Community Forum

Treat all properties the same. Curb appeal is still king.
Let your owners see that the property is operated with the same attention to detail as a Class A property.

Paul made an excellent comment to treat all property as Class A property. In any neighborhood or development or industrial park, the property that looks like it suffers from attention, has other management issues besides visual needs. Why bring additional attention and focus to yourself - do something positive and apply sound curb appeal practices.

I agree. Treat every property the same and you'll benefit in the long run. Reputation is everything and letting a property become neglected because it's low income is the path to a bad reputation.

Curb appeal is very important, however if the majority of the block is littered, further action is needed that involves participation. Organizing the neighbors to get involved will add value not just to your property, but will increase the chance of getting decent rentals. It's a continued work effort.

Diane-

Great informational message about curb appeal. In some communities or towns/cities they organize a beautification day. The purpose is to identify troubled neighborhoods or areas requiring a significant cleanup. We have also overseen Boy Scout and Girl Scout projects to help them accomplish badges for their community service work.

Thank you Owen. In the areas we service, some of the towns are becoming blighted. I so look forward to working with the local cities to bring solutions that i believe would cause values to return. The reinvestment dollars targeted for these municipalities have to be spent wisely and effectively though. If renters would soon become homeowners, there would be a different attitude of caring in the neighborhoods.

I agree that all properties should be treated the same. In my experience, this works best and assists in avoiding some criticisms.

I have always felt that way! I started in low end conventional and then went to A product and then Affordable. I have always believed all properties should be treated with the utmost curb appeal.

I have a story to tell. Recently one of my employees ( maintenance) became very frustrated with replacing burners for the 3rd time in an apartment. While in the office he started to make some inappropriate comments such as, " I don't understand why these people live this way" etc... Then he went on to say he would never live on this community because it's a C property. I immediately stopped him and reminded him of the following. 1. He was not only insulting our residents, but also a few employees who live on our community and call it home. Also, his comments were also insulting to one of the leasing professionals who happened to be of the same ethnic background as the resident. I of course called a team meeting and reminded everyone that this community is our home, we live here for 40+ hours a week. And just like we do in our own homes, we need to take pride in our day time home. It really struck home, because it's easy for employees to forget that they are providing homes for people. And with doing that, it's our obligation to make them feel comfortable and needed. Needless to say, this particular employee no longer works for me.

Something that I've been struggling with is how to effectively teach residents self-sufficiency. In many cases I don't believe that subsidized housing should be viewed as a lifelong thing and I see it as our responsibility to encourage residents to learn how to manage in the private market. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to do this the right way?

I use to always work at conventional luxury apartments. Not until recently I worked at a LIHTC community, the experieince was very rewarding for me. I agree with alot of what has been said already. Curb appeal is very important, people do not want to feel they are getting anything less than the next man. I found that some employees were even treating residents different because they were living in this type of community. Whether they are at a conventional property or LIHTC they are to be treated all the same. It all comes under fair housing. We had an employee who would tell prospects which buildings were better, and how they would love to be in the place or not. I had to tell him you can't do that. He was a maintenance worker. Everyone is looking for the samething a place to call home.

Working for a syndicator of LIHTC properties, curb appeal is so very important, but not just for leasing apartments and reputation but also when selling a property. One way the upkeeping is acheived is through visits made to the property, which highlight anything that needs to be addressed. Also, these visits address any non-compliance issues that have to be addressed. As long as tenants feel involved they will continue to care, where we as managers will care no matter circumstances!

Working for a syndicator of LIHTC properties, curb appeal is so very important, but not just for leasing apartments and reputation but also when selling a property. One way the upkeeping is acheived is through visits made to the property, which highlight anything that needs to be addressed. Also, these visits address any non-compliance issues that have to be addressed. As long as tenants feel involved they will continue to care, where we as managers will care no matter circumstances!

Ms. Henderson made a number of excellent points on curb appeal - well stated!

Excellent points. I think one of the greatest compliments is when a conventional applicant walks into an affordable housing building and wants to rent there because they couldn't tell the difference. Curb appeal is critical to maintaining occupancy!!!!