multifamily
Multifamily #Trust30: Greatness
Moving past the halfway point with day 16 of the #trust30 challenge –
Greatness appeals to the future. If I can be firm enough to-day to do right, and scorn eyes, I must have done so much right before as to defend me now. Be it how it will, do right now. Always scorn appearances, and you always may. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Trusting intuition and making decisions based on it is the most important activity of the creative artist and entrepreneur. If you are facing (and fearing) a difficult life decision, ask yourself these three questions:
1) “What are the costs of inaction?”….
2) “What kind of person do I want to be?”
3) “In the event of failure, could I generate an alternative positive outcome?”
Multifamily greatness
We recently purchased a property from a lending institution who had in turn taken it back from a previous ownership interest. When completing the due diligence phase of our process we discovered roughly 40 units in various stages of disrepair. Units we classify as down. Down to mean not habitable absent some major rehab.
It spoke loudly to the point of the first question – inaction. Banks are not property managers. And, in lieu of spending $25 to $30k to replace the roofs, they left them alone. Result of that inaction? Several hundred thousands of value wiped away.
Greatness starts with forecasting the consequence of in-actions. In this case, it would suffice to say that some back of the napkin math would have yielded an ROI that would have driven a decision to replace the roofs.
What kind of company do we want to be
At Mills Properties, we ask that question a lot. As of late it has been in the area of branding, marketing, digital footprint and the such. We have been slow in moving toward what we want to achieve part and parcel because of near 50% growth in community and unit count over the past four years. And, in part not having a real plan.
Fast forward to today. We have taken the time to craft a 40+ page branding/marketing plan that includes everything from font types and size for all thing forward facing to big ticket strategies to dominate the St. Louis Apartments on and off-line space. It lays it all out and captures how everything from curb appeal to lease contract signing ladders up into an overarching message for the neighborhoods and communities we serve. And, in advance our striving to make a splash nationally at some point.
It all starts with asking the right questions.
Multifamily failure
I think the best way to overcome failure is understand that it going to happen from time to time. In fact, I like what Tom Peters has to say about it, “reward
failure.” If you are not failing, you are not trying, you are not learning and thus you are not growing. Equity Residential cements this in their 10 ways to be a winner – one being ‘take educated risks.’ The expectation is that you gather every piece of information you can to include the counsel of others before you pull the trigger. And, if you fail, you simply have a group postmortem where you examine the facts and the various action points to see what could have been done better.
Off for a float trip
It’s Saturday, it’s raining and we are headed out for camping and a float trip. Should be loads of fun. I say that with lots of hope in mind.
Your hoping you have an amazing weekend contributor,
M
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Multifamily #Trust30: Character
Day 14 of the #Trust30 challenge – Trust
…Decide what you want the future to be and make it happen. Because you can. Write about your future now.
(Author: Cindy Gallop)
It’s an elegant way of saying Trust thyself. There is no way of really telling how many times a year we have brilliant ideas cross our mind only to be lost in the same instance. And, no way to tell just how many times that dismissal is a direct result of our innate lack of trust in our own wherewithal. Or, back to that ever persistent dream killer – fear.
What do I want people to say about me when I die
A number of years ago I took the time to write a personal creed for myself. The soul-searching was prompted by a book I was reading at the time; don’t quote me but I do believe it was Steven Covey’s 8th Habit. The methodology included thinking about your very own funeral. I know, morbid huh?
You are at the back of the room as you watch four people take the stage to speak about you: a family member, a co-worker, a coach, mentor, friend or otherwise and a civic/church member. In the exercise you wrote about all the things you would want those individuals to say about you. In doing so you would discern the things that meant the most to you in the way you would want to live life. In a word: character.
Once you defined the character traits, the next step consisted of writing your creed. And, once the creed was written it was time to pen your goals and strategies with which you went about achieving them, predicated on the creed. Or, what you were going to do to build your character.
Character leads the way
Every year in early Jan, I sit and pen my goals for the coming calendar year along with five years and ten years down the road. All predicated on my creed. All in an effort to work on character first, accomplishment second and gathering of things third. In my head if I work on character, accomplishments will come followed closely by money and the things that money can buy.
Over time I will post the creed and the goals that go along with it as one of the last steps in the methodology is to share openly with those that would hold you accountable to living up to what you penned. But, not yet.
What about you; what methodology do you use to create the future for yourself?
Your working on 2011 goals predicated on creed and aiming for good character contributor,
M
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Multifamily #Trust30 – Divinity
Day 8 of the #Trust30 challenge hits us with The Divine Idea
Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation…
(Author: Fabian Kruse)
Let me start by saying this is a tough one for me as I believe in and have utilized the highest form of flattery in the past; that is, borrowing multifamily business and marketing concepts and adding a twist or two to make it my own. I am certain that I have employed a few former employer concepts at my current place of business.
Multifamily Blog
To speak to the point of today’s prompt. What are those area of my life? I would say the multifamily space leads the way. I have the tagline on my blog; Out to put a dent in the multifamily universe and I believe that will come in the way of insisting on myself as suggested above. I like to think we did as much back in 2006 or 2007 when we created the Portland Rocks Newsletter Blog while working for EQR. After a few platform changes and copy amendments we settled in and went for it. The team went on to win an inagural award for, in part, being the most innovative group in the bunch. Blogging today, while not mainstream, is certainly more prevelant that it ever has been. And, it will only continue to get more exciting. We like to think we were part of the catalyst that got the party started.
Today, we are constantly working on identifying new and exciting ways to enhance our organization through the use of exciting new technologies. And, look forward to continue to flatter and uniquely innovate in the space.
What about you?
Your, not sure if Imitation is suicide, contributor,
M
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Multifamily #Trust30: Afraid to do
Mike Brewer · · 1 Comment
This reminds me of the saying; The thing you fear most is the thing you should do next. Or, do something everyday that scares the hell out of you.
Public Speaking
I love the multifamily business with a purple passion. It has been the avenue that has paved lots of good fortune for me over the years. And, any chance I get to talk about any aspect of it; I take it.
Last night, I was a guest speaker for a professor at Washington University in St. Louis. I spoke on the topic of marketing and leasing up a re-development project called The Laurel Apartments. It’s an amazing project with amazing potential to change the social landscape of the neighborhood. It has everything a marketer could ever hope for in the way of an assignment.
That said and to the point; public speaking scares the hell out of me. It’s a dream of mine to be an accomplished public speaker over time so I jump at every scary chance to present not in spite of that fear but rather in celebration of it.
What are you afraid to do?
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Multifamily #Trust30: Build More Lego Apartment Buildings
Day three of the #trust30 hits us with the NOW…
Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now?….(Author: Jonathan Mead)
Live More Mindfully
I think the otherwise simple answer to this question is; I would spend more meaningful time with my family. I would play more monopoly with them, I would build more lego apartment buildings with my son, play more ‘Ken and Barbie find their first Apartment’ with my daughter and I would go out on far more date nights with my girl. It’s somewhat tongue-in-cheek with the point that being mindfully present with the ones you love and the ones that love you back is where the real wealth of life extends itself.
Your short and to the point contributor,
M
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