Ping.fm! It's Great!!

And we're back!

Has anyone else heard of Ping.fm? It's a great resource for those of us in Property Management... and for any other business!

Essentially it's a FREE service that allows you to update all of your social networks with one click. For those of us managing the social media for our company it can really cut back on the time spent going to each site and updating each site individually. You can type something once on Ping.fm and it will set post it on all your social networks like facebook, twitter, Blogger (of course), Myspace, and a bunch more!

Of course we always want to keep our social networks fresh and not be posting the same things, to the same places, at the same time, ALL the time, BUT for those really great things you want to proclaim on every inch of social media you have it's a great tool!

Check it out at Ping.fm and let me know how you like it!

Shout-Out to RentShout

I stumbled upon a rental site today called RentShout and I'm pretty much a big fan. BIG fan. HUGE fan.

This is the perfect site for landlords and property management companies in today's market. Everyone is trying to scatter their advertising all over the web and this site does that for you more cost effectively than you could do it yourself. RentShout "shouts" your listings to more than 60 sites including popular rental sites, social networks, video portals and search directories like Google. I've found that people in the property management or rental industry are having a tough time figuring out how to best market their properties online and on social networks. I think RentShout is the "perf" (short for "perfect") solution.

Want to hear more RentShout awesomeness? Of course...

• RentShout provides you tracking and reporting tools to assess the traffic you receive from each site.
• Each listing provides one-click social network sharing.
• Click-to-call (renters click a button on the listing and you receive a text message to your phone with their callback number) and email buttons on each listing.
• Craigslist postings (our company has recently had great leads from Craigslist and this would save our managers time posting and reposting listings).
• You can choose pricing packages for entire apartment communities or individual rentals.
• You can download your RentShout ads into PDF files and print them for prospects!

Follow @rentshout on Twitter! (And follow me too! @SidalRealtyCo)

Check out RentShout and let me know what you think of it!

Social Media for Property Management Companies

I attended a Minnesota Multi Housing Association seminar in May that focused on how property management companies can use social media. The attendees seemed reluctant to use these tools because they simply didn't know how to apply them to the property management industry. When I began implementing social media for our company last spring, there weren't many other property management companies out there actively blogging and using Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc.

Based on my experiences with our implementation and use of social media for our apartment communities, I've come up with a few things I think has worked for us that I thought may be helpful to other companies or interesting to anyone.

1) Don't use social media only to push your rentals

People don't want to be sold to - they want to be communicated with. Using social media is about engaging with people. For rental communities, our audiences include prospective and current tenants, vendors, prospective and current employees, and others in the industry. If you use Twitter only to tweet your apartment openings and for no other reason, people probably won't be interested in connecting with you. You can definately post your apartment openings periodically because renters are looking for apartments using social media, but you should also provide useful information to your followers/friends (see next section).

2) What should you post about?

Twitter:
Tweet about area news, industry news, events and happenings in your community - anything relevant or interesting!

Follow people relevant to the property management industry and to your geographic location. You can search for people on Twitter using keywords such as "property management" or "minneapolis news" or "apartments" to find relevant people. If people you follow tweet information that would be useful to your followers, community, industry, or even if you simply find a tweet really interesting, retweet it!

Invite your tenants to follow you on Twitter via email or by sending them a memo.

Facebook:
First, you have to designate someone in your company (who will be managing your social media accounts) to create a Facebook account. After you've created a Facebook account, you can invite your tenants to be friends with you (you probably don't want to use your personal Facebook account for this reason) via email or perhaps by sending them a memo. After you've created a following of Facebook friends for your company, Create a Facebook Fan Page and invite your friends to join it. Post discussion topics and participate in discussions. Upload photos of your community. And so forth...communicate!

Blog:
You can create a blog using a number of publishing tools, like Blogger. Blog about topics relevant to your community's surrounding area, relevant industry and city news, unique vacant apartments you have available, information for tenants that you'd usually send in the form of a memo, employment opportunties...the possibilities are endless - just make sure the posts are relevant to your audience.

Be sure to link your different social media sites together:
Tweet your blog posts
Link your blog posts to Facebook
Link your tweets to your blog

You can use YouTube to create a channel and upload virtual tours of your community or use Flickr to upload photos of your community!

THE BIG QUESTION that everyone asks is "So how will this benefit my business?" You want to engage with your audience and know what is being said about you so you respond and make informed business decisions. Also, social media is simply becoming part of our culture and you want to keep up. Check out this blog post about social media statistics put together by Spyder Trap Online Marketing.

Monitoring your brand/company using social media sites and setting up Google Alerts is a must.

Hope this was helpful! Or at least a start!

Summer Events in Minnesota

Do you have fun plans for the Fourth of July? Do they include some type of event somewhere in Minnesota? Would you like to know about more summer events going on after Independence Day is over? Thought so...

Minneapolis.org has lists of fairs, festivals, and events for Summer 2009 and all year round. The following lists just a few:

The Taste of Minnesota is an annual Fourth of July weekend festival on Harriet Island in Minneapolis. The Taste of Minnesota has an amusement park, children's theatrical shows, a nightly fireworks display, and many varieties of food!

Minneapolis Riverfront Red, White and Boom is a Fourth of July celebration for families or anyone who wants to come enjoy a fireworks display along the Mississippi Riverfront. Live music begins at 5 pm with kids activities in Father Hennepin Bluff Park from 6-9 pm. Fireworks start at 10 pm.

The Uptown Art Fair runs from August 7th to 9th in Uptown. The Uptown Art Fair caters to tourists, arts enthusiasts, artists and festival-goers nationwide, according to Minneapolis.org.

The Minnesota State Fair is the perfect way to end the summer months from August 27th to Labor Day, September 7th. Tons of great tasting foods of all varieties (my favorite is the corn on the cob), animal barns, amusement park rides, and various shows, activities, and concerts.

When Fall begins, don't forget to check out the new University of Minnesota Gopher Stadium! The first Gopher football game to be played in the new stadium is only 71 days from today!

Check out the Minneapolis.org Hot + New Blog for continuous updates about Minneapolis happenings!

Have a fun and safe Fourth of July weekend!

Special Offer to Those Affected by the Fire at Park Glen Apartments

A fire broke out at Park Glen Apartments in St. Louis Park (MN) during the evening on Saturday, June 13th. The fire, which may have been started by a charcoal grill, damaged as many as 80 units, according to the Star Tribune. "The grill was on a wooden deck on the third floor, said St. Louis Park Fire Chief Luke Stemmer. That is prohibited by city ordinance," the article states. As a reminder to our residents, our community code states: "Barbecuing on balconies, patios or within 20 feet of a structure is absolutely forbidden by the Fire Marshal."

Our thoughts go out to the residents affected by this incident. In an effort to help those affected, we are offering specials at our communities neighboring Park Glen.

If displaced Park Glen Apartments residents wish to rent with us:

• We will allow them to move in without paying rent for June 2009
• We will waive any application fees
• We will charge only $100 for a security deposit
• Lease terms will be negotiable
• We will screen them immediately and require income verification only upon the day of move in if such verification is not readily available
• Those who pass the applicant screening will be able to move in the same day!

The following apartment communities that we own and manage are offering these specials to Park Glen residents affected by the fire:

Walden Woods Apartments
4301 Park Glen Road
St. Louis Park, MN 55416
Phone: 952.926.6182
walden@sidal.com

Inglewood Trails Apartments
3200 Inglewood Avenue
St. Louis Park, MN 55416
Phone: 952.836.1944
inglewood@sidal.com

Brier Creek Apartments
10641 Greenbrier Road
Minnetonka, MN 55305
Phone: 952.542.8044
brier@sidal.com

You may visit us at http://www.sidal.com/ to view the properties.

10ants - A Social Network for Apartment Communities

I recently came across a social networking web site for apartment communities called 10ants. Get it? Like "tenants." Yeah, you got it.

10ants.com is owned by Rental Markets, Inc. and is "a social networking site which provides renters a medium through which they can interact with other renters through writing apartment reviews, giving and receiving apartment advice, finding available apartment rentals and connecting renters who live in the same apartment community," according to its web site.

Tenants can sign up for a free membership and connect with other renters and people in their apartment community. To sign up, you simply register for an account by entering your name and email address. Next, you use the drop-down lists to select your geographic area and apartment community. After you register, you're able to create a profile and upload photos and videos. After you've set up your profile, you can create groups, events, send messages and view community news.

Managers of rental communities can also register for an account, allowing them to post apartment listings, send community-wide messages and connect with tenants in a new way.

According to 10ants.com, the site provides:

1. Apartment Reviews
2. Apartment Advice
3. Apartment Rentals
4. Free Apartment Finding Service
5. Free Roommate Service - GetARoomie.com is one of 10ants.com sister sites.
6. Rental Rewards - MyRentalRewards.com is another one of 10ants.com's sister sites.
7. Connection with Fellow Tenants

I'm wondering how many people are actually going to use this site. Anyone interested? Well, at least we now know it exists!

Renting Can be a Smarter Investment Than Buying

Yes, housing prices are dropping. But does that mean everyone should buy a home? Not according to a report by the National Multi Housing Council and the National Apartment Association. Renting may be a smarter investment.

The points in this report are supported by research and data and pose interesting questions about home ownership that most people probably wouldn't think of. The report is designed to help people understand more about renting versus buying a home so they can make an educated decision about what's best for them.

Myths about home buying are addressed in detail in the report and some are highlighted below:

Myth: I'll reduce my tax bill if I buy a house.

Truth: "Once you factor in the standard deduction and maintenance costs, you could end up spending thousands just to save a few hundred dollars in taxes."

Myth: Paying rent is throwing away money. I could be building equity.

Truth: "For the first five years of ownership, you are simply giving away money to the bank."

Myth: My mortgage payment will be less than my rent.

Truth: You could spend thousands of dollars on maintenance, property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, home improvement, decorating or landscaping.

Myth: As an owner, my housing costs will stay constant. I won’t have to worry about rent increases.

Truth: "Only your mortgage payment will remain constant. Other costs can go up every year. And if you have an adjustable rate mortgage, your monthly payment can rise too."

Myth: I can’t afford not to buy with these low interest rates.

Truth: Sellers can demand higher prices because there are so many buyers out there competing for homes. As home values continue to decline, you could end up having to sell your home for less than you paid for it.

Renting offers more flexibility and is less of a risk than buying because you're not locked in to a long-term mortgage. With renting you don't have to worry about maintenance costs, property taxes, and homeowner's insurance.

Please take the highlights of this report into consideration before making your housing decision.