The second quarter of 2015 has begun on a positive note for built-to-rent single family properties. Markets for existing single family rentals across the nation enjoy occupancy rates close to 95%–and these properties need managers. If you’ve positioned yourself properly, then success is well within reach. If not, here are a few tips to bring you up to speed. Build Bridges As your business grows, so should revise your list of industry contacts. By expanding your network of professional service providers, you will be better equipped to thoroughly meet clients’ needs in a timely manner. In a perfect world, you will already have an advanced understanding of federal, state, and local laws regarding fair housing, tax codes, and business regulations. But since you probably don’t have the time, energy or mental capacity to be an expert in everything, familiarize yourself with the aforementioned guidelines and then add lawyers that specialize in real estate and contract law to your inner circle of contacts. Inspectors also make good friends, since they can detect problems with your properties before they become lawsuits. Accessibility compliance inspectors, as well as those with expertise in building codes and environmental regulations are excellent contacts to have on hand. Be sure to have each property inspected every 3-5 years. As houses experience wear and tear, land shifts, and properties settle, a property can fall out of compliance. Without early detection, a property out of compliance can cost you millions. Let’s not forget your everyday heroes—you will need plenty of them. You probably already have a strong relationship with a local handyman, electrician, and plumber. Consider adding at least two more professionals from every county in which you plan to expand. This way, you won’t exhaust your current contacts and you won’t have all of your eggs...

Yardi® announced today that it has been selected by iStorage® to provide the management software for its self-storage portfolio. With over 65 properties in ten states and several new acquisitions under contract, iStorage needed an innovative and flexible system that provided time-saving controls to support their aggressive growth. After an extensive due diligence period comparing multiple systems, iStorage chose Yardi Store Enterprise™ and completed implementation of the platform in March 2015. As a rapidly growing business, iStorage needed to transition to their new system quickly. To ensure iStorage was up and running smoothly, cutover from their legacy system was successfully completed with expert support from the dedicated Yardi team in just three days. The implementation included extensive testing and custom development through Yardi Store’s powerful API for both internal and customer-facing systems. According to Chris Harris, president of iStorage, “We chose Yardi Store Enterprise over other options because of its multi-store management capabilities, strong accrual accounting platform, customization opportunities and friendly support team. Our core system must also support our aggressive growth objectives, and Yardi Store Enterprise was the clear and obvious choice for us.” He continued, “Yardi Store Enterprise is delivering everything we need, and thanks to a smooth rollout we experienced very little business interruption. The Yardi team was there every step of the way to support a quick and efficient transition to our new system.” Yardi is delighted to welcome iStorage to its continuously growing family of clients. “It has been a pleasure to partner with iStorage. They have assembled a world-class team that sees the big picture and strives to do everything the right way for their customers. Yardi looks forward to helping them achieve their goals, as we continue to offer a product stack that will keep iStorage —...

Asset Management companies in the UK have experienced several years of growth due to foreign capital flowing into the country during the lean years. As rents stabilize, the rate of growth is clearly unsustainable. Yardi brought together several asset management experts to discuss how asset management will reinvent itself during economic recovery and prosperity. According to Richard Williams, managing director asset services UK, CBRE
, The answer boils down to the company’s country of origin. Far Eastern and Middle Eastern investors continually require traditional asset management services. “That’s where most of our team’s work has come from in the last year. Although they tend to buy trophy properties, we spend a lot of time teaching them the fundamentals of asset management. It’s impossible for them to do this from Asia where they’re based.” Locally, there is a different story. Shaun Hose, director of asset management, BNP Paribas Real Estate, explains, “Now, the market has improved to such an extent that the yield shift alone won’t meet target returns. Institutional investors are looking for assets they can intensively manage and have levers to pull. The regions are high up on the agenda for UK investors as occupier markets come back, but London markets continue to be dominated by foreign investors.” This leaves local investors seeking a select few assets that will offer the value that they need: core plus assets with both income and an angle, and doughnut assets that are inside the M25, but outside of central London. Such properties include multi-let industrial, or distribution centres, with their low vacancy rates, resilience, and growing popularity. Such centres are often occupied by online retailers, powerhouses whose bravado is far from diminishing. There is also a notable amount of obsolete properties that could use a second wind....

Yardi’s Procure to Pay platform was recently featured on “Corporate Review,” hosted by Donald Trump Jr. with airings on the Bloomberg channel and Fox Business Network. The focus of the piece, conducted in an interview format with Brad Setser, Yardi’s Vice President of Marketing, and Akshai Rao, Business Development Manager for Procure to Pay, is the myriad business efficiencies that can be created thanks to the Procure to Pay product. “If you can centralize your purchasing on an online Procure to Pay system, there are several things you will be able to do,” Setser explained. “You will be able to leverage volume pricing much more easily than if all of your (property) sites are doing different things. Number two, you will be able to deliver and enforce policies and procedures across your entire portfolio, which is very difficult to do when your sites are doing their own thing. Third, with all of that spend data in one place you can conduct spend analytics and spend management. Lastly, if the Procure to Pay system is properly integrated with an invoice processing system, you can have a true paperless process from beginning to end.” Yardi clients Arcadia Management Group (Gary Shaw) and Post Properties (Janet Ham) describe their positive experiences using the product as part of the presentation. Watch the complete video...

Yardi announced today that it has completed an examination of its security and internal controls for 2014 and has received its final SSAE 16 SOC 1 Type 2 report for its Store Enterprise and Store Advantage applications. Formerly known as SAS 70, SOC 1 is published by the AICPA (American Institute of CPAs®) under the attestation standard SSAE 16 and involves undergoing an examination of policies, operating procedures and controls related to financial reporting of user entities by an independent auditor to objectively validate that the service organization meets its declared control objectives. Store Enterprise and Store Advantage are the only management software solutions in the self storage industry to obtain SOC 1 Type 2 compliance for eight consecutive years. “We take our clients’ needs very seriously and go above and beyond basic requirements to guarantee the safety and security of our systems and their data,” said James Hafen, self storage industry principal at Yardi. “Our largest customers include publicly traded REITs, and they rely on our SOC 1 compliance to ensure that the mission-critical management systems they employ to operate their businesses are absolutely sound.” Hafen added: “Our compliance efforts ultimately benefit all of our customers, not just the larger players. Compliance with this standard requires stringent internal policies related to software development and storing and accessing data and related hardware. As a result of our commitment, all customers can rest assured that Yardi is doing everything it can to ensure their data and systems are secure.” Now in its fourth decade, Yardi® is committed to the design, development and support of software for real estate investment management and property management, and includes leading self storage management software in its family of trusted solutions to help self storage operators increase revenue, become more...

Vantage Point Retirement Living (Vantage Point) has selected the Yardi Senior Living Suite, including flagship components Yardi Voyager® Senior Housing and Yardi EHR™, as its completely integrated platform for marketing, finance, community operations, and resident care management. Rita Stevens, vice president of operations for the southeastern Pennsylvania-based senior living provider, described the features and benefits offered by Yardi which made the software system attractive to Vantage Point. “The ability to have real-time information shared between corporate offices and communities is incredibly valuable. But even more than that, getting our community staff, outside physicians, and other care specialists connected is critical to serving our residents. For example, we have found that the Yardi Senior Living Suite makes information secure and available for up-to-date reporting on our residents’ medical information such as lab results and prescribed medications. This centralization of live data enables us to create the best possible outcomes for our residents, each and every time,” said Stevens. The Yardi Senior Living Suite replaces multiple software systems across Vantage Point’s marketing, accounting, and health care business units. “Our former software did not ‘talk’ to each other, which meant information did not flow very well between departments and that we often saw instances of duplicated data processing. One of our primary goals in reviewing new software was to have information tracking easily from a prospect’s initial point of contact at our communities, through their move-in date, and then throughout their residency with us. We found that Yardi provided the most streamlined processes to enable us to reach that goal, particularly with the capabilities Yardi offers for electronic health records and medication administration,” said Stevens. “Vantage Point is a great example of how senior living providers can consolidate their investment in technology and reap the rewards of...

Institutional asset manager Principal Real Estate Investors will use newly acquired solutions from the Yardi Commercial Suite™ and the Yardi Investment Suite™ to help reduce business process lifecycles, increase transparency into operational performance and monitor investment risk as it prepares to execute its growth strategy. The single stack of integrated Yardi business solutions will provide Principal Real Estate Investors’ commercial property managers and operating partners a common platform for property management, accounting and budgeting. It will also provide a 360-degree view of the company’s commercial investments. “Our goal is for the Yardi Commercial and Investment Suites to provide a technology platform that will help drive accurate, real-time performance analysis that improves decision-making and mitigates risk. As we increase our assets under management, we expect the Yardi platform to help us achieve scale without a corresponding increase in G&A,” said Ken Dubas, senior managing director and chief operating officer for Principal Real Estate Investors. “One objective is to unify our asset management and investor reporting operations with a single stack approach to benefit our internal staff, investors and third-party property managers.” “Principal Real Estate Investors is one of the premier real estate asset management firms in the world and we look forward to collaborating with them and their property managers. We are very excited that they chose the Commercial Suite and Investment Suite. These solutions are designed to drive workforce efficiency and reduce business process lifecycles while providing powerful and flexible analytics, reporting and business intelligence for managing the entire real estate lifecycle,” said Rob Teel, Senior Vice President, Yardi Global Solutions. About Principal Real Estate Investors Principal Real Estate Investors manages or sub-advises $57.2 billion in commercial real estate assets (as of Dec. 31, 2014). The firm’s real estate capabilities include both public and...

Adoption of Yardi Voyager® 7S has reached more than 1,650 clients and reports of enhanced security, efficiency and cost benefits with Yardi’s most advanced property management and accounting software continue rolling in. “The mobility of Voyager 7S makes being out of the office a lot easier,” said Matt Evert, chief financial officer for Versa Development. “If I have to look up something for one of our owners, I can pull up my phone and respond within minutes. It’s definitely more efficient than having to go back to my computer.” For Rachel Garrett, director of community operations for master-planned community Issaquah Highlands, upgrading to Yardi Voyager 7S allowed her staff to focus on their core business and innovation; not on system maintenance, data security, and hardware. “We run a large, complex community with a relatively small team. Voyager 7S is so intuitive that it’s easy to train users,” she said, adding, “It has also been a cost savings tool for us. There are the obvious savings in not having to purchase, protect and replace hardware, but what we’ve really recognized is the opportunity cost—what our staff is able to do and accomplish because they’re not having to manage those other pieces.” “Our staff no longer has to contact information systems to find reports or reverse charge functions. They simply type the word ‘charge,’ and every function pops up. Being able to use Voyager 7S across browsers is also really nice,” said Leslie Dabi, business systems director for nonprofit housing development and management organization EAH Housing. About Versa Development Versa Development, based in Southfield, Mich., is a national real estate firm that acquires and develops retail, industrial, office and medical office properties throughout the United States. The company manages all aspects of project preparation, deal flow...

Yardi announced today the release of its new Yardi Senior CRM product, an advanced customer relationship management solution built into the Yardi Voyager® Senior Housing platform and integrated with all the Yardi Senior Living Suite™ products. “We matched the capabilities of a traditional CRM system with the workflows unique to senior living, and we did so within a complete business solution built on the latest mobile and Web-based technology available,” said Eric Kolber, vice president of senior living for Yardi “Yardi Senior CRM delivers powerful metrics to calculate return on marketing investment, enables insightful sales pipeline projections using real-time data, and facilitates accurate pricing proposals for prospective residents based on assessed healthcare recommendations,” explained Kolber. Data generated through Yardi Senior CRM flows freely throughout the Yardi Senior Living Suite. “The complete integration of our ERP, CRM, and EHR solutions streamlines workflows and improves data integrity. For example, when a prospect hits a certain point in the sales cycle, Senior CRM notifies nurses that a needs evaluation is required, and their resulting recommendations automatically flow through to subsequent pricing proposals. Information is easily shared between sales and clinical staff, and all relevant data carries forward to billing functions and accounting personnel. No interfaces are required, and no redundant data entry is needed. Staff are kept informed and alerted to actionable items in real time,” said Kolber. Yardi Senior CRM is a browser-based solution accessible from any desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. “Senior CRM gives leasing agents mobile access to all of the tools they need to easily and effectively work with prospects and convert leads into sales,” added Kolber. Yardi Senior CRM is a component of the Yardi Senior Living Suite which includes Yardi Voyager Senior Housing for managing occupancy, accounting, and property management,...

Each May, hundreds of professionals who use Yardi products as part of their daily work gather in Washington, D.C., for the company’s annual East Coast Advanced Solutions Conference – better known as YASC. The three day event, filled with opportunities to learn how to better utilize your company’s existing Yardi technology or enhance your software platform with complementary products, is held at the Washington Hilton. This year’s event is set for May 19-21. The 2015 schedule will include expert panel discussions, open laboratory opportunities, and over 200 in-depth classroom sessions. An early bird registration rate is now available, but will end on February 5. Register at this link. A general schedule of events can be found here. YASC attendees typically vary in professional specialty, but real estate professionals who benefit from the conference include executives, marketers, IT and finance professionals, trainers, and site level property managers. Whether you use Yardi to do your job or manage employees who do, there will be myriad benefits to attendance at YASC. The Washington Hilton is a centrally located hotel, and clients typically enjoy dining and sightseeing in Washington in addition to attending the conference and earning continuing education credits. For clients who normally attend the Fall YASC session, Yardi’s West Coast conference for 2015 is set for Anaheim, Calif., from Oct....

Yardi’s RENTCafé TextPayTM feature is the most recent addition to the software’s mobile payment functionalities, reducing delinquencies by giving users another convenient option to make rent payments on schedule. Residents opt into the service through the property’s resident portal, then set up the account from which payments will be deducted. Whenever they’d like to make a payment, residents can text “pay now” to a short code and then verify the payment. A confirmation marks the completed transaction. The TextPay service is free for residents and property managers as part of the RENTCafé resident services package. The mobile feature helps to decrease delinquencies by giving residents yet another option to conveniently make a payment: those who enjoy face-to-face interactions can still pay in person; those with steady fund availability can schedule a reoccurring payment online; and now those who desire the greatest degree of flexibility can pay through the app or via text. Robert Sang, Technical Project Leader, Programming with Yardi, believes that it’s the convenience of text-to-pay that makes the tool so effective. “The capability of making a payment from your mobile device at any time is appealing,” says Sang. “These features offer the residents a new comfort level when making payments by eliminating the need for a computer or check.” By offering a variety of payment options, property managers can help residents work around the barriers that hindered on-time payments. Limited leasing office hours, a lack of checks, no stamps, federal holidays—those delays are a thing of the past. Online portals and mobile payments make settling balances simple and convenient. Everyone stands to benefit. “Does it decrease delinquency? Absolutely,” confirms Sang. “I will tell you that we see greater through traffic in our resident services application between the 25th – 5th of the month....

Yardi’s expanding global user base was on display earlier this month as the company hosted user conferences in Sydney, Singapore and London with a record number of attendees at each conference. Yardi will host an additional annual user conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for its client base in the Middle East in March 2015. The Australia event was held at the Australian National Maritime Museum, in Sydney, over two days. Attendees participated in over a dozen sessions that covered a diverse range of topics including Yardi’s product roadmap together with breakout sessions focused on investment management, business intelligence, job cost, advanced accounting, budgeting, retail, mobility, facilities management, procurement, valuations and more. “We’re excited to host local user conferences across our international markets. These events allow us to strengthen the partnership with clients, allow attendees to network and provide an important channel for client feedback.” said Neal Gemassmer, Vice President, International. “And of course, it’s great to have some fun as well.” An evening social hour was hosted on the HMS Vampire, a retired Royal Navy Destroyer. The group enjoyed a special tour, light entertainment, sunset appetizers and beverages on the helipad of the ship with the Sydney skyline in the background. For more information on Yardi Australia, visit http://www.yardi.com.au A photo gallery of images from the event can be found below. Credit for all images goes to the ANZ User Conference Team especially Sham...

If you’ve been to the doctor lately, technology’s advance into the patient care and treatment realm was likely evident – whether your physician made notes on an iPad or your follow-up questions were addressed in an e-mail, medicine and mobile record-keeping have become inseparable. A similar transition has been underway in the realm of senior living, specifically in assisted-care communities. Yardi recently introduced Yardi EHR, an Electronic Health Record platform. Yardi EHR is the final piece in a single stack solution for assisted living and retirement communities, and provides seamless connectivity for resident care, medical record keeping, community marketing, property management, back office accounting, finance, and business intelligence. For companies looking for an enterprise solution to optimize their performance in the senior care sector, it is the perfect fit. “It really is just one completely integrated ERP and EHR solution, fully interoperable, and combining the knowledge of multiple teams from across all facets of the real estate, senior living, and healthcare industries,” said Fil Southerland, Director, Yardi Health Care Solutions. Southerland was an innovator of Yardi’s eMAR product, an Electronic Medication Administration Record that is now a module within Yardi EHR, and has extensive experience with senior living technology. We spoke with Southerland about the Yardi EHR product and its many advantages for senior living providers, pharmacies and investors. Read on for more insight. How have EHRs and the records that help run a senior living community typically interacted? Southerland: Linking care tracking with a financial/GL accounting system has, until now, never been seamless. Stand-alone EHR developers have bolted on bare bones accounting packages that aren’t fit to run care and housing organizations regional or national in scope. At Yardi, we’ve created an outstanding electronic health record, compliant with all HIPAA regulations. Who will...

It’s bittersweet to look over these images of our last Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference in Santa Barbara.  However, we are looking forward to hosting YASC next fall in a larger location to accommodate more attendees.  Thanks to all of the clients and Yardi staff who made this year’s event one of our most memorable. Find registration information for upcoming conferences on...

Yardi would like to welcome our valued clients to our fall Advanced Solutions Conference in our hometown of Santa Barbara, Calif. We hope you enjoy your stay in our  beautiful beachfront city, but more importantly, we hope that the conference is a valuable learning experience for you. This morning, the day begins with Anant Yardi’s General Session remarks at 8:30 a.m. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from our CEO and one of the industry’s most respected technology innovators. The General Session will be immediately followed by the Spotlight Sessions, market-specific overviews for Commercial and Investment Management, Multifamily, Public Housing, Affordable Housing, and Marketing. Here are a few brief reminders about resources and things to remember during your stay. Should you have questions or need assistance with anything during your stay, simply ask a Yardi staff member wearing a blue polo shirt, or contact us at the Hospitality Desk. We’re happy to help. To connect with us on social media during the event, please visit our YASC Page. Here you’ll find access to all of our social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and of course, this blog. Don’t forget to tag your tweets and posts with #YASCSB so they can be seen by everyone looking for conference observations and insights. This year, course materials and handouts will be available for you to download and save electronically. Follow along in class on your tablet or laptop, and save to share with your coworkers when you get back to the home office. Find all of those items right here. You can also find them after the event on Client Central. And finally, looking for fun things to do outside of the conference venue? Find our locals tips for Santa Barbara right here. Thank you...

When J Turner Research released its list of top ten apartment resident complaints, three of the top five complaints reflected renters’ dissatisfaction with onsite staff’s responsiveness; poor grounds upkeep, disorganized  staff and lingering maintenance requests lessen the chances of lease renewals and referrals. One community has discovered how Yardi Maintenance Mobile keeps staff on top of resident concerns before they become complaints. During Wesley Fonseca’s time as a maintenance tech in the Atlanta area, he has worked at several apartment communities offering varying degrees of customer satisfaction. He has observed that time management directly affects a team’s ability to meet residents’ needs and provide top quality service. “The toughest part of our job would be time management,” says Fonseca. “Being able to schedule work orders is important, so important. That will make or break a maintenance team. I’ve seen teams that were exceptional in time management and other teams that were just not and the property was in chaos.” Without a convenient maintenance app, techs may miss out on details such as move-in dates, establishing a bad first impression when new tenants arrive to a unit that isn’t ready. Techs must also return to the leasing office several times throughout the day to sign off on completed assignments and pick up new ones, wasting precious time that’s better used out in the field. With few ways to handle scheduling conflicts, pop-up emergencies, and other delays, techs may arrive late to scheduled work orders or miss out on some entirely. At Fonseca’s current community, Post Glen in Brookhaven, his team implemented Yardi’s Maintenance Mobile with great success. “I’ve seen my time management get so much better with Yardi because of how I’m able to access the work orders on my smartphone. Maintenance Mobile has helped...

When seeking your ideal property management software, you will likely wade through countless options, each offering a different combination of services at a range of prices. You’ll come across features that you crave, other that you don’t need, and several that you might not understand. One product makes your decision simple: Genesis². Yardi Genesis²™ is our cost-effective Software as a Service (SaaS) property management and accounting solution that is crafted for clients with under 1,000 units or less than 1 million square feet.  This cloud-based, browser agnostic tool combines your operational and accounting data in a single database that you can access anywhere you have an internet connection. The beauty of this simplicity: lower overhead costs thanks to automated workflows, streamlined processes that minimize human error, and hassle-free automatic updates that reward your IT crew with time for other tasks. Now that you’ve got the gist, let’s dive into the details. Genesis²  features a robust general ledger with accounts receivable and accounts payable functions, check writing, and bank reconciliation. The software offers easy-to-use dashboards with quick analytics and reporting; Genesis² is equipped with over 140 industry-standard reports that can be exported quickly to Adobe® PDF, Microsoft Word®, or Microsoft Excel®. With built-in security features and automatic updates, your data stays safe. Whether your portfolio includes multifamily, condo, office, industrial, or retail properties, Genesis² has specialized features for each property type. For commercial clients, the software hones in on your financial needs, providing automated functionality for estimated CAM reconciliation. Reports can be shared with your tenants and the charges or credits can be easily posted to their accounts. Specifically for retail properties, the overage module calculates and posts the additional charges due based on sales figures submitted by your tenant, and for leases with price index clauses a...

J Turner Research analyzed 10,000 customer satisfaction surveys from multi-family communities throughout the nation to determine the top resident complaints. The results reveal that renter satisfaction does not depend on a slew of custom features and amenities. Rather, four out of five complaints depend solely on how onsite staff manages priorities: 1. Rental rates 2. Poor grounds/common area upkeep 3. Disorganized staff/lack of communication with staff 4. Quality of response to maintenance requests 5. Overall customer service experience Yardi clients weigh in on how they handle multi-family’s most ubiquitous complaints. Rental Rates There is little that onsite staff can do to influence long term rent rates. That’s why it’s important for staff to hone in on the assets around them, reminding residents that they are paying for the unit and all that the location has to offer. Larry Busgeon, Controller at Landmark Realty of San Francisco, has no issue with marketing exceptionally high rents. The prices are a great value because the city has so much to offer. “It’s a wonderful place to live and you have to pay to live in a highly desirable area,” says Busgeon. He’s ready with a list of the city’s best features: restaurants, culture, cutting edge environmental programming, a unique political atmosphere, great schools, natural beauty, and moderate weather year round. Finding ways to forge a direct relationship between the property and what the community has to offer will add value for residents. Staff may create alliances with local businesses, sending customers their way in exchange for discounted goods and services. Maintenance Crews Whether landscaping and maintenance technicians are hired in house or through a third party vendor, they are still representatives of office management. As such, it’s important for onsite staff to make sure that technicians are staying...

Yardi will host a series of think-tanks that unite industry professionals in discussion on the hottest issues facing real estate in the UK. This week: what are the prospects for property as an asset class? A new plan may draw investors from the capital to previously overlooked northern towns. During the global recession, emerging markets remained steady as developed markets faltered. Since the recovery, the major markets–US, Europe and Japan—have recaptured the attention of investors.  But will London’s assets continue to lead England or are regional markets promising prospects? It could behoove investors to look beyond London’s city limits for growth opportunities.  The capital’s highly competitive real estate market offers few new opportunities; the bulk of existing investors are vying for coveted space in the city’s 70-80 successful high street locations. It would be a shame for investors that do not make it into those locations to take their resources outside of the country. The solution: transform London’s regional markets into more attractive prospects. The Local Growth Fund has allocated £12bn to merge Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, and Liverpool into the “northern powerhouse.” Supporters do not plan to siphon London’s businesses or big investors. Instead, the emphasis will be placed on nourishing successful local businesses and attracting new resources.  Hopes ride on the dawn of new investors, those beat out of opportunities in London, for example, and those who are new to the arena, such as Chinese investors who have received more flexible access to foreign markets in recent years. As a rising business center, the northern powerhouse properties can be developed to fit modern tenants’ demands: Occupiers of the new business center will be greeted with competitive rents, convenient mixed-use facilities with eco-friendly features, and pedestrian friendly access. The northern powerhouse can be quite appealing in...

Yardi is proud to be a Diamond Sponsor of the National Apartment Association’s Education Conference & Expo, set for Denver, Colo. later this month. This dynamic event is one of the most anticipated multifamily shows of the year, promising exceptional opportunities for learning, engagement, inspiration and fun. Famous speakers are always part of the NAA experience, and this year’s opening address will be given by actor Michael J. Fox.  The day two general session will feature Barbara Corcoran and Kevin Harrington, hosts of the popular ABC business pitch show “Shark Tank.” Like on the show, entrepreneurs will make their case for why their business is worthy of funding support. The winner of the contest will walk away with a $5,000 prize – and the audience will help chose the winner. Even if won’t be pitching your best invention in Denver, there are still plenty of takeaways to look forward to, including the following. Don’t miss: -The opportunity to learn how to improve your multifamily pricing with the “Next Evolution of Revenue Management” session. Including insight from Ron Brock, Industry Principal/Pierce Eislen, you’ll discover how to better use industry and local benchmarks against your own property data sets. Key performance indicators will help your operations team  gain valuable business intelligence and maximize your revenue. (Friday, June 20, 2:15 p.m.) -Two excellent chances to ramp up your property marketing using mobile and converged media. Yardi’s Esther Bonardi, Industry Principal, Marketing Solutions, is always on the cutting edge of the latest trends. She’ll deliver two sessions – “Eight Mobile Marketing Trends You Can’t Afford to Miss” (Friday, June 20, 11 a.m.) and “Smart Marketing: Converged Media Management” (Thursday, June 18, 8:30 a.m.) See the official conference planner for locations and to schedule all of your sessions. -Last...

Foundation for full-business real estate management platform features complete mobile capability and portfolio-wide business intelligence SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (June 4, 2014) – In less than a year, more than 1,000 companies have adopted Yardi Voyager® 7S, the latest and most advanced version of Yardi’s property management and accounting software. Yardi Voyager 7S works with all Internet browsers and is tablet compatible. Yardi Voyager 7S is fully integrated with many popular Yardi modules, including: Yardi Procure to Pay™ Yardi Orion™ Business Intelligence Yardi LeasingPad CRM™ and Yardi Commercial Leasing Pad™ RENTCafé™ and COMMERCIALCafé™ “The response to Voyager 7S and its companion modules has been very positive because they offer unprecedented functionality in a comprehensive and fully integrated suite of products,” said Terri Dowen, senior vice president of sales for Yardi. For most clients, the transition to Yardi Voyager 7S requires only a few days of training for their staff. “We have really enjoyed the increased efficiency we have experienced with Voyager 7S, including specific hotkey capabilities and auto-fill features,” said Rebecca Hill, chief financial officer for commercial and residential real estate developer Briarcliff Development Co. “The upgrade of our database to 7S was a seamless, literally overnight process.” “The navigation features are very efficient, so we instantly get property and resident information without going through a dozen steps. We also like the efficiency of customizable screens that restrict access to display types to users who need them,” said Larry Busgeon, controller for multifamily property manager Landmark Realty. “The system’s mobile capability and full integration with products such as RentCafe and Yardi Maintenance™ enhance both our resident service and staff efficiency. Residents can make payments online, including recurring ones, and our maintenance staff can manage work orders in the field without returning to the office.” “Landmark...

Melissa D. White is a Millennial specializing in multifamily marketing, which means she is perfectly poised to understand what renters of her generation want and need from their apartment leasing experience. And thanks to fast-paced technological innovation in the realm of real estate and the willingness of her employer, GFI Management Services, to try new things, she’s also able to deliver the desired experience. That’s not just a win-win, but a win-win-win, with prospects, apartment front office employees, and Melissa all reaping the benefits. “It’s given me the power of time. You’ve given me my time back to go out and manage my team,” said White, who has been working in the multifamily industry for a decade. She quickly climbed the corporate ladder to become GFI’s Director of Marketing and Training, a position that puts her right in the vortex of multifamily tech advancement. “I never expected that this much technology could be possible in multifamily – I think of it as a Leasing Virtual Assistant,” said White, whose teams use Yardi products for their day-to-day sales operations and marketing tasks, including managing ILS listings, lead tracking, and social media content distribution. Like most Millennials, White sees the myriad benefits of technology-aided workflows. Training, distributing listings, following-up on prospect interest, advertising specials and promotions, measuring ROI in content and media, and even the act of leasing have all become more streamlined, systematic and automated in the last year, she noted. “We look at Yardi as our partner. You’re not just a vendor, and we’re not just a client. You’re our partner in offering sustainable onsite solutions and valuable services to our residents,” said White. While GFI has adopted numerous Yardi products, among her favorites is RentCafe, a comprehensive marketing solution which allows for automated...