardi Oxnard team member Wendy Aceveda-Solis serves as a board member with kidSTREAM. I spoke with her to learn more about this innovative organization. kidSTREAM: education through play kidSTREAM is founded on the basic principle that learning should be fun and engaging. The organization provides an interactive environment where kids explore, play and discover. Each experience aims to inspire and empower kids to become critical thinkers, innovators and life-long learners. Acevedo-Solis began working with kidSTREAM two years ago. In addition to being a board member, she assists with the fundraising and programs committees. She’s passionate about museums and is excited to share interactive learning with children. “I’ve been fascinated by museums since I was a child,” she shares. “I have shared this passion with my children, and it is incredible to see the curiosity and desire to explore through their eyes! Most children’s museums are outside of Ventura County, so when I heard about kidSTREAM, I wanted to help bring something to our community.” Since becoming a nonprofit in 2016, kidSTREAM has helped to educate more than 30,000 children and families around Ventura County. The non-profit focuses on experiences in science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math. A team of dedicated staff and volunteers host lessons where kids hang out the most: classrooms, parks, libraries and their (increasingly) their...

Yardi client Bozzuto recently announced its expansion into the west coast! With the right people and technology in place, Bozzuto positions itself for growth and success in the new frontier. Bozzuto: spring heralds growth for the property management company In 33 years, Bozzuto has grown into one of the largest property management companies in the United States. The company currently has a presence in 11 markets along the East Coast as well as a properties in Chicago and Milwaukee. In total, Bozzuto manages 85,000 apartments and 2.5 million square feet of retail space. Moving forward, the Greenbelt, Md.-based property management company is setting its sights on the Pacific Coast. Bozzuto’s first West Coast projects will take place in Washington and California. Read how the Bozzuto Group increased online prospect engagement with RentCafe. Expansion requires the right people and the right tools. The property management leader recently hired Heather Wallace as the managing director of Client Services. Wallace brings 20 years of experience in operations, acquisitions and development for real estate firms. She previously served as a senior executive with Sares Regis Group. Bozzuto Management Company president Stephanie L. Williams says, “The addition of Heather Wallace ensures that Bozzuto will continue to grow through thoughtful and strategic relationships.” Williams continues, “We hold ourselves to the highest standard of delivering the exact same extraordinary experience our customers have come to expect, across our portfolio.” For tools, Bozzuto relies on scalable property management technology by Yardi. Bozzuto + Yardi, growing together As a foundation for its sustainable growth, Bozzuto sought technological solutions that facilitated efficiency, innovation and scalability. Bozzuto turned to Yardi for property management, accounting, procurement, business intelligence, asset management and marketing solutions. Through nearly 20 fully-integrated products and 17 years, Yardi and Bozzuto have grown...

Many senior living community operators are finding creative new ways to broaden their residents’ entertainment and activity options. In fact, Forbes reported in November 2020, entertainment has emerged as a marketing differentiator. “Many [seniors] are sharpening their focus on independent-living communities that not only provide creature comforts and an aesthetically pleasing brick-and-mortar living environment, but hospitality-inspired entertainment, trips and outings enabling highly-sought connections. Saying, in effect, ‘Let us entertain you,’ is good business for senior living communities.” That’s why “savvy senior communities are emphasizing the delivery of socially focused programming to bring mature adults together in fun, entertaining and educational ways once they’re safely able to drop the masks and rub shoulders again.” Even before the lockdown, “many retirement communities [were] stepping up to the challenge and redefining what fun looks like,” according to Denver-based Spectrum Retirement Communities. “If you were used to hosting get-togethers with friends and family, there’s no reason for that to change after moving to a senior living community,” said Brad Kraus, the company’s president and chief executive officer. “Those of us in charge of planning entertainment need to focus on designing activities that are elevated, purposeful and the entire family can experience.” Spectrum once sponsored a nationwide gingerbread house design competition with residents, team members and family members. One community in Texas came up with 3-foot-tall creation made of 600 sugar cookies, six buckets of frosting and 30 pounds of candy. Another in Colorado created  Pike’s Peak facsimile. Spectrum residents have also participated in volunteer activities involving pet shelters, waste reduction programs and homeless support, among others, “Why not make it possible for residents to continue giving back to the community with their family by their side?” Kraus says. “It’s our job to create that possibility. We want to...

Yardi Aspire gives senior living community operators the tools to train their staffs in everything from software skills and compliance to company policies and career development. The system’s convenient on-demand course content and documents help teams work more productively and efficiently. What training topics can be covered through Aspire? Everything from clinical skills, safety, new employee orientation and health records compliance to leadership, time management, software applications and more. As an added benefit, users seeking to customize training can build their own content and add pre-built videos. Equally important, users can create, maintain and administer courses without adding IT resources. The system also accommodates courses from other learning management systems while offering convenient esignature and employee survey capabilities as well as collection functionality for other types of surveys. “Aspire projects energy, forward focus and confidence. When employees feel those emotions at work, they are positioned to gain career skills and make a difference in their organizations. That’s exactly what Aspire brings to our clients through its broad scope of features,” says Terri Dowen, senior vice president of sales for Yardi. Learn more about how Aspire can pave the way for better community management for residents, operators and family...

Property marketing — once constrained to classified ads, flyers and yard signs — has largely gone digital over the last two decades. And while most multifamily property management companies market their properties and vacancies online in one way or another, many aren’t using digital marketing to its fullest potential yet. Done well, digital marketing is part of a comprehensive strategy that attracts renters no matter where they search. It creates a cohesive customer experience that helps turn more leads into leases. And it gives you the data you need to keep building on your success. Let’s take a closer look at digital marketing for property management, what it entails and how you can benefit, as well as how you can get help when you need it. What is digital marketing? Per the American Marketing Association: Digital marketing refers to any marketing methods conducted through electronic devices. The includes online marketing efforts conducted on the internet. In the process of conducting digital marketing, a business might leverage websites, search engines, social media, video, email and similar channels to reach customers. Digital marketing can also be referred to as online marketing and search marketing. What does digital marketing include? A holistic digital marketing strategy includes multiple channels that complement each other, creating a consistent brand and customer experience everywhere prospects encounter your business. Digital marketing practices evolve as the way we use the internet changes, but these are some of the most common methods: Search engine optimization (SEO): SEO is the process of improving ranking with major search engines to increase unpaid online traffic to owned websites. Search engine marketing (SEM): SEM is the use of paid online advertising to increase website visibility within search engines. It’s often used together with SEO to create a stronger...

As a company grows, it can be challenging to maintain a personal connection with the communities that it serves. When two international chains and a national housing provider behave like good neighbors, communities take note. CVS, Walgreens and EAH Housing have teamed up to provide in-house immunizations for seniors and other vulnerable groups. Rapid changes in senior living communities Seniors have faced unique challenges during the pandemic. To protect vulnerable residents, senior housing providers were required to cancel conventional family visits, group excursions and most daily outings. With ample creativity, staff members helped seniors thrive during quarantine. But undoubtedly, seniors missed time with their families and trips outside of the community. Additionally, seniors had to embrace technology in new ways. Seniors are a tech savvy bunch, and technology adaptation comes with health benefits. The new approach to health care, however, replaced many in-person office visits with telehealth options. Seniors again found themselves on unfamiliar terrain. The COVID-19 vaccine could save lives. It would also provide a safe way for seniors to resume a somewhat normal lifestyle. But with cases on the rise, venturing outside of their communities to access the vaccine posed risks of its own. Senior housing providers such as EAH Housing sought means to bring vaccinations to residents. CVS, Walgreens, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) answered the call. Walgreens and CVS answer the call to serve seniors Yardi client and affordable housing provider EAH Housing recently announced that residents are receiving Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccinations. The initiative is part of an immunization clinic provided by Walgreens and CVS. Residents and staff of Reflections at Barbara Ann in North Hollywood were among the first recipients of the vaccine in January. This month, the site completes the second dose of the program. Reflections...

Knowing what not to do is as important as understanding what should be done. That’s a key takeaway from a new Yardi ebook designed to help senior living communities market their offerings effectively. “8 Do’s & Don’ts for Senior Living Community Websites” offers tips for sprucing up digital curb appeal, maximizing the impact of a website’s most visited pages and more. The list of “dos” includes showing multiple views of a floor plan, helping prospects identify the unit that meets their needs and boosting traffic by sharing images on social media. The “don’ts” address rising above a bad user experience, avoiding inferior photography, not expecting photos to speak for themselves and resisting the impulse to mimic competitors. Looking for new ways to use your marketing website to make your senior living community both more visible and more appealing to prospective residents? Read the ebook for all the do’s and don’ts of getting those prospects to your page and into your...

Industrial real estate continues to see strong rent growth and high demand, driven by pandemic-prompted online shopping trends. Industrial rents averaged $6.44 per square foot in January, a 5.1% increase over the last 12 months, according to a new CommercialEdge Industrial National Report. Even as vaccinations ramp up and more people return to more normal-looking lives, demand for industrial is expected to stay strong. New leases signed in 2020 often included premium pricing, with the average rental rate for new leases signed in the last 12 months at $7.50 per square foot. The average vacancy rate was 6.0%. Continued demand for industrial space will sustain rent growth and drive vacancy rates lower. “We expect that demand will continue to increase even if e-commerce does not match its blistering 2020 growth rate. E-commerce has a continued role to play, and last year likely signaled a structural shift in consumer preferences more than temporary changes in behavior. Retail as we knew it has changed, and in its place warehousing and distribution have increased in importance,” say analysts. An improving global economy, ramped up trade volume and inventory replenishment for retailers will be additional drivers. Sector investment activity is healthy and growing as well. The fourth quarter of 2020 now has the highest sales volume of any quarter since Yardi Matrix began collecting industrial data, with $11.9 billion of sales completed. Properties fetched an average price per square foot of $100, an 18.2% increase year-over-year. Find more trend and data insights in the latest national industrial report from CommercialEdge. CommercialEdge provides extensive property data that includes transaction, ownership and debt information, offering nationwide coverage across all commercial real estate asset types. Use the platform to uncover vital market data and get insights with the latest lease and...