The Property Management Blog

Methods and strategies to boost tenant compliance in LEED and energy-efficient facilities must become an integral part of green building, before and after occupancy. I’ve compiled five ways to encourage behaviors that align with environmental performance goals.

It’s no secret that tenant turnover has costly effects. A 2011 SatisFacts study estimates move-out costs average $3,900 per unit. I interviewed property managers and retention research experts to collect common sense and creative strategies to encourage lease renewal and increase resident retention.

Property managers and independent property owners are vying for a piece of the short-term rental pie. We wrote this guide to help property owners understand the pros and cons of short-term or vacation rentals. Here we present four risks and rewards to help you determine the best option for your property.

Energy monitoring systems are an often overlooked – and under-promoted – way for renters to cut utility costs, energy consumption, and their ecological footprint. If apartment owners promoted these devices, they could help cut costs and attract a new generation of tech- and green-savvy renters.

Last week IBM announced the acquisition of Tririga. What business does Big Blue have buying Tririga, and why now? Tririga’s software will round out IBM’s current offerings with new real estate portfolio management, capital project management, and energy management capabilities.

In the latest of our Expert Roundtable Series, we report on best practices for managing leads. We interviewed three experts in the multifamily housing market to learn about the technologies and procedures they use for successful lead management. Among our experts are executives from Gables Residential and Archstone.

We recently came across a list of the top ten cities ranking places where renting a home or apartment was better than purchasing one. The criteria for the list was rather simple – the cities that had the lowest ratio of average rental price to average home purchase price won a spot on the list. This got us thinking. What are the most “tenant friendly” cities in the United States?

The National Multi Housing Council recently reported that the U.S. apartment market was “tighter” than it had been at any point in the last four years. A “tight” market is defined as one with low vacancies and high rent increases. The tighter the market is, the harder it is for renters to get good deals.

The next time you’re searching for a rental property, throw out this question to your potential landlord and gauge their reaction: “What are your green credentials?” The response you get probably will range from a quizzical look to a mumbled sentence about switching to new light bulbs. Sustainable practices haven’t caught on as quickly in property management as in other industries.

If it’s been a while since you last rented an apartment or a house, you may be surprised to find that the property management industry is much more tech savvy than you remember. The rise in software vendors offering web-based systems for property management is driving the adoption of new technology by property managers. Web-based software vendors have recently started to emerge.