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Size Matters

Imagine you’re on a game show – call it Real Estate Jeopardy – and have just been awarded a brand new home. The two prizes are behind unmarked doors – all you have to do is choose. (Drum roll please.) Behind door No. 1, you’ll find: A mansion modeled on the French Palace of Versailles. […]

07 / 23 / 12

Smoke-Free Multifamily

A boost to healthy lifestyles was delivered late last month when HUD and HHS unveiled two smoke-free housing toolkits. Working conjointly with public housing authorities across the country, the effort is an attempt to provide healthier homes and to cut costs for maintenance. One toolkit focuses on property owners/managers and the other targets residents. “A […]

07 / 20 / 12

Implementing Success

A major new business software implementation can be a daunting process. When the team at Colonial Properties Trust decided to make the switch to Yardi Systems, they were looking for a partner who could deliver a platform that would meet their day-to-day needs and grow along with the company. Ray Thornton, senior vice president of […]

07 / 19 / 12

iPhone Tricks

Having sold 35.1 million iPhones and 11.8 million iPads during the first three months of 2012, Apple is one of the world’s most ubiquitous technology companies. Chances are, you own one of these devices. But do you use it to its full potential? Even a longtime iPhone user may learn a few things from these […]

07 / 18 / 12

Technology

Handling Hoarding

Hoarding has affected multifamily housing firms long before any reality show. Also known as compulsive hoarding and cluttering, hoarding is the excessive collection of possession or animals. According to the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, it is closely linked with obsessive compulsive disorder, a mental illness that affects nearly 3 million people throughout the nation. As […]

07 / 16 / 12

Girls Inc.

With a long track record of empowering programming and after school care for girls age five and up, Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara serves about 1000 young ladies each year in the Santa Barbara and Goleta areas. This dynamic program aims to make girls “strong, smart and bold” and inspire positive decisions that will […]

07 / 13 / 12

Giving

Dena Xifaras

Dena Xifaras started her professional life as an international management consultant, work that involved international travel to oversee decidedly for-profit projects. But she’s found her true calling back home in Massachusetts, where Xifaras has built a successful career in multiple roles for Boston-based Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), a national non-profit and Yardi affordable housing […]

07 / 10 / 12

Big Data

Companies strive to better understand their customers and stay a step ahead of their competitors. Various methods of accomplishing these goals have come and gone over the years but none has stirred as much buzz as Big Data. Through such analytics, companies now have the power to explore human-generated data in addition to transactions, market […]

07 / 09 / 12

Emily D’Urso

Anyone who has ever worked in onsite property management probably has a small arsenal of stories to share. But WinnResidential’s Emily D’Urso is the first mom we’ve met whose kids ask her to entertain them with tales of a property manager’s daily life. “I had so many stories about things I had to fix or […]

07 / 05 / 12

Surface Tablet

Earlier this month, Microsoft pulled an Apple move and debuted its new Surface tablet to a hushed crowd of tech media bigwigs. It had all the hallmarks of a classic Steve Jobs production: a rented out art studio space, regal staging, and fanfare designed to shock & ahhh. This aggressive cribbing from the productions that […]

07 / 02 / 12

Technology

NAA Recap

At last week’s National Apartment Association Conference and Exposition in Boston, there were tons of great vendors, networking opportunities with thousands of industry peers, interesting sessions and a few too many Red Sox jerseys, in this New Yorker’s opinion. Here are some take-aways from the conference. Accountability actually matters. In a session titled “Improving Performance […]

07 / 02 / 12

Tenant Events

Summer is here! Rental communities across the nation have speckled their event calendars with group fitness classes, barbecues, and game nights to entertain youth and adult residents alike. While such events may seem to serve only one purpose—fun!—they can be an important tool towards improving tenant retention. By hosting resident appreciation events on the property, […]

06 / 29 / 12

Jo Marie Ziegler

You never know where life’s journey will take you. Jo Marie Ziegler didn’t start life as a Michigan resident or envision a career in the property management industry, but that’s where she ended up. In 1990, Jo Marie and her husband, Amos, moved to the Great Lake State so he could study at Michigan State […]

06 / 28 / 12

Digie Award for Orion

Yardi Orion™ for SharePoint®has earned a prestigious industry honor from Realcomm for Real Estate Technology Innovation. The Digital Innovation Award (Digie) recognizes Orion’s significant contribution to automation of real estate business intelligence, document management and portals. Released earlier this year, Orion is currently being implemented by numerous Yardi clients, who are thrilled with its ease […]

06 / 28 / 12