It’s possible you’re not using Snapchat yet for your apartment marketing. Or at all. And, I don’t blame you on that one. It’s hard enough monitoring your community Facebook page. And Twitter account. And maybe you even set up an Instagram account. What about Pinterest? Phew. That’s a lot of social media! Why incorporate another platform? Especially one that, when launched, sounded like it would just be used for teens to bully each other or something. I mean, disappearing pictures and videos? It totally sounds like the social media version of putting a flaming bag of poop on someone’s doorstep, ringing the bell and then running away. Attention grabbing, but ultimately an annoyance where the work doesn’t equal the reward. But, think again. Snapchat is huge right now. (Here’s a tutorial if you’re not familiar.) There are currently millions of users who use it daily. And most of its users are in the 34 years and younger group. Hey, a lot of renters are in that age group! Don’t you want their sweet, sweet eyeballs on your marketing efforts? Sure, maybe the app is just a flash in the pan. But remember, that’s what a lot of businesses said when Facebook started getting a lot of traction. And then, all of a sudden, everyone and their grandmother had an account, and people thought it was strange if they couldn’t find yours. The apartment industry is notoriously slow adopting to new technology. But why not get out ahead of the curve? And since Snapchat users skew a little younger than some of the other social media platforms, it might be a great place to focus marketing efforts for student housing communities. So, you’ve downloaded the app. What are some good ways to use it for...

In our last Open Café webinar, we introduced the 30 Day Social Media Marketing challenge. This challenge encourages RentCafe users to post consistently, engage with followers, and attract prospects. Now, you can participate as well! Though you can begin on any day, it may be a good idea to kick start your new social media campaign with other Yardi clients on February 1st. Commit to create at least one post each day. The 30 Day Social Media Marketing Challenge graphic below offers guidelines for getting started. These tips will help beginners create a well-rounded and effective social media marketing campaign. You will be able to: show who you are; present what you have to offer; showcase the awesome influences that inspire you; help you to interact with your target audience; and, of course, build a strong following on social media.     Want more insights into what your renters want to see and know? Visit the RentCafe...

Dealing with negative feedback and difficult questions can be a test of character. When a comment points out a genuine flaw in your product or service, it can trigger excuses or a defensive response. When the comment is unnecessarily rude, you may want to formulate an equally searing comeback. Dealing with negativity is never fun, but there are ways to turn negative feedback into opportunity. Pause. Think twice and then respond. Waiting until cooler heads prevail can help to mitigate a bad situation. When you respond in haste while you’re frustrated or upset, it will come across in whatever you write. It’s best to wait, cool off, and maybe take three to five minutes to explore a few responses before settling on one. The one that you select should cast you and your organization in the best light while addressing the heart of the problem. Identify and analyze the problem. Sometimes the heart of the problem gets lost in the renter’s foul language and snarky remarks. Take a moment to identify the source of the problem and respond appropriately. Act as if the rest of the rant didn’t exist. Never ignore negative feedback. While ignoring a bad attitude helps, ignoring the complaint altogether will only fuel the flames. You certainly don’t want to delete negative comments, primarily because the commenter will likely troll your account and repost repeatedly until you respond, anyway. Secondly, it will look as though you and your organization are trying to silence the voice of the people which is never a popular approach. Try to address each concern and complaint on your social media to show readers that you’re listening and ready to find solutions with your residents. Arguments are best resolved one-on-one. Rather than going back and forth in the comments...

The basics of native marketing for social media have helped you get started. It’s the nuances of daily content development that will firmly establish your roots and nourish respect among your fan base. We’ve got four content tips that can grow your social media from a seedling into a sprawling success! Blend In But Don’t Fade Fresh, frequent content is a great first step. Now focus on creating content that impacts viewers in milliseconds. When scrolling through their feed, does your content stand out? On one hand, it shouldn’t stand out. The style of your image should blend with the style of the images around it. A stock photo may work for LinkedIn but it’ll be shunned on Snapchat. An immaculate image for Pinterest may garner less interest from artsy, down-to-earth Instagram users. Your images should blend into the community. On the other hand, you don’t want your content to fade into the background. How do you know when you’ve struck the balance? When you’ve created an image that you and people that you know would want to retweet, share, or repin: images that are bright and bold, that reflect the energy of a crowd or movement, that use interesting angles or lighting, or those that simply make you stop and smile. Those are all features that catch your attention, right? Deliver that to your fans. Establish Quick Brand Identity Users should not have to read much or focus too hard to identify your brand. If they have to find your little profile icon on the left of a post, you’ve made them work too hard. Establish quick brand identity by adding your logo as a watermark or having your logo or community name visible within the background of the image. If your community...

Where were you on the night of August 6? While you were probably sleeping (we certainly were), Google rolled out changes to the way local businesses appear in search results. This update affects everyone from restaurants and retail stores to—yep, you guessed it—apartment communities and property management companies. What? Google has updated how local results appear to both desktop and mobile searchers. Before the update, seven local businesses would appear under the map that displays local search results. After the update, only three local businesses appear. What was known as the “7-pack” by SEO experts is now the “3-pack.” Instead of ranking in the top seven local results for a search, you now have to rank in the top three to show up on the first page. Why? While Google has called this an update that “provides people with more relevant information,” multiple sources have suggested that this might be a move to encourage more businesses to use AdWords, Google’s pay per click (PPC) advertising tool. When the chance that you will appear in organic search results is reduced, you will probably be more inclined to pay for priority placement. How will it affect property management? Less space is dedicated to local results Before your business had to rank in the top seven to appear organically, now it has to be in the top three Less information now appears under the local listings; exact addresses and Google+ links have been removed Business hours have been added On mobile searches, reviews and the click-to-call button appear (websites do not) On desktop searches, reviews and website links appear (phone numbers do not) Although fewer local listings are now instantly visible, when a user does click through to get more information about local results, 17 additional local...

Pretty much everybody (and their mommas) is on Facebook. With 1.44 billion monthly active users at th end of Q1 2015, you can’t afford to not be on Facebook. But you can’t afford to waste your time on the platform, either. In 2013, Facebook changed its algorithm so that your content will only reach 3– 5 percent of your fans. To reach more people immediately, you must pay. To reach more people organically, you must build a long and reliable bridge to your fans using value-driven content. Value-driven or value-added content is an age-old approach that has received a fresh breath of life in the social realm. In the past, when we were told to add value, we took the request quite literally. We immediately wanted to ask, “How can we make their lives more simple?” “How can we save them money?” We’d offer coupons and discounts. When we became more in-the-know, we’d offer subtle goodies like life hacks. While these tactics are all great in their own right, there are more substantial ways to offer value-driven content while taking advantage of Facebook’s unique social media mega-status. But first, let me tell you a story. Super Bowl 2002. I only watched the game to spend time with my dad. When the half-time ads came on, I prepared to turn off my brain and settle into a bean dip- induced coma, but a certain image caught me by surprise: solemn townsfolk watched as eight Clydesdale horses marched from their perspective towns in America’s heartlands, and then through city streets. The horses stopped upon icy, isolated land overlooking the city of New York. In unison, they bowed to the recently altered skyline. My entire body shook until I burst into tears. My father nodded slowly in...

Native marketing is a term that Gary Vaynerchuk made popular in his book, “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.” The term describes how social media marketing must be customized for each platform. As you can imagine, becoming an expert on two or three platforms takes time and money, which are two resources that marketing departments rarely have in abundance. Yet if there is one lesson that you learn from native marketing, it should be that quality social media marketing requires time. There are no shortcuts. I’ve tried useless shortcuts myself. Scheduling tools like Buffer and Hootsuite make it easy to create one post and splash it across multiple platforms. We save time and reach more people, right? We’re geniuses! Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Each platform is unique, which is why it can thrive in competition against the others. As distinct entities, they have their own languages and codes of conduct. You’ll rarely find success by copying and pasting content between your accounts. You’ve got to tailor it at least, and come up with completely different strategies at best. For example, Twitter and Instagram are havens for hashtags. A similar quantity of hashtags on Facebook or LinkedIn would annoy users. But before you share hashtag-friendly content between Twitter and Instagram, remember that your soft sell on Instagram will be chopped off at 140 characters on Twitter. You can get away with a tweet without an image but an Instagram post with no image—well, that simply doesn’t exist. See the dilemma? And those are just the basics. We’ve got to take the time to learn the best uses for each platform. Then we’ve got to learn how users speak to one another in their respective communities. We must re-evaluate what good marketing looks like. No $899.99...

Congratulations: your attention span is now shorter than that of a goldfish…by one whole second. Recent studies show the average human attention span is now 8 seconds.  That means social marketers and digital advertisers have to hook you with compelling content within moments.  How much does that bait cost?  Advertisers spent an estimated $8.5 billion on social ads alone in 2014, all to keep your brain entertained long enough to get to the punchline.  And succeed they did. Our Social Media Team kept a keen eye out for those creative and unusual marketing campaigns with solid storytelling and strong social presence. Here are a few of our favorite digital campaigns from the last year. Mini Cooper  Mini USA – Multiple Social Channels Mini Cooper has created a world of engagement, and it’s truly an experience all of its own.  The iconic import has grasped attention and stolen the hearts of many motorists across the country, and to that end, they have established their own mini-nation: Mini USA. Beyond the exclusivity of an owner’s only club, the camaraderie and fellowship between Mini drivers curves closer to extended family.  And what better way to spend time with your family than to be “couped” up with them on the greatest of American familial pastimes?  “Mini Takes the States” is a clash of Mini Cooper clans cruising on a 5,000 mile road trip from [#MTTS]San Francisco to [#MTTS]Boston.  Motorists can post to social networks during pit stops with a set of branded hashtags, photos and videos.  Along with crossing the continental US, Mini’s social presence spans across platforms: Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter. Need some Mini maintenance? For continued care of your car, the company’s website features a downloadable PDF of your owner’s manuals, a roadside assistance...

Buckingham Companies began this year with a slew of accolades, among them a Prodigy Award for Best Overall Marketing Program, another for Best Color Advertisement, and the Bronze Adrian Award for Complete Campaign and Posting. At the foundation of those achievements stands an innovative marketing department that enhances traditional marketing approaches with a tool that many competitors have kept at arm’s length: Instagram. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram is an entirely image-driven social media platform with more than 200 million users worldwide. While Facebook and Twitter usage has hit plateaus, Instagram is one of the fastest growing platforms with a notable international audience, and 65 percent of the community is from outside of the United States. It is the ideal tool for reaching local renters and transplants. Buckingham Companies’ team dove into Instagram as a major component of their marketing strategy for CityWay in downtown Indianapolis. MHN caught up with Marketing Manager Nicole Crosby to explore the method behind their success. MHN: Tell me about your Instagram strategy for CityWay and how it enhances your brand. Crosby: Traditional real estate marketing is often visualized through staged and perfectly edited photography, alongside a carefully crafted list of features and amenities. As marketers, of course we want to show our properties in the best light possible, but today’s customers expect more. They want to understand what it’s really like to live there, to spend every day there. Instagram offers a way for our residents and on site teams to capture the perspective of everyday living and connect with our property, in some cases before they even set foot in our leasing centers. Our prospective customers are craving that connection in their apartment search. Highlighting Instagram on our property websites provides a first step in that connection. MHN:...

A “selfie” is a photo that you’ve taken of yourself.  Most of us admit that we’ve taken one or two in our lifetime. We also admit that we secretly loathe our buddies who post #POTH. (If you don’t know what that means, you’ve been spared.) Selfies can teach businesses a few fun yet practical do’s and don’ts for marketing via social media. The Selfie Mantra: If you’ve got it, flaunt it! No one is going to be drawn to your product or service if they haven’t heard of it. Spread the word generously and don’t be afraid to try new platforms. There’s no such thing as too much exposure. Secondly, selfies focus on positive attributes: perfect hair days, pouty lips, ripped muscles. Likewise, focus on your brand’s strong points. Don’t make reference to the competition. Besides, talking about the competition just confirms that they are the industry standard. And you’ll look like a hater. Too many selfies sends a bad message. What would you think of a profile dominated by selfies? Chronic selfie taking is linked to alienation. Use social media to engage with fans and accept feedback rather than endlessly posting positive company updates. Granted, a decent profile may have a few selfies. But they’re buried amongst images of the person engaging with friends or traveling with family. Use media to show your brand amid the big picture: your staff participating in community outreach, your product solving common problems, or behind the scenes with executives and developers. Selfies in the restroom and disheveled in the AM are are a bit much, right? Right. Make sure that your employees aren’t oversharing on social media. While transparency has its place, it’s best to keep your public face professional, relevant and customer-appropriate. This means creating and...

The social media engine seems to be losing steam these days. Twitter’s revenue more than doubled in the fourth quarter yet the tech giant said it hit a roadblock in terms of user growth; in the fourth quarter, the site added just 9 million, or 3.8% more, new monthly active users to 241 million, down from 6.4% growth in the previous period. It was the fourth straight quarter of slowing growth, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Facebook Inc. on the other hand boasts about 1.2 billion registered users worldwide, though it also reported lower sequential user growth, set at 3.4% in the fourth quarter. This slowdown in user growth indicates that it might be time for a change and Twitter knows how to take a hint. In an effort to transform itself into a mainstream product, the company announced a design makeover that will make Twitter more approachable to users. Twitter is very fond of experimentation as a product improvement technique and many of their strategies have proven successful. “A common thread across recent releases has been experimentation,” commented Alex Roetter, VP, Engineering, in a Twitter blog post. “We’ve tested various features with small groups of our 200 million users before determining what we’ll release. These tests are essential to delivering the best possible user experience.” “We also experiment with features that may never be released to everyone who uses Twitter. Those experiments are perhaps even more valuable because they help us decide what not to do – which is important as we work to keep Twitter simple while improving the user experience. Ultimately, our goal is to learn and keep making the product better; we aren’t necessarily looking to launch all of the experiments we roll out”, he added. The Tweet...

Social media is an integral part of today’s consumer relations and marketing. As such, it pays to be on top of your social media game. A few tips will make your outreach efforts easier and more effective. Create a user-friendly handle. Keep your username short and free from fancy characters. Users shouldn’t have to flip through multiple screens on their QWERTY keyboards just to @,  # or follow you. Those seconds (and characters) are precious! Users will skip over a name that’s too complicated. Fewer retweets, likes, and follows leads to fewer business leads. Be consistent. While we’re on handles, pick a handle that you can use across all of your platforms. Consistency makes you easier to find and remember. Secondly, avoid frequently changing your username. Social media isn’t about you. The platform is actually for your clients and potential clients. It’s a place where they can learn more about you, interact with you, and share feedback. Be client-centered rather than using the platform as a billboard for yourself. Join in on other conversations. Find relevant businesses or causes and join in on their conversations. Having your name in different places increases exposure. The affiliations with other companies can also help clients know a little more about you and your interests. Research using social media. Feedback, especially negative feedback, is an excellent way to learn what’s working in your brand and what’s lacking. Take that feedback seriously by responding to inquiries and mitigating reputation disasters. Learn from what your tenants and guests are telling you. Represent the community, not just units. Add variety to your posts and tweets by selling your community: great amenities, shops, and restaurants nearby; interesting facts; events; and even a dash of history will make your area more interesting. You...

When it comes to commercial advertisements, traditional rules have fallen by the wayside. Millennials have nontraditional tastes. We recycle our snail mail without reading it. We use TV commercial breaks to tweet about the show, not to watch ads. What banners? We can ignore a pop-up like you never even made it. Millennials respond best to out-of-the-box advertisements that say a lot in time-friendly morsels. Meet the six-second ad. It’s a growing phenomenon that catches the attention of Millennials through some of our favorite social media platforms. Learning to master the six-second ad opens up a cost effective marketing opportunity that carries weight with young consumers. The popular video site, YouTube,  allows viewers to skip ads after six seconds. This means that you can make a longer commercial if you want but you must grab and hold viewers’ attention within the first six seconds or we will quickly press that little right-facing arrow. Vine is a growing site for posting three- to six-second videos. Variations of these circulate as memes on Facebook, Tumblr and other social media sites, vastly expanding the videos’ audience. When brands create vines, their commercials can be placed seamlessly (read: hidden) amongst quirky videos by users’ friends. It’s like gorilla advertising. Want to advertise to Millennials with videos that we want to watch? These tips will help you get started. 5 Things to Keep In Mind for Your 6 Second Ad Ads can be as abstract, funny, tear-jerking, or as provocative as you want. At the end of those six seconds, however, you must prove that your product will enhance our lives and fit into our lifestyles. Skip long winded pricing or guarantee comparisons–we can look that up ourselves, and we will. Rather, show us what your product can do...

Apps can be great tools to connect with clients and potential customers. Get the most out of popular apps Instagram and Vine with tips that make your media stand apart from the crowd. Instagram Composition still matters While you don’t need to invest hours and money into taking professional photography classes, reading a few articles and YouTube tutorials on introductory photography techniques will definitely help. Choose your subject wisely While new appliances at a property are a good selling point for a property, a picture of a shiny oven won’t gain much interest. Rather, shows the subject in a broader context. Consider a resident–on trend, well-dressed resident– entertaining for their equally hip friends in the kitchen with new appliances. Accessorize your phone Nope, this doesn’t mean a bedazzled case. Rather, seek out camera enhancing accessories that will improve the quality of your photos. Most of these accessories cost far less than buying a point and shoot or DSLR camera. Try out Photojojo Lenses (below) for better zoom control and Flip Cage to stay steady, for starters. Skip panoramas It might seem like using your iPhone’s panorama feature is a great way to capture the beauty of a property or event but remember that Instagram photos are cropped to 612px X 612px squares.  When taking your photos, think of squares rather than rectangles. If you must take a panorama, seek out another app such as Pic Stitch. Combine apps Although Instagram has filters, different apps offer a wider array of possibilities. You can edit your photo in an additional app, like Snapseed, and post it to the social media platform of your choice. Hashtag it wisely Too many hashtags can be annoying. No hashtags, however, mean that your image is basically lost in space, undiscoverable. Hashtags...

Your friends are on Facebook. Your boss is on Facebook. Even your mom is on Facebook. In fact, this popular online network reached over 1 billion users in May – making it the largest social platform around. So are your clients on Facebook? You bet they are. If you’re ready to reach a larger audience and close more sales, you just have to remember the three most important rules of real estate: location, location, location. Where you do business matters as much, if not more, than how you do business. In today’s online marketplace, Facebook is a prime location to attract and interact with consumers. With that in mind, here are 6 tips that will help you optimize your Facebook business page to attract more prospects, whether you’re a real estate agent, a property manager or a leasing agent. 1.       Complete Your Profile First things first, complete your profile so that page visitors know who you are, what you do and how to contact you. Include your phone number, your email address and a link to your website. Add a description of your business that includes industry-relevant keywords. And be sure to choose attractive and professional images for your cover and profile photos. (For example, if you sell houses for a living, using a family photo as your cover image might not be the best choice.) 2.       Promote Your Page Share a link to your Facebook page on your website, but don’t stop there! You should also include the link in your email signature and post about your business page on other social media channels. 3.       Empower Your Fans Once you get people to your page, how do you keep them there? Think of your business page as the social version of your website....

These days, marketing a multifamily community to a prospective resident is often an entirely online experience. When a prospect goes to social media to ask friends or family: Where should I live next?, savvy communities are making sure their properties are present. It’s an exciting, though potentially challenging, space in which to connect and engage. The influence of a positive resident referral or input from a trusted friend can make a big difference when it is time to select a new place. One recent industry survey found that up to 75 percent of renters had done online research, including looking at reviews, in order to select their next apartment. They valued that input even more than positive word of mouth, according to the survey results. It’s also been noted that while 63% of apartment residents say they are willing to write a positive review of their apartment community, just eight percent have been asked to do so, NAA audiences learned this week. That means there are huge opportunities for multifamily communities to grow their online presence and enhance leasing opportunities, using the right marketing tools. Not only do apartment communities need to build goodwill and cultivate positive feedback from existing residents, but they need to be engaged online and ready to reach, impress and ultimately welcome prospects as happy residents. The expanded Yardi Marketing Suite™ is a powerful tool for managers looking to do just that using the enhanced capabilities of RentCafe™. This online platform supports the entire leasing process, and is fully integrated with Yardi Voyager™. “The Yardi Marketing Suite features a full complement of mobile online leasing and resident services, and now includes tools to expand your online presence with leasing and resident referral programs tied directly to social media. This smart...

Each year Google pushes out over 500 updates to its search algorithm, and 2012 was no different.  In its effort to improve the quality of search results, the latest updates may have helped to level the playing field for property managers and increased the opportunity to drive leads to your doorstep.  Now is the time to plan out where your online efforts will be focused in the months ahead.     G+Local If you haven’t already claimed your property online, this should be your first step in 2013.  If you’re unsure, simply do a Google search for your apartment community and include the city.  If you’ve claimed your business it should be the first result.  Select the Google+ page link to view your page.  On the right hand side of the Google+ page is a link to Manage this Page, meaning manage your business listing. If your property’s website is not toward the top of the results, it most likely has not been claimed or there aren’t enough details included in the listing.  Whether you need to update your listing or create a new one, you’ll need a Google+ account to get started; http://www.google.com/+/business/.   Be sure to fill out all of the fields, upload your logo and photos, include a description and your website URL.  One benefit of claiming your community is the increased screen real estate that will be given to your property in the search results.  Google will include a map in the result, directions to the property, phone numbers and hours of operation, photos, and a link to your website.  Claiming your G+ Local page is also important because Google is emphasizing personal and local results.  In addition, if someone is searching for your property with a mobile device they’ll be...

In an effort to grab a larger piece of the online networking market dominated by Facebook and LinkedIn, Google has added a new feature to Google+ that will help people connect and build virtual relationships. It’s called Google+ Communities, and the marketing spin is that it will add substance and coherence to online interaction, with networks based on users’ shared interests and passions. New data asserts that Google+ is gaining ground on the social networking market, to which it arrived late, but it still lags well behind “the Facebook”. According to the company’s own numbers, more than 500 million people have upgraded to Google+, and 235 million are engaged and using the service (+1’ing apps in Google Play, hanging out in Gmail, connecting with friends in Search). Facebook, meanwhile, has over 1 billion active users a month, according to a late 2012 status update from founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Google+ has won over many users with its privacy settings that actually work and are super easy-to-use, and Facebook hasn’t done itself any favors with recent newsfeed advertising changes and targeted ads based on users’ profile information.  Google+ Communities attempts to offer even more freedom to users; you can engage in specific conversations with people who share your hobbies, from photography to traveling to poker nights; plan events; start hangouts, and share with your communities from across the web. You can do it all from your Google+ home screen, you don’t have to visit the community in order to post. You choose whether you want to be notified by e-mail on each new post by other community members, filter posts by topics or sub-categories, share pics, videos or links and add events. Photos are a bit bigger than you’d see on Facebook and the...

The saying that if it bleeds it leads has been around for ages, but with TV stations and various news channels competing with the internet for attention it now seems that there’s less emphasis on fact and more emphasis on first to run. Rushed stories are reported as news without taking the necessary time to check sources and ensure that, in the best interest of the audience, the information is factual. One such example occurred last night when news outlets everywhere reported that Facebook had released a new membership price grid and that to avoid paying for membership you simply needed to share a message with your friends, otherwise you would be forced to pay the next time you logged in. This was a hoax and you can read all about it on Mashable. This was very easy to decipher as false and further brings into question the credibility of news outlets to report accurate information. If this hoax was reported as actual news what else slips through?  Is every news channel going to go the way of Huffington Post: report it now and ask for forgiveness and editorial changes later? One final item to consider is that with the rush to get all these stories out as quickly as possible, it does become increasingly challenging to decipher between fact and fiction.  Something mentioned every other day in the news is Facebook privacy settings. With Facebook currently at 1 billion plus users, the quantity of information at the fingertips of Mark Zuckerburg and his board is astounding, so here are a few facts you should know. Here’s four Facebook “did you know’s”: 1. There was a report a few weeks ago claiming if you choose to make a post only visible to “friends” but one...

Taking a progressive approach to customer service was a paramount topic at this year’s MFE Executive Leadership Summit. In a panel session lead by representatives of Riverstone, AIMCO, Simpson, Cirrus, and CompassRock, the conversation always seemed to come back to creating a positive resident experience from the first time prospects visit a property site to the moment they renew their lease. Though a strong apartment-renting economy continues to pick up steam, managing potential tenant impressions is still an extremely valuable business practice. An overriding theme of the conference was the dramatic effect of social technology and communication on multifamily communities.  Customer service opportunities are everywhere on the Internet, from ApartmentRatings.com to Facebook and Yelp, and how property professionals manage that interaction, be it with future, current, or former residents, is now a defining factor in apartment community success. Other conference highlights included: -A significant amount of private equity has been sitting on the sidelines during the economic downturn, and as investors realize that the multifamily assets are safe investments, that equity is once again flowing into the market.  Investors are digging deeper and and looking for reputable companies in which to invest their capital. -New construction is strong, especially  in the core coastal markets.  Structure style selection based on the demographic and geographic profiles of the area is important, many panelists agreeing that there is a new emphasis on urban style buildings and settings with more common/social space.  Developers must create creative living spaces with  integrated technology features, something that new generations of residents expect. -Comparisons were made to the travel industry and the importance of providing self-serve technology such as online leasing, lease renewal, and utility billing to residents. Panel members were quick to point out that one of the most productive forms...