The highlight of my career
Interviewing Donald Trump was a highlight of my publishing career. The Trump brand is one of the most luxurious in the world. His multifamily properties are legendary. In the AP interview, we focused on...
Opportunities in ULI’s real estate economic forecast
Demand for apartments is likely to stay relatively strong. At the same time prices are likely to fall for all types of real estate property, according to the March 2023 edition of the Urban...
I won’t hire people who use poor grammar. Here’s why.
Some might call my approach to grammar extreme, but I prefer Lynne Truss's more cuddly phraseology: I am a grammar "stickler." And, like Truss-author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves-I have a "zero tolerance approach"...
Unlocking Big Data
The coupling of big data with artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT) has power to disrupt the traditional way of basing real estate decisions on experience, past performance and intuition.
The machine...
Katrina up close
Katherine Gibson made a spontaneous decision to volunteer for rescue efforts after Katrina hit New Orleans. Exactly one week after the hurricane struck she was on the spot. Moved by the plight of people...
Preventing a looming crisis
Missed rent payments are stacking up across the country, threatening an unthinkable crisis when eviction moratoriums currently in place expire. To make matters worse, many renters are accumulating massive late fees that compound their...
Demand for apartments rises all over, despite economy
Vacancy rates are shrinking all over, in tight markets such as Minneapolis and loose ones like Phoenix.
It's an unusual situation. Job creation typically drives apartment demand. But this time the tenant top-up is largely...
Taming the onsite maverick
Charleston, S.C.-based Greystar is the largest apartment operator and multifamily property manager in the United States, with over 400,000 units under management in 160 different markets. The purchasing line item to keep those units...
HUD rallies smoking ban in public housing
In its proposed rule, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would require more than 3,100 public housing agencies to go smoke-free within several years. The agencies must design policies prohibiting lit tobacco...
How property managers can survive (and thrive) in the era of proptech
Rent collection: There’s an app for that. Scheduling repairs: There’s an app for that, too. Apartment showings can now be handled by a suite of software programs that allow for virtual viewings, and background...
Apartment market weathers the storm of new supply
Apartment landlords can no longer raise rents like they used to. So many new apartment units are opening that the vacancy rate is inching higher across the country.
This year “will likely remain challenging for...
Turning a page in history
A couple of months ago, former NAA CEO and President Doug Culkin stepped down and Robert Pinnegar took over leadership of the organization that is focused on educating and advocating on behalf of a...
Apartment REITs: urban exodus
Apartment REITs have been among the strongest-performing property sectors over the last two decades by riding the tailwinds of an unyielding urban revival, a trend that is suddenly severely threatened in several key markets...
Safe harbor
The mainly bi-coastal apartment REIT broke ground for two new apartment projects in Q4 2009. The 219-unit, $36 million second phase of Avalon Northborough, in a suburb about 22 miles west of Boston got...
Landlords rule
"We are riding a monster wave that has a long way to go before getting to shore," said Camden Property Trust CEO Ric Campo in his introduction to the apartment REIT's Q1 2012 conference...
