Augmented Reality Update

With the launch of the Droid as the second major application enabled phone, augmented reality (AR) has come to the apartment marketing world.  For the apartment owner and manager, this means another layer of tools to use and another level of technology to understand for apartment marketing.  I had mistakenly believed the shift to augmented reality would take a few years for the technology and phones to offer real value for the day to day marketing of apartments units, but I was wrong.  Apartment cell phone apps driven by the powerful GPS enabled phones are now part of the way apartments can be marketed.  Each time a GPS enabled cell phone is sold, another potential AR user is created.

Going forward when choosing an apartment advertising rental site, owners and managers have new features to consider: First, what application, commonly called an “app”, does the site offer for the mobile users?  Is the app tool available in both iphone and Droid configurations?  What is the quality of the end user experience and how reliable is it? Second, what information from the chosen advertising site is fed into what third party virtual reality applications such as Layar or Aloqa? 

For example, HotPads.com information can be found as a channel on Aloqa, an app for the Droid.  Layar, another Droid and iphone app, includes information from ForRent.com and Apartments.com. Craigs List does not self-promote an app, but at least one app can be found for the service, appropriately named CraigsHome. CraigsHome for the Droid populates CraigsList apartment ads on a map and you can drill down into individual listings. You can retrieve data based upon your current location (GPS enabled), zip code or unit type. 

You won’t be surprised to learn the number of listings can be limited, depending upon which AR program and advertising site you select to view.  It is still early in this technology and the number of users of the services is limited by the number of app phones.  However, as the number of app users increases and the number of channels included in the various augmented reality programs increases, apartment advertisers (owners and managers) will have to become increasingly familiar with the packages offered by the various on-line advertising rental services, as well as the augmented reality services that they feed into.  

Knowing what works, what does’t work and which apps and services are being used and by whom, will become yet another task required of an owner or leasing staff. The choice of one service over another will have a dramatic impact on who has access to your apartment advertisements. 

The once simple task of writing a single newspaper ad has been transformed into a complex and intricate set of decisions and tasks. Social media advertising requires daily attention and an understanding of the medium. Apartment advertising is now generally found in many locations – the company web  site, the company FaceBook page, the company Twitter account, and third party sites such as Rentals.com, CraigsList.org or Apartments.com to name just a few.  All of this information data requires real-time coordination, updating, monitoring and response.

If you have an apartment to rent, now more than ever, there is a significant benefit and downright need to engage an experienced and knowledgeable leasing agent to coordinate the new complex world of advertising, marketing and the rental of an available unit.  Unless you are in the rental business full-time, it is unlikely if not impossible, for you to keep up with the pace of the Internet and the changing apartment marketing landscape.

 

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If you are an owner or manager of rental housing, please share how your apartment marketing and advertising protocols have changed in the last year. How do you expect it to change in the next year?

 If you are not familiar with Augmented Realty, take a look at this You Tube video from Layar. .

If you have additional questions about 21st century and social media apartment marketing, you may contact the offices of Lightner Property Group.

 

This article first appeared on www.Examiner.com.

Reposition your property in color!

As a rental property owner or manager, there will likely will come a time when you find your property is no longer attractive to residents in the way it once was. The change will likely come upon you slowly and you may cast off the discrepancy to market conditions, rather than something specific about the unit or your building.

Evidence of the change might show up first in longer vacancy periods, a visible lack of interest or enthusiasm by prospects during property showings, or a reduced number of applicants for your available units. If you see signs of a changing market, check with your colleagues to see how they are faring during the particular economic cycle. If your rental experiences seem less robust than those of your business associates, consider the possibility that your unit has become functionally obsolete and needs a make-over. 

Signs of a Dated Property

It may be the “style” or condition of the property, a lack of landscape or the type or style of landscape, the amenities of the building, or the condition of the unit interiors. There are many reasons a property falls out of favor and needs to be repositioned in order to obtain the most profitable rents. Some elements of a makeover are expensive, such as the addition of a laundry room, pool or pool spa; others are relatively inexpensive amounting to no more than a can of paint and some creativity.

When an owner or manager is faced with the need to reposition a rental property, an element of that plan will be the “look” and personality of the property.

 

Whether the property is high-end, middle-end, or attempting to draw a moderate working class clientele, design and style are important to everyone.

 

The Power of Color  

An inexpensive but essential tool for property owners and managers is the creative use of color at a rental property.  Color is most often thought of merely in terms of various simple shades of white or beige for apartment walls. But that is the old world of color.  Today’s world of color is sophisticated and rich.  White and beige are drab and dated.  Chestnut, nutmeg, spice and citrus are lively and modern. 

 

Today, dramatic and powerful colors are available to impact every aspect of a property: from the exterior shading, to the highlights and lowlights of the greens and browns in plants and landscaping, to the subtle shadows of roof lines, and the tones and textures afforded by exterior hard-scape. Inside, color defines a unit and provides prospective residents with a pallet from which they will build their lifestyle and imagine themselves in their new home.  Brought together, rich floor colors are accented by powerful wall and trim colors, and the prominent focal points of window coverings.  This cocktail of color crafts the beginning of an inviting and interesting home. 

 

Color is an essential and a cost effective tool to update and lift a property from dull, drab and out of date -  to lively, modern and fresh.

 

It is important to remember, color has definable life-cycles.  Avocado green, harvest gold, pink, beige, black, and today’s stainless steel have all had their day in the headlines. Colors and the subtle nuances of their shades and hues go in and out of favor.  Color can make your property feel dated and old, circa 1980; or fresh and new, circa 21^st century. 

 

When looking for color trends, you have to do your research and become a student of color.

 

Some places to begin your property management color education follow:

•  Pantone is THE leading paint color company in terms of directing trends.  Their Color Think Tank can be accessed here:  http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/pantone.aspx?ca=29·
• Have you ever found a site you love and you wish you knew the site colors? You can grab the colors you love using this tool from www.ColorCombos.com or try Color Matching. 
• www.ColorTools.net   Test colors, text, background and create hues.  (Don’t make the mistake of directing your Internet search to www.colortools.com - a BEAUTY related site.) 
• Great Links from ColorTools.net 
• Web Safe Color Advice 
• Compare Colors on a Single page
• Match Colors
• Tips-Tricks 
• Site with advice and help to build a better web site, including assistance with color questions. http://www.tips-tricks.com/colors.asp 
• Color Matters 
• Kelly-Moore Color Center   Upload a photo and extract the colors and develop a palette.
• Color Hunter  
• Color Palette Generator
• Color Me Crazy - 10 Best  on line Color Tools

Do you have color sites you would like to recommend?   Please share them with us. 

This piece was first published on www.Examiner.com.  Merrie Turner Lightner is the SF Rental Business Examiner.

Plan Your Property Management Business Year: 10 Must-do Tasks for 2010

Your must do task list for 2010

The beginning of the year is always a good time to plan your property management tasks for the upcoming year. There are many routine assignments that must be done each year without fail.  If you don’t have an annual to-do list already prepared, take the time to create one now.  Each year you can pull out your existing list, tweak and update it as necessary, and then execute it during the year.

Here is a portion of the list we use at Lightner Property Group. 

1.      Provide annual forms and new policies to staff.  This includes the W-4 for the New Year, the San Francisco Designated Person Form that you are required to provide to your San Francisco staff annually, along with your Fair Housing and Sexual Harassment policies which should be acknowledged annually.  When there are new laws to remind staff of, this is a great time to have them acknowledge a copy of the company policy that deals with the new law (such as when it became illegal to speak on a cell phone while driving, without the use of a Blue-tooth or other hands-free type device). 

2.       Schedule Unit and Building inspections. Schedule the month of the year you will conduct your unit by unit and building inspections. Calendar the inspections with reminders at least 30-days in advance so you have plenty of time to notify your residents of the inspection date or to arrange for any necessary contractors. 

3.       Schedule Signage inspection. Schedule your annual signage inspection to verify you have all the required or necessary signage posted on your property. Remember to archive the form that evidences the inspection was conducted, the date of the inspection, who conducted the inspection, what signage was verified and where each sign was located. 

4.       Calendar important dates.  Each year we find there are one or two items that have not made it into the office calendar system.  Review your task and reminder list for the year and fill in omissions or gaps as necessary.

5.       Plan Education Compliance. Determine what continuing education is required for you and your staff for the year and plan for it.  For example, schedule legally required license continuing education courses (e.g. Department of Real Estate licensing or California Apartment Association certificate education), Fair Housing, Sexual Harassment and Diversity training.  Be sure to provide a series of ticklers or reminders starting at 6 months, then 3 months, then monthly to weekly, so you have plenty of advance notice of the due date.

6.       Update Forms.  Make sure to add the date of the New Year to your current forms and remove references to the prior year. 

7.       Schedule and Budget for Software License Updates and Upgrades.  Review your hardware and software licensing requirements. Make sure you know when they will expire during the year and schedule their upgrade or extension at least 30 days in advance of the expiration. Don’t wait until the last minute to avoid expirations, program freeze or lock-out.

8.       Plan at least 4 administrative or management improvements for the year.  Select at least 4 projects (one for each quarter of the year) or practices you can improve in or on for your business and schedule them. The project can be as simple as the creation of a new form, or the addition of a new policy, or it can be a major software installation or other significant improvement.  However it is important that each year you plan for, schedule and implement improvements to your business.  When you plan for and schedule improvements, they will happen. 

9.       Archive Prior Year files.  Place the prior years’ files (2009) in storage boxes that are readily available during the current year (2010).  Move the former “prior” year files (2008) into longer term storage. 

10.   Properly Dispose of Unnecessary Files.  Review your document retention policy and update or modify it as necessary based on legal changes during the prior year or lessons learned. After review, if there are files and documents that are no longer necessary to retain under your updated retention policy, arrange for their proper destruction and disposal. Remember, it is no longer safe (and often legally impermissible) to dispose of business documents by merely throwing them into the trash.  Today all documents and papers must be reviewed to determine the legally permissible means to dispose of them. Generally you will want all accounting paperwork, legal documents, and tenant or residents documents (including all applications regardless of outcome) to be properly destroyed and disposed of, using a reputable document disposal company.  And, don’t forget to keep the paperwork you are provided by the disposal company so you can verify that you suitably disposed of the documents and files.  Legally significant documents, such as the disposal confirmation receipt, should be archived in both paper and electronic formats. 

Of course there are many other important tasks for a year in property management.  However this simple check list will get you off to a well organized and well planned for year.  Make 2010 a year where you are working and planning for your property management business, rather than your property management business working you. 

Remember:  Manage your property, don’t let your property manage you!