As the COVID-19 crisis drives up labor and equipment costs in senior living, providers are looking for sure-fire ways to save without sacrificing on care or quality. One avenue that few providers have pursued is energy management. Not considered a significant challenge by many, utility spend actually ranks as the third highest expense, after payroll and food. It’s also much easier to tackle from a cost-control perspective than you might think. Yes, swapping in LED light bulbs is one way to shrink the energy bill, but the real advantages (and savings) start with just knowing how much energy is used. By benchmarking your communities’ energy consumption, and you open up many possibilities to conserve. There’s more value in a cohesive energy strategy than just saving money, too. Many residents appreciate and look for a building that follows sustainable practices. In fact, the baby boomers are more eco-conscious than their Gen X and millennial counterparts are. Those over 65 are three times more likely to say they live in environmentally friendly ways “all the time.” If that weren’t reason enough to revisit your energy approach, consider that state, county and local jurisdictions are increasingly asking real estate operators — senior housing included — to record and report on their usage. Take Seattle for example. Back in 2013, the city passed a resolution in pursuit of carbon neutrality that requires non-public buildings larger than 10,000 square feet to disclose their utility benchmarking data. For Merrill Gardens, based out of Seattle, that meant they had to quickly roll out centralized utility tracking. So how’d they pull it off? And what benefits have they seen since? Join us on Tuesday, June 16, at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) for a live webinar with McKnight’s Senior Living to...
Getting Match Fit
With Get Living
Yardi recently partnered with the UKAA and Get Living to deliver a webinar which explored the effects that Covid-19 has had on the build to rent market. Yardi’s special guests from Get Living, Chris Armstrong, Brand, Technology and Experience Leader and Ian Gibbs, Director of Neighbourhoods, shared their experience on how brand, technology and operations have come together through the pandemic. Justin Harley, regional director at Yardi, kicked off the webinar by sharing some interesting technology trends that Yardi had collated throughout the pandemic. Harley highlighted that technology should be at the heart of any business as the need to be ‘digital-ready’ grows. The count of virtual tours, online applications and resident app downloads are at an all-time high, and data analysis from Yardi shows that resident app usage has doubled since lockdown. Underlying technology has become more essential than ever before. “Technology is a critical part of a business’s infrastructure, just like the physical foundations of any building” said Harley. He posed the question, “when we’re out of lockdown, will these tech tools stay crucial to businesses?” Are you Match Fit? The Get Living duo, Gibbs and Armstrong, scattered sporting analogies throughout the webinar as they compared their response to Covid-19 as becoming ‘match fit’. “We’ve been working on becoming ‘match fit’ for some time now. Gibbs compared Get Living as being ‘at times close to the top of the table’ before new opponent Covid-19 arrived, challenging the team in more ways than they were prepared for. Armstrong compared the Get Living team to being stood on the side lines, discussing the best tactics to take to win the match. He said their first step was to get the right people in the room and to talk it through about how to play...
Creating Community
Bringing Residents Together Online
Traditionally, creating a sense of community has been a great way to make residents feel at home, leading to positive reviews, referrals and increased renewals. Multifamily properties host happy hours, movie nights and exercise classes to help renters connect with each other and the property team. They create and update shared spaces and amenities to make sure they are comfortable and welcoming. But how do you create a sense of community when people can’t gather? Property managers everywhere are asking this question now because of the social distancing measures put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re here to help. First, watch a video from our new “Moments of Genius with Drew Davis” series to get creative community building tips you can use right now. Then, see what the award-winning team at Bozzuto is doing. And finally, discover tech tools that can help bring your residents and team members together. 6 Creative Ideas Watch this short, five-minute video from Drew Davis to learn six creative ways and four key principles to foster community at your properties — even when we can’t all be in the same place. Drew is one of the world’s top marketing experts. He is working closely with us to share monthly tips specific to property management as we navigate this rapidly changing market together. Wasn’t that fun and inspiring? Drew is just the shot of positive energy we need right now, and we’re excited to see what he has in store for us. Subscribe to “Moments of Genius” now to see new episodes when they’re released. #BozzutoStaysHome When stay-at-home orders started getting handed down, the team at Bozzuto knew they had to spring into action. “We asked ourselves, ‘How do we continue to provide value to our residents when they can’t use the amenities?’” said Nicole Wells, content marketing manager for digital marketing and strategy at Bozzuto. #BozzutoStaysHome was the result, an online program that connects residents, includes the community and celebrates the idea of sanctuary, ultimately promoting shelter-in-place behaviors to flatten the curve. It includes a calendar of weekly virtual events led by community partners like yoga classes and cooking demonstrations as well as curated playlists designed to lift spirits and nurture a sense of connection. Events are shared live on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook Live events like this Vinyasa yoga class are recorded and shared so anyone can watch anytime, racking up hundreds of views. “To get started, we put together a cross-team task force. We asked our residents what they wanted to see,” shared Wells. Once the concept started coming together, “We created assets for our communities to use so they don’t have to do that extra work themselves. They already have enough to focus on right now.” With more than 400 posts using the hashtag on Instagram in just a few weeks and hundreds of viewers to their live and recorded events, #BozzutoStaysHome is picking up traction. “Bozzuto is helping residents engage in a little bit of fun at home during quarantine,” said Wells. “They’re receptive to that, and we’re happy to be a bright spot.” Tech That Connects People can’t participate in your community engagement efforts if they don’t know about them. In the words of Drew Davis, “Make sure your residents know where to go for the latest information about your property and the fun things you’re doing to keep people safe and connected.” With the RENTCafé resident portal and RENTCafé Resident app, you can quickly and easily share information about social distancing efforts and upcoming online events. You can post events to your community calendar and bulletin board, send survey emails and even schedule push notifications if your residents have opted in on the app. Both the portal and the app help your team stay connected while cutting down on face-to-face interactions by taking communications, payments and work orders online. With a 4.8 star rating and more than...
A Mission in Action
Grubb Giving + Habitat for Humanity
When a company’s mission statement is pulled from the page and implemented in daily life, it can transform the world. Grubb Properties’ vision statement encourages “working together to enhance life and community.” To fulfill that mission, Grubb Properties has teamed up with Habitat for Humanity. Together, they enhance life and community by building homes for those in need. In 2018, the North Carolina-based property manager and developer committed to build one Habitat home per year for ten years. Each home is built in cities where Grubb Properties has a presence. Grubb Properties, Yardi + Habitat for Humanity unite The 2018 build took place in Winston-Salem, NC followed by a 2019 build in Greenville, SC. Shawn Cardner, executive vice president, multifamily operations and information technology at Grubb Properties participated in the Greenville build. He was joined by Yardi team members Paul Yount, industry principal, sales and Jim Hill, director of consulting practices. “Paul and Jim were instrumental in garnering support from Yardi. We are incredibly thankful for Yardi’s financial contribution. To be honest, though, even more impactful was the commitment of time, energy, and travel that Yardi team members made to participate,” says Cardner. Habitat schedules several build days for a given house project. Each day requires at least 20 volunteers for framing, roofing, finishes, landscaping and more. To assist Grubb Properties volunteers, several Yardi employees made the three-to-four-hour drive from Raleigh to Greenville. In addition to Hill and Yount, Yardi volunteers included Zach Smith, Edward McNamee, Terry Judd, and Lucas Bader. “On top of the long drive, they then spent seven hours on the jobsite with temperatures near 100 degrees. It’s one thing to write a check and then tell people how charitable you are. It’s a much more impactful statement when you contribute your time, energy, blood and sweat for something. We’re thankful that Yardi contributed in both ways!” says Cardner. The heart of giving “We all felt a sense of accomplishment at the end. We started from an empty concrete slab and ended the day with all of the interior and exterior walls built and external sheathing attached as well,” reflects Hill. “We enjoyed spending the day with the Grubb team, the Habitat sponsor family and Habitat volunteers. We all worked as a team. Seeing the finished job was pretty amazing.” Cardner adds, “As a member of our executive team, I’m just thrilled at the way all our employees, communities, and partners come together to work on a shared project. Grubb employees volunteered 368 hours on that build. Our employees also donated $7,055 to it which is just over 10% of the total amount raised through partner sponsorships. I’m incredibly proud to work with such incredibly generous and thoughtful people.” Grubb + Yardi, beyond the software The relationship between Grubb Properties and Yardi began as any B2B relationship would. Yardi provided a service and Grubb paid for it. But over the years, the relationship developed into a mutually supportive partnership. “Folks like Jim, Paul and Stephen Witek have worked tirelessly to develop the partnership that we have today. I don’t use the word partnership lightly. I know Yardi believes that the best way for it to succeed is to help companies like us succeed.” Hill adds, “At Yardi, nurturing client relationships is paramount. Additionally, Yardi is blessed to have the encouragement of Anant Yardi to support local philanthropic projects in the communities where we live. The local impact in our neighborhoods adds a level of personal pride at working at Yardi and in helping our clients and communities at the same time.” Continuing the good work “In the end, the best way to describe Grubb Properties’ stance on philanthropy is just to say it’s who we are,” explains Cardner. “It’s what our leadership believes in. It’s what our employees believe in. It’s even a characteristic of the residents we try to attract to our properties. We want to...
Answering the Call
CommonBond Affordable Housing
Yardi client CommonBond Communities entered 2020 with good news. The St. Paul-based developer reported that four transactions will create 267 affordable homes and renovate of 101 units. These additions brought the 2019 total to a record-breaking 925 housing units at an average cost of $191,000. The cost will include renovation and new construction. With the ink dry on the transactions, work on the new projects is in full swing. Bridging the gap CommonBond is the largest nonprofit developer and manager of affordable housing in Minnesota. The organization also offers self-sufficiency development programs for residents. Though the construction is monumental for the region, CommonBond CEO Diedre Schmidt admits that there is much more to be done. “We are tens of thousands of units behind in Minnesota,” Schmidt said in an interview with Star Tribune. “The support we are starting to get from employers is really critical.” CommonBond is currently collaborating with employers and for-profit developers to close the gap between the supply and demand on affordable housing in the state. New affordable housing construction in Minnesota To achieve its 925 goal, CommonBond has embarked on a series of renovations and new construction. Scott County will be the site of The Willows in Shakopee. The 60-unit community will serve people with incomes that are 50% or less than the area median income. The site addresses the dire need for affordable housing in the area which has experienced a boom in economic development: the county welcomed employers such as Amazon, FedEx, and Shutterfly but struggles to offer housing that accommodates new workers. Employees are forced to seek housing outside of the county and commute to work. About 50% of the jobs in Scott County are filled by people who live outside of the county. In Hennepin County, a...
Industrial Investment...
Yardi client insight
While the industrial sector has rapidly grown in lockstep with the evolution of e-commerce, a number of signs are beginning to point to a slowdown. Warehouses and distribution centers continue to be strong performers, but following a massive nationwide industrial construction boom, supply is finally starting to catch up with demand. Given the abundance of modern, industrial supply, value-add investors must have a more thoughtful approach. Sealy & Co., active throughout the South and the Midwest, takes a straightforward approach to its value-add acquisitions, focusing not only on a building’s potential improvements but also emphasizing location as a key driver of asset value. Chairman Scott Sealy Sr. discussed his investment strategy and the state of the market with Commercial Property Executive. How would you describe the state of the national industrial market, given soaring demand and unprecedented levels of industrial development? Sealy: There are several sectors within the industrial market alone, and most are demand driven. Some, however, are moving to a balance of supply and demand. Larger distribution is still enjoying good absorption and rent growth. Infill properties in the markets we are in have limited vacancy and significant rent growth. We expect the trend to continue for several more years. In which industrial market do you see the greatest opportunity for expansion, and what sets this market apart from the crowd? Sealy: Multiple markets attract us for a variety of reasons. For example, we like Houston for its historical rent growth and fundamentals, the economy is very solid. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find potential development sites here because of the high demand and recognition of this potential. If you’re strategic, thorough and able to capitalize, the economic structure is rewarding. Read the rest of this post on Commercial Property...
Energy Automation
Pinnacle Uses Yardi Energy
Dallas-based multifamily community manager Pinnacle sought to reduce utility late fees and increase vacant utility cost recoveries at 170,000 residential units that it manages. “We needed to automate the entire process—payables, receivables, consumption data analysis and reporting that drilled down to a granular level of detail,” said Nicole Ellery, the company’s ancillary performance manager. Doing all this required replacing its cumbersome manual utility consumption tracking and billing with the Yardi Energy Suite. One element of the suite, Yardi Utility Expense Management, receives, validates and completes payments for Pinnacle’s utility bills. Another part, Yardi Utility Billing, monitors and bills residents for their utility consumption, which helps the company recover vacant unit costs, monitor usage, forecast utility revenue and cut waste with consumption alerts. How has the Yardi Energy Suite worked out for Pinnacle? The bottom line, Ellery said on a utility expense management panel at the most recent Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference (YASC), is “lower late fees across the board.” That happened because the comprehensive solution for utility billing, energy management and submeter data administration helps the company “track how properties are performing with line-by-line data down to the individual meter level as opposed to only invoice data.” “When we onboard a new property, we can see red flags such as high consumption on a meter and follow up with an investigation,” Ellery said. “Our property managers and accountants can drill down to each general ledger account and invoice if anything looks off and see what’s going on. We can see gradual increases in consumption and process invoices as soon as they come in.” She added, “We have saved thousands of dollars every year by nearly eliminating late fees. The suite vastly simplified our vacant unit recovery process, so it maximizes income too. We’d be...
Retail Rewards
Macerich + Pulse
The sustainability framework that leading retail property owner, operator and developer Macerich operates under calls for eliminating energy waste and nearly eliminating emissions, water waste and landfill impact. Evidence of Macerich’s success in translating these “Innovating to Zero” principles into best practices includes a No. 1 GRESB Benchmark ranking for four years running among North American retailers and a Top 30 onsite generation designation in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based S&P 500 company has generated 16 megawatts of grid relief and saved more than 300,000 KwH annually with solar panel installations and LED retrofits. It’s the only U.S. retail real estate company to earn the highest “Climate A List” ranking from CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), the world’s most comprehensive collection of self-reported environmental data. Another accolade came in the form of a Commercial Real Estate Digital Innovation (“Digie”) Award in the Most Intelligent Building Project category that Macerich received at the Realcomm ׀ IBCon conferences in June. Macerich recently marked another notable milestone: the 10-year anniversary of a multifaceted energy management sustainability program that has reduced the company’s environmental impacts while squeezing every ounce of efficiency from its operations. The company’s plan called for using advanced energy management software to combine internet of things data with additional logic and analytics functionality. The goal was to turn disparate charts, graphs and reports into coherent, actionable intelligence for operations teams and managers across 51 million square feet of real estate in 15 U.S. states. The software central to achieving that vision, the Yardi Pulse Suite, integrated Macerich’s central energy management systems with utility billing, energy data collection and the Yardi Voyager property management and accounting system. The suite enables connection, analysis and display of building information from Macerich’s...
Workplace Accolade
For Brightview Senior Living
Yardi client Brightview Senior Living was named a “Best Place to Work” by the Great Place to Work Institute. It is one of only 40 aging services workplaces in the nation to receive the honor. Each year, Great Place to Work reviews applications and surveys to determine which thriving employers also have satisfied and enthusiastic employees. The goal of its evaluations and certifications is to help employers create outstanding, competitive workplaces that shine in business metrics like growth, profitability, and retention. Great Place to Work is also responsible for the annual Fortune “100 Best Companies to Work For®” list. To determine a “Best Place to Work” certification, Great Place to Work reviewed the surveys of more than 1,000 Brightview Senior Living employees. Each survey addressed 60 elements of team members’ experiences on the job. Those elements explored how employees feel about their work, their views on their workplace, employer’s involvement in the community, and the support and encouragement provider by the employer. Rankings are directly influenced by employees’ survey responses. Additional factors include metrics on cultural programs available to employees, workplace practices to attract and maintain talent, and programming that supports employees’ work-life balance. “We applaud Brightview Senior Living for seeking certification and releasing its employees’ feedback,” said Dr. Jacquelyn Kung, CEO, Great Place to Work’s senior care division. “These ratings measure its capacity to earn its own employees’ trust and create a great workplace for high performance.” Check out the feature story on the Brightview blog. Brightview Senior Living constructions, owns and manages a portfolio of 35 senior living communities that offer independent living, assisted living and dementia care. Properties span the East Coast as far south as Virginia. Learn more at...
Super Support
Fort Wayne Honored by NAHRO
Support services can be more effective and valuable to a community when providers work together. By taking a collective approach to serving needy residents, organizations can identify synergies in services and carefully plan which are best fit for specific clients. For example, a supportive housing program may have a vacant unit reserved for disabled veterans, and a veterans’ service office may have a client graduating from a transitional housing program. Coordinating those programs would help to smoothly transfer the veteran to the permanent housing unit. In Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Housing Authority (FWHA) has stepped up to help local organizations work more cooperatively. For its effort, FWHA received an Award of Excellence from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). FWHA assists more than 8,000 individuals in their community at any point in time. Their clients’ needs for assistance go far beyond basic affordable housing subsidies. Some clients are formerly homeless and need assistance furnishing their new permanent homes. Others require access to discounted food and clothing. In fulfilling those types of client requests, FWHA found itself working with many local service providers. There are more than 150 in the Fort Wayne area, each with a set of services available. George Guy, CEO and director of FWHA, saw an opportunity to benefit the community by getting those providers together with a goal of forming a consortium of representatives that could exchange and coordinate services. The result of that coordination effort is what’s become known as Housing Strategies Meetings. FWHA invited 270 individuals to the first session, at which attendees saw more than 35 agencies present a high-level overview of their services. While receiving that program-level information was valuable, personal connections made in the room were also real benefits of the meeting. FWHA...
Leveraging Energy Data
Kilroy Realty Corporation
Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE: KRC) continues to normalize green leasing in-house and across the industry. The Los Angeles-based company builds each of its properties to a minimum of LEED Gold Certification and has won numerous awards for sustainability across its existing 13.9 million square foot portfolio. Sara Neff, MBA, LEED AP, Senior Vice President of Sustainability at KRC, is one of the thought leaders behind the innovative sustainability programs at KRC and in the commercial real estate industry. She’s been a driving force creating and deploying the BOMA W2 Challenge, a new initiative built with the support of a generous grant from Yardi, and in partnership with the BOMA Local Associations, that can lead to cost savings on water and waste for countless organizations. Neff spoke on the W2 Challenge and its benefits during a BOMA International webinar this summer with panelists from Yardi and LaSalle. The session “Reducing Water and Waste Starts with Data” explored how KRC and LaSalle have optimized the efficiency of their assets with the use of utility data analytics. The W2 program gives organizations the basic tools needed to do the same. Benefits of Benchmarking Benchmarking has helped KRC surge ahead of industry norms in several ways. Utility benchmarking is becoming more popular: state, regional, and local regulations are starting to require it, tenants are looking for more efficient buildings to lease, and investors are seeing the value and profitability. Reducing water, waste, electricity, carbon footprints, greenhouse gasses, and emissions is becoming more than environmental – it’s now political. And policies from city governments, like the NYC Mayor’s Carbon Challenge, and state legislators, like California’s Assembly Bill 802, are becoming more common across the U.S. and mean serious business. Noncompliant owners and buildings are fined or placed on a publicized list. By adopting resource tracking measures early on, the organization and its legal team are better prepared to comply to benchmarking requirements. Lenders also look at ENERGY STAR scores as a measure of how well a building is being operated, so even businesses in locations that do not require benchmarking benefit from doing so. Neff encourages companies to get started with benchmarking as soon as possible. “Investors are looking for data coverage and benchmarking. It’s better to at least have the data gathered and organized even if you can’t show mind-blowing results in the first years,” she says. Organizations can gain access to greater capital for growth by demonstrating that buildings are operated efficiently. Benchmarking can even effect occupancy rates and leasing rates. In LA, Neff explains, class B buildings with ENERGY STAR certifications lease at higher rates than class A buildings without certification. Certified buildings also experience higher occupancy rates. Energy benchmarking has become a critical component of growth because it can also lower overhead costs. Neff recalls how an exterior leak could have cost the company thousands. Neff says, “Benchmarking is how we found exterior leaks. We have really good detection systems in the interiors of our buildings. But boy, if you have a leak in the exterior, a drip irrigation line that’s buried, good luck figuring out that is happening! The only way to do that currently is through water benchmarking.” She continues, “We had a building that had a 25 percent increase in water that quarter compared to the previous year. It’s something that could’ve gone on for months and months. It’s not just the cost. It’s the damage to the area: the integrity of the foundation, the soil, the plants, and nobody knew.” KRC noticed a change in waste diversion at a different property. “One building dropped precipitously in its diversion but it was the same number of pickups,” Neff begins. “Nothing changed about the service schedule and we couldn’t figure out why the data was changing.” It turns out that the recycling was contaminated….with spaghetti. “A tenant would have regular spaghetti parties and dump the remains into the recycling...
No Smoking Units
See How NALS Did It
Transitioning one property to a nonsmoking policy can be a challenge. But 49 properties? That’s no small feat. NALS Apartment Homes recently undertook this task, using the communication tools in RentCafe to help smooth the process. Keep reading to learn more about NALS’ decision to roll out a nonsmoking policy, the three-phase approached it used and the effect the shift has had on marketing, leasing and retention. Why Transition to a Nonsmoking Portfolio NALS began exploring options to reduce and/or eliminate smoking across its portfolio in 2015. After polling residents and staff, researching local laws and engaging with local chapters of the American Lung Association, it was determined that most properties would adopt a nonsmoking policy. According to the NALS 2017 Annual Report, “While the negative health effects of smoking influenced our decision, we were also motivated to mitigate the increased costs of cleaning a smoking apartment, the increased risk of fire caused by smokers and the disturbance that smoking causes to nonsmoking resident and employees.” Policy Change in Three Parts NALS approached the transition to nonsmoking gradually, to allow time for clear communication and minimize the impact on residents. “RentCafe was a huge help in making our nonsmoking policy a success,” shared Kayla Campbell, marketing leader at NALS. “We used RENTCafé to send out the initial surveys, and then to streamline what was communicated about the policy in our marketing, online applications and email correspondence. We also used the calendar and announcement functions in the resident portals to ensure the transition date was top-of-mind.” Phase 1 (2015): Surveys NALS sent out surveys to gauge interest at the properties, determine primary resident questions/concerns to address and to see which specific buildings were already effectively nonsmoking. Phase 2 (2016): Notice of Intentions A notice of...
Cycling for a Cause
Courage Classic Bicycle Tour
Yardi client Prologis is the presenting sponsor of the Courage Classic Bicycle Tour, a mult-day cycling event set for July 21-22 that raises money for Children’s Hospital Colorado. In 9 years of sponsorship, Prologis has raised $2 million for the hospital’s foundation. Yardi is proud to support fundraising efforts for this important cause by making a donation in support of the event each year. This July, Prologis has gathered a team of 100 riders with a goal of raising $150,000 for the hospital. The ride takes place from a base of the Copper Mountain Resort in Vail, Colo, elevation 9,750 feet. Participants chose from routes of around 80 or 40 miles on each of the two days. Shorter routes are available to families bringing children to participate. “The Courage Classic provides a great bonding experience and a unique opportunity to spend time with colleagues and business partners from around the world,” shared the Prologis marketing team. A global logistics real estate company, Prologis has over 1,600 employees in 19 countries. Yardi software helps facilitate the company’s partnership with the world’s major manufacturing and distribution companies. “Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation is so grateful for the partnership with Prologis as our Presenting Sponsor of the Courage Classic Bicycle Tour. This event wouldn’t be what it has become today without their commitment,” said Emily Kotas, Senior Manager, Corporate Partnerships for Children’s Hospital Colorado. Learn more about the...
NMHC Top Managers
Yardi Clients Shine
Online reputation management matters. How masterfully a company handles feedback can give it a huge advantage over the competition as prospects shop around for a new rental. ORA Power Ranking shifted through the online reputations of 75,000 rental properties. The following list represents the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) top 10 best-ranked managers by online reputation. The companies below received the highest ORA scores. For perspective, the national average is 60.39. Each of the companies below ranked 71.58 or higher, earning top marks for online reputation. Yardi client The Bozzuto Group once again took home the first place title. The Bozzuto Group has ranked number one in online ratings for four years. To maintain its ranking, Bozzuto increased its score by 2 percent from last year, improving from an ORA rating of 79.13 to 80.76. That 2 percent was needed to stay ahead of second place performer AvalonBay Communities, another Yardi client. With an ORA score of 80.17, it was a close call for the top two positions. In third place comes Gables Residential. This Yardi client received an ORA score of 76.98. This is a noteworthy, 4 percent improvement for the Atlanta-based company. MAA nips at the heels of Gables Residential with a score of 76.44. Its 3 percent improvement in the ORA score kept the organization in the top five. Rounding out the top five with a stellar performance comes Cortland Partners, a Yardi client. This underdog improved its ORA rating by a whopping 10 percent, reaching 75.20 this year. The following companies complete the top 10 rankings. 6. Camden Property Trust 7. RAM Partners (Yardi client) 8. Pegasus Residential (Yardi cient) 9. Aimco 10. Greystar (Yardi client) Congratulations to all of the NMHC Top 10 Managers, especially our valued Yardi...
Better Homes
Real Estate in the UAE
Better Homes LLC in the United Arab Emirates takes pride in seeing things just a little sooner than almost everybody else. Linda Mahoney formed the company in 1986 after noticing the lack of professional real estate companies in Dubai, the country’s largest city. Since then, she and her team have dedicated themselves to understanding their markets inside out, eventually growing Better Homes into the UAE’s leading real estate company. Better Homes’ services include residential sales and leasing, commercial sales and leasing, property management, and holiday homes. The company has offices in Oman, Jordan and Qatar in addition to branch offices across the UAE. Launched as a rental agency, Better Homes opened a sales division in 2002 that has served tens of thousands of buyers and sellers. Another division created in 2015 organizes and promotes off-plan projects—properties without structures—in Dubai. Better Homes expanded from one woman working from a desk in a dining room to almost 500 employees staffing offices across the UAE. It preceded the Burj Khafila, the Burj Al Arab, the Marina, and other landmarks of Dubai’s stunning real estate development. This expansion arose from a business model that emphasized reliability, convenience, and visibility supported by a website that welcomes 24,000 page visits per day. “Every day, we look for ways to bring new and better services to our clients and maintain our market position,” says Ryan Mahoney, CEO at Better Homes. “The key for us has always been finding places for people to live. Our business is really quite simple: people and their homes. We do much more than that, of course, but people and their homes will always be at the heart of what we do.” Using the latest and most advanced property management technology is one way Better Homes executes its business with the desired level of personal service. Client service and internal efficiency were the principal factors that led Better Homes to adopt Yardi Voyager as its property management platform in 2014. “With our company growing across multiple verticals in the UAE, we needed a way to get an overview of the portfolio at one glance,” says Zubin Firozi, Director of Operations at Better Homes. “By housing financial and operational data in one place, Voyager gives us a full-business platform that covers all aspects of lease administration for every market we serve. Voyager delivers simple and understandable reports, electronic receipts and service that’s customized to each client’s unique requirements. Our staff spends less time on data entry and administrative tasks and more time managing our properties effectively—and finding homes for people. From an internal standpoint, Voyager makes data easily accessible to employees and saves money by reducing our reliance on paper.” Firozi applies more than 12 years of experience, five of them with Better Homes, to helping clients buy, rent or sell property. In his earlier role as head of property management, he oversaw an 80-member team that managed residential and commercial properties. Previous positions in business development and leasing management provided additional skills that help him back up founder Mahoney’s assertion that Better Homes is “the Middle East’s most trustworthy and dependable property agency.” “Real estate is all about the human connection. We constantly look for ways to offer new and better services to our clients. As a key collaborator and one of the world’s Top 100 private cloud companies as ranked by Forbes, Yardi helps us do that,” Firozi says. Learn more about Better Homes. This article previously appeared in Arabian...
Yardi Senior Living Forum
Welcomes Clients to Santa Barbara April 25-26
The Yardi Senior Living Forum will return to the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort on April 25-26, 2018. The event is a targeted, intensive learning and networking opportunity designed for senior living professionals including directors, nursing staff, sales and marketing, executives and more. Attendees will gain deeper insight into the Yardi Senior Living Suite, including Yardi Voyager, Yardi Senior CRM, Yardi EHR, Yardi eMAR and RentCafe Senior Living. “The Forum is a great way to brush up on existing product knowledge, learn about recent product enhancements, and get a view into our product roadmap,” shared Ray Elliot, vice president of senior living at Yardi. Why the Forum? The Yardi Senior Living Forum draws curriculum from the popular Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference (YASC). In addition to tracks targeted to senior living providers, the Forum also offers accounting, reporting, and technology classes. While YASC will continue to be a valuable resource for general senior living education, the conference now offers limited senior living courses. For more in-depth training on the Yardi Senior Living Suite, the Forum is now the go-to event for senior living clients. “The exchange of information when we come to these conferences [builds] the kind of relationship that helps our business, make our lives better and makes using the system better,” said Latonya Lawson, previous Forum attendee and Business Systems Manager for The Shelter Group. With education offered for basic to advanced users, the Forum has something for everyone! “Based on feedback from prior forums and new product features, we’ve added a number of new classes this year. In total, we are offering 52 unique classes with five courses to choose from in each session,” explained Elliot. In addition to courses, the Forum will provide one-on-one training with Yardi Senior Living technical staff, roundtables, and product roadmap sessions aimed to offer the latest scoop on what’s next from Yardi. A returning feature of the Forum, attendees will have access to Knowledge Central. This is the place to be if you want to learn more about new products and upgrades, or if you have questions about your current software. New to 2018, attendees can find RentCafe, EHR and eMAR experts in this space. Conference registration includes access to specialized education courses, roundtable discussions, breakfast and lunch buffets, along with networking and entertainment opportunities. Going Green We’re going green at the Forum! The Yardi Events app offers a paperless, mobile conference experience. Attendees can access all conference information, courses, social networking and in-app messaging all from their fingertips. The Yardi Events app is available for download in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. A browser-based version, synced to the mobile app, will also be available so attendees can access all features from their desktop. User log-in details have been emailed to all registered Forum attendees. We’re looking forward to welcoming our clients at the Forum. Join us and register today! Already registered? Let us know you’ll be there and join the conversation on social media using #YardiForum. For more information about the conference, visit the Yardi Senior Living Forum...
Informed Investments
With Fogelman Properties
In 14 years as a Yardi client, Fogelman Properties has adopted a variety of solutions that comprise a single connected platform for running its real estate property and investment management business. For example, automating resident insurance enrollment at its rental properties produced 100% insurance compliance. Another solution for tracking and managing leads gave rise to more cost-effective marketing and improved employee training. Fogelman also automated its property management, accounting, resident screening and online payment processing operations. More recently, Fogelman sought to bring new clarity to its property management and real estate investment strategies. That decision prompted the company’s adoption of Yardi Matrix. Yardi Matrix compiles market and property-level research for underwriting real estate loans and investments. “We will use Yardi Matrix data about supply, demand, sales, loans, leases and other factors to identify markets we might consider investing in,” said Mark Fogelman, president of Fogelman Properties. “It will also provide data on comparable properties to help us benchmark the performance of properties we currently own against the competition. Yardi Matrix will be a major contributor to profitable investments and informed property management.” “We are proud to deliver the full capabilities of Yardi Matrix and excited to participate in another chapter of Fogelman’s 55-year history as one of the property management industry’s top companies,” said Jeff Adler, vice president of Yardi Matrix. Fogelman, founded in 1963 and based in Memphis, Tenn., is one of the largest and most experienced privately-owned multifamily investment and property management companies in the U.S. It specializes in multifamily acquisitions, property management, construction management and asset management. Fogelman presently operates 80 multifamily communities totaling 28,000 apartment homes in 10 states. Schedule a demo to learn more about how Yardi Matrix helps leading real estate investors make better decisions on property prospecting, underwriting and asset...
Connections at YASC
Fort Smith Housing Authority
The next Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference is coming to Washington, D.C., kicking off on May 30, 2018. YASC brings together more than 1,500 professionals from nearly every property and financial management industry for instruction, comradery, and insight into the future of technology. At last year’s YASC, we sat down with Rachel Brown, Section 8 manager for the Fort Smith, Arkansas Housing Authority (FSHA). Rachel has witnessed exciting growth during her nearly 15 years with FSHA, growth that includes personal experiences, organizational development, as well as the growth of clients she serves. Here’s a recap of our conversation last spring. Welcome to YASC! Tell us a little about yourself and your organization. Our mission is to develop, rehabilitate and manage decent, safe and sanitary affordable housing. We promote equal opportunity, fair housing initiatives and the deconcentration of race and poverty. I’ve been with FSHA for nearly 15 years, and we’ve really grown over that time. When I first started as a housing specialist, we had around 450 Public Housing units and less than 1,200 vouchers. Today, we have more than 1,600 vouchers under our management, transitioned 288 public housing units through the RAD program, and replaced 170 public housing units with the help of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. Our current development efforts include Low-Income Housing Tax Credit units, rehabbing dilapidated housing for sale to low- and moderate-income families, and exploring ways to provide everyone with the affordable housing that meets their needs. What do you find most rewarding about your career thus far? Seeing people’s lives transition and change for the better, those are the real ‘wow’ moments. Clients come into our program in many personal situations. Some are single parents, others are going to school or raising a family. It’s inspiring when they enter our...
Growing with Yardi
CHP Management, Australia
When Charles Hunt decided to strike out on his own and start a boutique property management firm in Melbourne, Australia, he knew that one of the factors that would make or break the new business was the technology platform he chose. “CHP Management was born out of the need to provide boutique, high quality add-value service to our clients. We only do property management, and we specialise in bringing back professional service to property management and the real estate industry,” says Hunt, the founder and director of CHP Management, which opened in 2014. The company focuses on privately held retail shopping centres, industrial properties and office buildings. Coming from a major multi-national firm where he had worked for 8 years, Hunt saw that commercial real estate clients were often disappointed or frustrated without the support of personalised customer service. At the same time, they required a robust technology platform that would handle much of the back office work. “We had to make sure that the ‘exact science’ part of our role was done well, accurately and efficiently. That’s what Yardi does for us,” Hunt says. His vision has been recognised – In 2010 and 2015 he was awarded the honour of REIV Commercial Property Manager of the Year and in 2016 he was a finalist for National REIA Commercial Property Manager of the Year. Four years after Hunt signed his first Yardi contract, he can definitively say that he made a smart choice by choosing the Yardi Commercial Suite. The rapid growth of his company, while maintaining a lean staff size, is proof. CHP Management now has in excess of 100 properties under management after starting with just one. Despite that influx, just one staff member can handle the admin and accounting platform for...
Efficiency Unlocked
RentCafe for Affordable Housing
Linda Greenwaldt, an IT specialist with CommonBond Communities, has a well-rounded understanding of the affordable housing industry. She has turned units and worked her way up to help manage properties. Her career path has given her a unique perspective to her current role in IT. She asked, “What can we do to make the process more efficient, for prospects, residents, and staff?” Yardi RentCafe for subsidized housing is a robust multifamily marketing and leasing platform. It simplifies marketing, SEO, SEM, online leasing, and resident engagement. Greenwaldt and the CommonBond team saw the potential for RentCafe to simplify operations for prospects, residents, and staff. CommonBond recently implemented RentCafe. The nonprofit organization is rolling out the software to its 11,000 residents at a pace of about five properties every two weeks, beginning with property websites and resident-facing services. “It’s a lot easier in RentCafe,” says Greenwaldt. “We’re to the point now where the websites are awesome.” CommonBond’s new property websites include modern layouts, user-friendly navigation, easy access to floor plans and pricing information. When prospects are ready to make a decision, online leasing is available. “I really like the way it all works in RentCafe. It’s so much easier to manage RentCafe marketing than lots of separate components. I’m not a web designer, but I can throw myself in RentCafe and achieve consistency between sites,” says Greenwaldt. RentCafe goes beyond prospects’ first steps to improve the resident experience. In the RentCafe resident portal, renters can file and track maintenance requests, receive updates on community message boards, and access a variety of ways to pay their rent. “I’m loving the resident experience in RentCafe. Residents have so many options in how to pay,” says Greenwaldt. “Credit card payments, ACH payments, reoccurring payments, Walk In Payments (WIPS). We...
New Digital Approaches
Dalma Mall of Abu Dhabi
Located in the heart of Abu Dhabi, Dalma Mall is one of the most diversified shopping malls in UAE. It serves as a vibrant neighbourhood resource and shopping destination. The mall helps meet Abu Dhabi’s 2030 strategic vision and the Emirate’s framework for long-term economic and social growth. Bhupinder Singh, the General Manager and Chief Financial Officer of Dalma Mall, is responsible for shaping Dalma Mall’s retail management software operations to help optimize the company’s strategy. Singh has more than 20 years of experience in retail real estate, managing multiple hospitality and residential portfolios with brands such as MAF, Emaar and Meraas. Singh summarized his approach to the business: “Over the last 7 years I was honoured to influence the process of enhancing the assets’ functionality. Ultimately, everything drills down to numbers and my passion is to see numbers move.” Dalma Mall, with near-full lease occupancy, has a total gross leasable area of 151,000sqm, including more than 400 stores, 6,500 car parking spaces, a 14-screen cinema, game zone, food court, and a number of restaurants and cafés including several international fashion brands. The mall is a development from The Developers Holding, a property development firm owned by a consortium of Abu Dhabi’s leading business houses. The Developers brand name has become synonymous with delivering world class projects and optimal consumer satisfaction across the GCC. Singh noted: “Our strategy is to provide customers with the ultimate experience and most importantly a place to socialize. Communication is the key to enhancing customer satisfaction.” One of the most significant phases in digitizing Dalma Mall processes was adopting Yardi Voyager, the cloud-based property management and accounting platform. “Organizing, managing and reporting are the main functions in any business sector. I have been able to practice these functions following the introduction of computer technology on an industrial scale. Moving forward from manual book entries and accounting in excel based reports, our target has been to continuously, evolve to use the latest and most advanced technology,” says Singh. “We reviewed multiple vendors and found that the Voyager 7S platform was not only designed to support local requirements, but also delivered enhanced functionality that was specific to the specialist needs of the retail sector.” Dalma Mall also implemented Yardi Orion Business Intelligence, a solution that is designed to provide a portfolio-wide view of occupancy, vacancy, accounts receivable status, actual revenues vs. budget and other key leasing, asset management and accounting performance indicators. “Data is fundamental to our business. From monthly reports and analysis, leasing status to funneling sales figures, we have always been inundated with data. After the implementation of Yardi Voyager, we became fully equipped to embrace the power of big data and use it strategically to optimize our retail management operations,” Singh said. “We decided to move forward with a comprehensive process of selecting a new platform to help us enhance the management of our retail operations. The fully integrated Voyager 7S solution brought us immediate benefits, successfully delivering the capability to strengthen our forecasting abilities with automated budgeting, valuations and modelling,” explains Singh. “The implementation of Voyager was a game changer for us, revolutionizing our property operation strategies while providing us with a platform to manage business intelligence, contact and prospect information, asset maintenance and more from our mobile devices” Technological change continues to be a key driver for the retail industry as it can benefit consumers and retailers simultaneously. “At Dalma Mall we encompass a variety of technologies to engage with our customers,” Singh said. “Yardi’s innovative technology is an essential move to achieve organizational growth and the journey so far has been educative and rewarding. The relationship with Yardi and the solutions they provide has helped us improve our efficiency and enhanced our reporting culture. The future of the relationship is exciting and we looking forward to working with Yardi long term, and are already looking to implement other solutions from...
Senior Star
Walk to End Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. It is the only cause of death within the top 10 list that currently cannot be prevented, cured or slowed. Many Americans are working to change that. Yardi client Senior Star of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has joined in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Senior Star operates 14 communities with a total of 2,200 apartments in six states. A small but mighty force in the senior housing industry, the company is making its mark on Alzheimer’s research and awareness. When Yardi reported on Senior Star in 2014, the company raised $255,000 through The Walk to End Alzheimer’s®. In 2017, the company successfully raised $600,000. In the last five years, the organization has exceeded $2.3 million in funds raised. Associates from throughout the organization raised funds and put in the miles to make it happen. Tyler Hanes, Project Director at Senior Star, is one such associate. He has participated in the walk for six years. His work with memory support communities encouraged his participation in the walks. In 2010, Senior Star acquired its first memory support community. Hanes frequently visited with the residents and their families. The experience had a profound impact on his understanding of the disease. “I had always been aware of Alzheimer’s, but I never fully understood the magnitude of the disease until I was touched that year by so many of our remarkable residents struggling with Alzheimer’s. I was initially encourage by Robert (Bob) Thomas, one of the Senior Star founders, to join the Walk To End Alzheimer’s and I’m certainly grateful for his words of wisdom,” says Hanes. Hanes received support from as far away as Toronto. “It’s always inspiring to know the people we work alongside, no matter their geographical location, share...
Shaping Futures
J.B. Brown Fund
Yardi client USA Properties teamed up with Life Steps in 1996 to create the J.B. Brown Fund, a philanthropic partnership to help residents of affordable housing fulfill their academic potential, participate in sports, and overcome financial hardships. The Fund Geoffrey C. Brown, president and CEO of USA Properties Fund Inc., co-created J.B. Brown fund in honor of his father. His father established the company’s mission back in 1981. The fund is an extension of that mission. “What’s important to me is our tagline as a company: Creating Outstanding Communities,’” says Brown. “To me, an outstanding community isn’t just a pretty project with sticks and bricks. A nice community also includes the social services that we provide.” Social services at USA Properties begin with LifeSteps, a resource provider offering skills training and educational programs that empower residents. Services are extended through the J.B. Brown fund. The athletic opportunities offered through the fund are close to Brown’s heart. He participated in youth sports as a child and coached his children in youth sports for several years. “The lessons learned in youth sports are invaluable,” begins Brown. “You learn teamwork, discipline, and competition but most importantly, you learn how to lose. You learn that you can’t be afraid to fail. That might be the most valuable of all lessons.” The crown jewels of the J.B. Brown Fund are the academic scholarships, awarded to residents that strive to attend institutions of higher learning. To date, the J.B. Brown Fund has been able to fund every qualified applicant. “We want to create a mindset where people don’t think that because they grew up in affordable housing community that they can’t go to college,” explains Brown. “We’ve had a number of successful people who have gone through the whole program....
Grubb Properties
Upgrade Like a Rock Star
When Grubb Properties decided to upgrade its Yardi Voyager property management and accounting platform to the latest version, the company knew it would meet a little resistance from its staff. Iris Esguerra, Grubb’s Information Technology Business Analyst and Yardi Project Manager, says, “While Grubb embraced the benefits of moving to 7S, our Voyager power users were a little nervous about the potential disruption an upgrade can cause. With a change management strategy that included a lot of communication and documentation through the testing process to go live, Grubb experienced a successful transition.” Our Upgrade Like a Rock Star series shares insider tips for the move to Yardi Voyager 7S. In this installment, Esguerra tells how Grubb made the conversion for its 4,448 multifamily units and 28 commercial properties. Testing and Training The upgrade process began in the fourth quarter of 2016 with a target to go live in late March 2017. Grubb relied heavily on its Yardi Consulting Practices contact, Tricia Wyatt, to stay on track and achieve a smooth transition to 7S. Esguerra says that Wyatt was instrumental in helping Grubb through the upgrade by supplying testing materials and guideline documents for each Yardi module. Relevant documents were distributed to keep testers focused. Since the upgrade would greatly impact the look and feel of the platform, the documents provided a clear breakdown of functionality which users tested and became familiar with in the stage database. Esguerra explains the process, “As the project manager for Grubb and single point of contact for the implementation upgrade, I was provided a project plan and testing checklist workbook. The workbook showed a timeline of goals to hit each week prior to the go-live date, testing results for each module, a list of Yardi root menu sets to...
Tech + Growth
Saudi Arabia’s ACCL Uses Yardi
Arabian Centres Company Ltd (ACCL) became Saudi Arabia’s largest developer, owner and operator of retail malls by offering international-standard quality shopping and entertainment. In formulating a strategy to build on that success, ACCL’s executive team came to realize that expanding its portfolio across the Kingdom depends as much on harnessing new technology as on providing high-quality retail and leisure offerings. The task of keeping ACCL’s property management software in tune with the company’s strategy lies principally with Rashed Alothman, ACCL’s chief information officer. “A desire to take on new challenges and drive improvements and achievements for the business is my primary motivation,” Alothman said. ACCL, a subsidiary of Fawaz Al Hokair Group, has grown to encompass 19 shopping centers in 10 cities since its founding in 2001. Its more than 1 million square meters of total gross leasable area (GLA) represent a quarter of all organized GLA in the Kingdom. ACCL transformed the Kingdom’s retail sector with a commitment to create unparalleled destinations for shoppers, leisure seekers and retailers. ACCL has embraced an aggressive strategy designed to reinforce its position as the Kingdom’s premier mall operator. Eight developments in the pipeline will nearly double its portfolio to approximately 2 million square meters of GLA. The growth plans are part of a larger goal. “We seek to advance beyond developing mere functional properties. We aspire to create living, vibrant and integrated communities and enhance the quality of life for tenants and customers alike,” Alothman said. To achieve that goal and make sure ACCL properties remain the destination of choice for 132 million annual visitors and 3,600 retail outlets, Alothman is spearheading a digital transformation program. The initiative emphasizes expanding technology capability and utilization in such areas as business-to-business communication, social media and numerous operational procedures. ...
