Apartment Operations

Seth Godin writes about a subject near and dear to all of our hearts. That is the cadre of folks out there that believe it is cheaper to keep a customer than it is to try to find a new one.

Read it here and tell me what you think.

I just can’t get past this one.

Here is an excerpt from this months MFE Magazine. It comes from the Editor.

“I am a fan of telling it like it is. At a gathering of industry
executives earlier this year, one REIT CEO did just that. He was
talking to an intimate group of his peers about how the recent influx
of renters into multifamily properties was only temporary—that these
renters would still want to buy single-family homes once the market
recovered. He argued that, knowing this, property managers shouldn’t be
shy about raising rents. “While we can, we should stick it to them.
Stick it to them,” he said.” [see article here]

The description of this whole exchange and the idea that it was printed in a magazine that I really admire just rubs me the wrong way.

“…he was candidly sharing opinions and perspectives that may have brushed some in the audience the wrong way.”

Include me as part of the audience that was brushed the wrong way. Was there thought given to the idea that once printed, the room referred to grew exponentially?

I can’t see how comments like that could be admired, one. Two, I can’t see glorifying it by calling it wisdom.

I would say this, candidly. I would never work for, with or around a leader and organization that openly promoted that kind of inane rhetoric. I want to believe he was kidding.

Maybe I have the wrong perspective about our industry. Maybe it is about grabbing the cash while you can and pilfering the unique talents of people while you can. I really doubt it however. I am both convicted and convinced that an organization governed by those principles might prosper for a brief moment but will die on the social media vine over time. This is just the kind of ammunition that a resident needs for his/her blog, for his/her MySpace page, his/her Facebook page, etc… I guess it could of been worse, we could have learned his name and the name of his company. What a day that could have been.

All that said, I get the point of being direct and candid. I believe in taking advantage of moments of truth. I believe it crucial conversations. I believe that is why I wrote this post.

Did you know that Apartment Search by Cort was providing apartment search results for Apartmentratings.com? I just discovered it. Can it be?

I once heard a comedian do a bit on road rage. In it he described how an older couple were driving in front of him and not only were they driving slow but they were straddling the dividing line so he could not pass.

He describes climbing out of his driver’s window while laying on the horn and shouting, "pick a lane."

I say, apartmentratings.com, pick a business. And Cort, you should be ashamed. Know that I will be removing my listing from your site on Monday and I will expect it to be off this site as well. Thanks but no thanks.