The annual Houston Apartment Association EXPO was held this Wednesday at Reliant Center in Houston, Texas.  This year’s theme was Small World Big Business and hosted over a thousand industry professionals to a day filled with information and FUN! This event was a free educational opportunity for property managers and supervisors from all across Houston to connect with 840+ suppliers, their products and their services.

Prior to the EXPO commencement, the Houston Apartment Association offered 4 different educational seminars covering a variation of topics: CYA: "Consider Your Asset (Manager)", Social Media 2.0, The Ten Commandments of Maintenance, We Built this City, and an hour long general session: Make the Right Choice,given by the interactive and hilarious speaker, Joel Zeff. 

The Social Media 2.0session was co-hosted by our very own Multifamily Marketing & Training Director, Stephanie Graves, along with Brent Williams, founder of Multifamily Insiders. The duo delivered an enthusiastic presentation of the Top 10 Mistakes in Social Media Today. The audience was encouraged to keep their cell phones out and browse through their own properties’ Facebook pages while Stephanie and Brent covered the Top 10 Mistakes and ways to avoid them.  If you were unable to attend the seminar, no worries, I have the top 10 mistakes that you need not be making on your social sites today!

1.  You have created Facebook and Twitter Accounts and then never touch them again!
2. You have created a friend profile rather than a fan page.
3. You have no idea why you are doing this!  You have no social media plan!
4. Lots of posts but no feedback!
5. If you build a page, they will come but nobody comes…
6. ME, ME , ME – GET ME more leases.. Get ME more renewals!!!
7. You are posting specials and discounts; rather then engagable content.
8. Who is trained to be the face of your company?
9. Social Media efforts are TEAM efforts. There is no I in Social Media…Well there is but there shouldn’t be!
10. Ignoring on-line reviews!

If you have questions about how to defeat these Top 10 mistakes, feel free to email us at assetnews@assetpluscorp.com and we will send you the complete PowerPoint from Stephanie and Brent’s session.

Many of our Houston team members attended the EXPO educational seminars and met with HAA member suppliers to discuss the most beneficial and cost effective services and products available to their properties. All in all, the 2012 Houston Apartment Association EXPO was a BIG success!

Sterling Crossing Apartments are located in Houston, Texas and offer a variety of floor plans and amenities including: an onsite laundry facility, controlled access gate, outdoor pool, walk in closets and much more.

Sabine Park Apartments are located in Orange, Texas and offer residents the option of a one-, two-, or three bedroom floor plan. Sabine Park also provides residents the luxury of two outdoor swimming pools, a full size competitive basketball court and walking distance to Lamar State College.

Over the past 90 days, Asset Campus Housing team members, residents, friends and family joined together in raising over $11,000 for the company’s selected 2012 non-profit, Charity:Water! This successful completion of the 2012 ACH Spring Campaign for Charity:Water would not have been possible without the contributions of time, effort and funds from many Asset team members.

From there, our employees met the challenge by returning to their properties to host resident events and work with their local communities in order to raise maximum funds.  Some of the top fundraising resident events included: staff members selling and delivering Candy Grams to residents on Valentine’s Day, BINGO tournaments where residents paid an entry fee and won items that were donated by local vendors, Casino Nights where residents bid on donated silent auction items, and water themed carnivals hosted on March 22nd—National Water Day.

After 90 days of this campaign, we are proud to donate a total of $11,049.57 to Charity: Water.  100% of our donations will be donated to providing clean drinking water to 552 people in a developing nation for an entire  year.  In 18 months we will have GPS coordinates, photos and information about the community that we have impacted.

What began as a challenge to see which ACH property would raise the most money for Charity:Water, turned into a campaign that revealed the strong passion and dedication that each of our ACH employees and residents have for serving others.  Upon introduction of the campaign at the 2012 ACH training seminar, ACH onsite employees (majority age 18-23 year olds) instantly donated an overwhelming total of $800 in spare change from their own pockets.

Outside of hosting big events to raise funds for Charity:Water, our properties did an extraordinary job of creating publicity for the campaign and educating their community on why our company supports this cause.  The properties used social media to post weekly “Water Wednesday” updates that informed residents on what Charity:Water is, what they can do to help and why we want their support! 

Some of our properties went above and beyond and even made the local news. The Domain at Town Centre, a new student housing development in Morgantown, West Virginia, had 10 different local restaurants participate in raising funds to the campaign by charging their customers $.25 for a glass of water on National Water Day.  This creativity and community involvement that the team at The Domain at Town Centre demonstrated is what assisted them in being named the top fundraiser amongst all of our student housing properties nationwide.  This property alone raised $985!

My daughter has a little friend that was born 1 day before her.  He is quirky and full of personality like her but much, much different.  He is full force from 8 am until 8 pm.  He pulls out every toy in the toy box, puts them all back in and then pulls them out again just to make sure he didn't miss anything.  He is not really interested in us adults because he has too much going on himself but he will stop and plead his case for a snack and lunch of course. He runs full force, grabs everything in site and truly lives life to the fullest. Come 8 pm is he out for the count and awakes fresh and renewed at 8 am to start the day over again.  My little one is a bit slower, she wants you to be involved in everything she does and she wants to know what you are doing at all times.  Walk in the laundry room - she must get up and go with you to ensure you are sorting the clothes properly.  She wants to see everyone, introduce herself and be at the head of the table for adult conversation.  She goes to bed between 8 and 10 pm; hardly sleeps through the night and will awake at the first sign of sun light to ensure she does not miss any adult activity.  Born only 20 hours apart but WORLDS apart in their behavior and personalities.  Both are perfect children with parents that with them daily to grow and learn.  Neither is better than the other (although when I'm rocking mine at 2 am begging her to sleep, I'm thinking why can't she be more like ..) they are just different.  

These two children have reminded me of a lesson to remember daily in property management:

Every person is different, every co-worker, every resident and every boss!  One way is not necessarily better than the other - just different.  When we are at our wits end with someone who doesn't do things the way we would do them or doesn't show us appreciation like we want them to it is easy to think that our way is better or we are better because we do something a certain way - but we are merely different.  The best characteristics of my child (her positives) are the ones that hinder her sleeping patterns (her negatives).  Next time you wish that resident would do this or that or you wish your co-worker would put the pens back where they came from - try and envision the positives that you may have to give up with that negative that drives you nuts.  Every person is different, special and unique - truly focus on those attributes that make them special and unique and your daily grind will seem a bit less 'grindful'.  Happy leasing!!

For Asset Plus employees, March Madness has a double meaning.

Yes, we all set up our individual brackets and root for our favorite college basketball teams, but we also anticipate the annual Houston Apartment Association Sand Volleyball Tournament which is hosted in mid-March. At this event, over 60 different property management companies and vendors alike compete in a full day of sand volleyball.

Asset employees from the student housing, multifamily and accounting departments came together to represent two Asset Plus teams. After 7 long rallies in the Texas sun, our team made it to the semi-final rounds with the support of multiple Asset Plus enthusiasts!

Although we did not win this year, you can expect to see us out on the practice courts preparing for next year's HAA Volleyball tournament!

Top 4 Things You Can Do to Make Sure You Are Replaceable! - Marketing Mondays with Stephanie Graves, Marketing and Training Director, Asset Plus Companies

So did I get your attention?  I know, I know, you don’t want to be replaceable because then they will… replace you!!!  YES they will because you will be PROMOTED because you are so awesome!!  So in preparation for your promotion to assistant, manager, director, supervisor or whatever title you are striving for you must make sure your team is ready to take the reins and RUN!  Here are 4 things you MUST do to ensure that they are prepared:

1. Let them stumble, and even fall!  I said it, let them fall – it is okay to have them make a decision about something that may not have been the decision you would have made or that is the absolute best decision for that time.  Of course you want to mitigate the losses and ensure that you are not losing money for the property but let them make a decision about a customer that is upset about a rental increase or one that has been late for the 10th time and still wants you to refund their late fee.  Having your employees make bad decisions is a teaching moment for you to not only gauge how they think about tough decisions but also to see how they react when they are confronted with making a bad decision.  The best inventors made 100 different prototypes of the wrong thing before they stumbled upon the right one!

2. Show them a budget!  Yes, share your budget with your teams.  Help them understand how you derived your numbers, what they mean and what happens when you hit those numbers or miss those numbers.  Make sure that you help them understand the cost of every concession, the cost of every turn and how much a lost renewal can cost the property and how it all relates together.  Understanding the budget is part of developing a ‘career employee’ rather than a ‘this is my job employee’.

3. Find teachable moments every day!  Look for opportunities to teach your teams something new.  It could be as simple as a touring with them to build a better demonstration or a quiz on the lease to make sure they know every aspect of it.  Find ways to refresh skills and build new ones DAILY!

4. Ensure your supervisor knows and spends time with your team – not just you!  We are all busy and have a list five miles long.  Supervisors may come into the office and you and him/her get down to business with your property walks, budget talks and no nonsense meetings of what and how things are progressing and what needs to be done.  It is okay for you to have your supervisor spend some time with your team, after all if you can teach them a one thing daily think of the knowledge that he/she can share with them too.  It makes them feel special that the property supervisor is investing time in them and it sets up your promotion plan because your supervisor will feel more comfortable promoting someone that he/she has spent some quality time with.

Don’t be threatened by a fully informed leasing agent or assistant manager – relish in the amount of delegating you can do when they actually understand the business and not just their day to day duties that constitute of 1/10th the property management business.

With all the different means of communication available to residents on our student housing properties, YouTube continues to be a popular way to connect with the targeted demographic.

The Pointe at 3636, an ACH student housing property located in East Lansing, MI, recently used YouTube to invite residents to their upcoming Block Party. Not only did they inform residents about the event details (time, location, food, prizes, etc.) but they also used their property mascot, Pointy the Penguin, to help promote the event. 

ACH student housing properties nationwide have different property mascots that are used to draw attention to their respective properties. Whether the mascots are walking around campus passing out flyers, being seen on the jumbotron at the university football games or making appearances on YouTube videos like such, they are extremely helpful during the leasing season!

We will share more photos and videos of different property mascots in the near future - stay tuned!

With Asset Plus headquarters located in Houston, Texas, many of our employees volunteer their time outside of the office serving on different committees that help make the Houston Rodeo such a success!

The Houston Rodeo is the world’s LARGEST rodeo and is a charity which benefits the Youth of Texas.Since the Show's beginning in 1932, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has contributed more than $283 million to scholarships, research, endowments, calf scramble participants, junior show exhibitors, School Art participants, and other educational and youth programs.

We are proud to support all of our employees who volunteer their time to such a worthy cause!

5 Things to Remember When it Comes to Evictions

Often times property managers have questions about evictions and notice to vacates, so we put together five things to remember when it comes to knocking on your resident's door.

1. You must list EVERY lease holder on your eviction notices. You will have to pay a fee for each lease holder; however this is the ONLY way the eviction will hold up in court. Use the NAA Notice to Vacate for further instructions.

2. When you are filing at the courthouse for evictions make sure you list on the documentation the following:

“Should I have to hire an attorney I am requesting attorney fees be paid.”

3. Your Notice To Vacate MUST list that you want possession, rather than ‘pay or quit’ verbiage – this can be found on the TAA Notice to Vacate Form.

4. Always list the FULL address of the community along with the specific unit number on the eviction notices.

5. Notices should be delivered by at least 2 people. Bring both copies with you upon serving and indicate the method served on both copies at the time you serve the resident.

a. NOTE: YOU MUST serve someone over the age of 16 and/or post INSIDE the unit, you may NOT post outside the unit.

+ Rachel Theriot | Senior Operational Manager, Student Housing

Joining Asset Campus Housing in 2012, Rachel brings a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience in the student housing industry. She has led many facets of the industry including: residence life, leasing, marketing, on site management and training on multiple student housing facilities. Prior to joining ACH Rachel was with JPI and Greystar Management.

In her current position as Senior Operational Manager, Rachel assists in improving distressed assets, trouble shooting and training staff on marketing, coordinating due diligence reports, and performing operational analytical work to help identify inefficiencies. 

+ Tami Hudson | Regional Supervisor, Multifamily

Tami Hudson brings 22 years of experience in the multifamily industry to her new role at Asset Plus Companies as a Regional Supervisor. Tami has expertise in multi-million dollar property renovations, value enhancements of Class B and C type properties, and quick turn-arounds on distressed properties. She works with her properties to develop and implement extensive marketing strategies and operational expense controls, which in return maximize revenue for property owners.

Prior to joining Asset Plus, Tami worked with Greystar, AIMCO, Greystone Asset Management, The Bethany Group and Investors Property Services.  As an active member in the Houston Apartment Association, Tami is currently working towards obtaining her “CAPS” Certified Apartment Property Supervisor designation.