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Apartments Get Arty

A man’s home is his castle. But a person’s apartment community could be her gym, business center and social lounge. And, in some cases, a gallery. That’s right; some property managers are setting up art installations so that residents can view beautiful works of art from famous and local artists right in their very own […]

06 / 11 / 13

Asus Transformer Trio

Asus is at it again. Imagination and innovation are once more on display with the newly revealed Transformer Book Trio. A mind-blowing gadget, it’s a slick notebook, a dockable tablet and a veritable desktop PC, all in one. The world’s first three-in-one mobile device is designed to offer extreme flexibility, encompassing work, play, and social […]

06 / 11 / 13

Project for Pride in Living

You may think you know what affordable housing looks like. Until you’ve taken a look at the amazing variety of projects developed by Twin Cities non-profit Project for Pride in Living, you may be wrong. PPL, serving lower-income families and individuals in Minneapolis and St. Paul for over four decades, has an impressive array of […]

06 / 10 / 13

Affordable housing

Intel Haswell

We’ve blogged before on the shift from PCs and laptops to tablets, a trend that still has momentum at its back. Intel, the world’s leading chip manufacturer for personal computers, has announced the release of a new product that may reasonably swing the balance—or at least level the playing field. Intel’s Haswell chip has been […]

06 / 07 / 13

Music Matters

Amy Bassett, Director of Education and Community Engagement for the Santa Barbara Symphony, knows how much difference music can make in the life of a child. She has experienced its power first-hand. Growing up in a very small town in Massachusetts, Amy was exposed to the power of music via television broadcasts of the Boston […]

06 / 06 / 13

Giving

Shopping for Gen Y

As more of the 80 million-member Millennial generation enters the workforce, these so-called Gen Y-ers, age 18 to 35, are on everybody’s minds these days as one of the largest—and most fickle—groups to influence housing, shopping and the workplace. Financially strong and responsible, they nonetheless like to shop, prefer convenient housing over expansive, and while […]

06 / 05 / 13

Picture Perfect

Here at Point2, we help real estate agents market themselves and their properties. That means we spend a lot of time looking at listing photos. We’ve seen them all – the good, the bad and the truly incomprehensible. While we all know that evocative listing photos can promote a property by encouraging viewers to picture […]

06 / 04 / 13

Skyreaching Heights

Here’s a trivia question for you: Without cheating and looking at your smartphone, can you name the top ten tallest buildings in the world? And for bonus points: do you know that one of the planet’s highest skyscrapers has a Yardi connection? Until not too long ago, the world’s tallest skyscraper, was the Petronas Towers […]

06 / 04 / 13

New Lease on Life

As any redevelopment professional knows, the challenge of turning an aging, crime-ridden, Section 8 property into a trendy, coveted, market-rate lifestyle community is no small task. It requires vision, planning, enthusiasm and fearless execution. But with the right attitude, aggressive mobility and perhaps a little luck, amazing transformations can become reality. In Oklahoma City, there’s […]

06 / 03 / 13

Utility Legislation

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Pending legislation that could bolster California’s water conservation efforts by mandating the metering of water in new construction throughout the state is moving forward. This week, the California State Senate passed an amended version of SB750, which would require individual unit water metering at all newly developed multiunit residential structures or mixed-use […]

05 / 31 / 13

Jacquelyn Bauer

We can almost guarantee that within one click of your mouse, we can convince you that Point2’s office in Saskatoon, located in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, is a pretty fantastic place to work. Why? Well, the company is known for its team cohesion and spirit. And then there’s the secret weapon: the cooking abilities […]

05 / 31 / 13

Team Yardi

Near-Field Communications

Increase your property’s visibility to perspective clients while promoting tenant engagement through advances in near-field communication. You may recall advertisements for various smartphones where file and photo sharing occur by simply bringing the devices within a few centimeters of each other. You may have also seen SmartPass devices in stores and vending machines that allow […]

05 / 30 / 13

In the Doghouse

It’s been said that the way to a man’s heart is through is stomach. And, apparently, the way to a renter’s heart is through his or her dog. Not only are more and more buildings pet-friendly nowadays, but some property managers are adding amenities specifically catering to man’s best friend. Communities are banking on pet-focused […]

05 / 29 / 13

Serving in Chicago

With a unique mixed portfolio and a passion for giving back to the community, Howard R. Conant Jr.’s Urban Innovations (UI) stands out in Chicago. The property management and construction services firm, established 35 years ago, manages 750,000 square feet of commercial property and 3,700 senior affordable housing units. UI’s construction division manages both affordable […]

05 / 28 / 13