Kool New Words from the New Mobile World Order

I had the pleasure of presenting at the Multifamily Brainstorming Sessions with my friend and sister in all things marketing, Casey VanZandt. As Vice President of Marketing for Campus Advantage, Casey is in touch with the new lingo so that she can understand the trends of her target market. During our session, we shared the following definitions:

Vaguebooking
An intentionally vague Facebook status update that prompts friends to ask what's going on, or is possibly a cry for help.

No Stalk
Phrase used before one inadvertently says something that sounds stalkerish on Facebook.

That’s Crazy
It's the perfect response when you haven't been listening at all.

Text hole
Someone who texts on their cell phone in really inappropriate places, like movie theaters, concerts, plays, etc.

YouTube loop
When you go to watch a quick 30 second video on YouTube and regain consciousness hours later having jumped from interesting video to interesting video.

Textalizer
A breathalyzer attached to your computer and/or cell phone whose sole purpose is to prevent you from sending messages.

Phantom Vibration Syndrome
You answer your vibrating phone only to find out it was never vibrating.

Please note, many of these words will not clear your spell check!

Hello Albuquerque! The Apartment All Stars Event is in Your City On Wednesday, September 29th. Register NOW!!

Pay to post a comment? This practice could cost your company $11,000

My interest in the subject of paying for posts has piqued. Geno Church, keynote speaker at the Multifamily Brainstorming Sessions this year, commented on the practice of paying bloggers and fans to post good things about a product or service. He warned that this is a violation of FTC rules. For many people, this is the first time they have heard about such law.

There is a $11,000 fine per post in place and is to be enforced by the FTC. We understand this applies to companies paying people to make a post no matter what the subject matter. You can still employ this practice but each post must provide a disclosure saying they were paid to do so. Here is an explanation of the fines the FTC can impose:

FTC to Bloggers: Disclose Freebies or Face $11,000 Fine
By Frederic Lardinois / October 5, 2009 10:41 AM

According to new guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), bloggers who fail to disclose that they have received freebies when they write about a product can now be fined up to $11,000 per post. The new FTC Guide Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising argues that any post of a blogger who receives "cash or in-kind payment to review a product" should be considered an endorsement. Because these posts are now officially considered endorsements, bloggers who receive freebies must now disclose this fact on their site.
Freebies and the Independent Blogger

While the FTC will obviously have a hard time enforcing these regulations, there can be no doubt that marketers regularly approach independent bloggers (and especially mommy bloggers) with freebies. When bloggers accept these exchanges, they may not always disclose them in the posts that result. So, while bloggers who are involved in these schemes often tend to say that they would have reviewed the product anyway or that their reviews are often critical, there can be little doubt that payments and freebies influence these stories.

These new rules and rather large fines should bring some bloggers and marketers into line, though others will surely continue to push the ethical boundaries. And blogging Payola is unlikely to go away completely because of these new rules.
This marks the first time the FTC has updated endorsement and testimonial rules since 1980. The new rules also take on celebrity endorsements. If celebrities endorse a product and make false or unsubstantiated claims, or don't disclose 'material connections' between themselves and the advertisers in ads and outside the context of the ads (talk shows, social media, etc.), these celebrities can be held liable under the FTC Act. Judging from this, it would seem that celebrities who tweet about a product they endorse are now risking large fines.

Metro DC Remains a Top-Tier Apartment Market Performer

by Greg Willett

The greater Washington, DC area was one of the few spots across the country where the apartment market made it through the 2008-2009 time period without taking much of a hit. Revenue loss, taking into account shifts in both occupancy and effective rents, was limited to about 1 percent in the nation's capital, compared to an average decline of nearly 8 percent for the U.S. as a whole. Given that performance during the downturn, it's no surprise that DC is among the metros leading the charge now that momentum has returned for the country's overall apartment sector.

What really stands out looking at apartment market results in the Washington, DC area as of mid-2010 is the return of considerable pricing power. Measuring change on a same-store basis, effective rents jumped 3.1 percent during 2nd quarter, taking growth during the first half of the year to 3.9 percent. Prices are up meaningfully across every neighborhood in the region, with especially strong lifts registering in both the North and South Arlington County submarkets, plus the city of Alexandria.

Greater DC's apartment occupancy rate as of June stood at 95.3 percent, up 1.2 percentage points so far this year. That climb reflects that the market posted demand for more than 9,000 units during 2010's initial half, compared to completions totaling a little more than 3,500 units.

An important factor to consider when evaluating the outlook for the Washington, DC apartment market is that this is one of the few spots across the country where new development deals still pencil out on a fairly broad basis. Thus, some new starts continue. Ongoing construction at 2010's mid-point totaled about 5,200 units. DC soon should rank as the nation's most active building market, since recent leaders Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston are poised to drop down the list.

That flow of additional product in Washington, DC, while certainly not notably aggressive in the big picture, does point to a somewhat competitive leasing environment at the top of the market. Thus, while occupancy and rent growth should prove quite healthy, greater Washington might not realize the total revenue increases that are on the way in locales like San Jose, Denver, Austin and Raleigh — spots that have been beaten down but now are well positioned for pronounced recoveries.

Snap and Go Marketing

For Rent Magazine Introduces Snap and Go

NORFOLK, Va.—(July 19, 2010) — For Rent Media Solutions announces the launch of Snap and Go, the Microsoft® Tag mobile scanning feature available to front cover advertisers at no additional cost. Prospective renters can use this tag to scan a bar code on For Rent Magazine through the camera on their mobile phone, which brings them to their area's apartment listings on the ForRent.com mobile site. The "Snap and Go" tag is a mobile media first in the multi-housing industry.

"The 'Snap and Go' tag is another option we provide to our advertisers that conveniently brings property listings to potential renters and helps generate more awareness for property managers and their communities," said Brock MacLean, senior vice president of national sales and development, For Rent Media Solutions. "Through 'Snap and Go' and other features like unique URLs, text messaging short codes and social media icons, which are included on each For Rent Magazine ad, we are truly making our print offering interactive. These interactive features create a seamless way for renters to use our print publication to access information online or through their mobile device."

How Do You Use It?
This how to video demonstrates how to download and use Snap and Go: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq639IFsfkA&feature=youtube_gdata

Since the January 2009 introduction of Microsoft® Tag, more than one billion tags have been created for businesses worldwide. According to the Microsoft® Tag site, more than 20 million magazines featuring the tag were in the hands of U.S. consumers during the month of April.

Download the Microsoft® Tag Reader app: itunes.apple.com/us/app/tag-reader/id298856272?mt=8

Long Days = Lot's of Leases

It always confuses me as to why we have leasing office hours while our residents are at work. They typically leave for work before 9am. Yet we don't arrive at work until 9am. And our hard working residents don't come home until after 6pm and many leasing offices close at 5:30. When do we think we are going to lease all those apartments?

It's no wonder Saturdays are so busy. Shopping for an apartment is not really how people want to spend their day off but we really don't give them a choice with our office hours limited to their work hours.

During the long days of summer, out smart your competition by staying open later. When I worked for a busy property in South Florida, my personal work schedule was 11am to 8pm. Do you think this had anything to do with why I was the Leasing Consultant with the highest closing ratio at the property? Of course it did. I was there when people wanted to lease.

Apartment Rentals Surge in U.S. on Foreclosures, Jobs

July 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. apartment landlords are seeing a surge in rentals as mounting foreclosures reduce homeownership and an improving job market for young adults encourages them to find their own places to live.

The number of occupied apartments increased by 215,000 in the 64 largest U.S. markets in the first half, according to MPF Research. That’s almost double the units added in all of 2009 and the most since the firm began tracking the data in 1992. The vacancy rate declined to 6.6 percent last month from 8.2 percent in December.

“Demand is pretty stunningly strong in the first half,” Greg Willett, a vice president at the Carrollton, Texas-based apartment-industry research firm, said in an interview.

Investors are betting the expanding ranks of renters will lead to earnings increases next year of about 5 percent to 10 percent or more for apartment real estate investment trusts such as Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities Inc. UBS AG this month raised its rating on AvalonBay, Essex Property Trust Inc. and Post Properties Inc. to “neutral” from “sell.”

The change signifies a “less bearish” view on apartments, while acknowledging that “headwinds will remain,” according to the July 7 report by New York-based analysts Dustin Pizzo, Ross T. Nussbaum and Derek Bower.

“The apartment REITs have priced in the most growth within the broader REIT group and as such are most vulnerable if the economy slows and job growth does not begin to come through in a meaningful way,” they wrote.

The Bloomberg REIT Apartment Index has gained 28 percent this year, double the 14 percent advance in the broader Bloomberg REIT Index. The Standard & Poor’s Supercomposite Homebuilding Index has fallen 3.1 percent.

Job Growth

The economy’s recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s has revived hiring enough to stimulate demand for apartments. The growth hasn’t been enough to prevent more home foreclosures, which lift rental demand, or to lead to a sustained rebound in homebuying.

New jobs are the biggest driver of apartment occupancy. Employers began hiring again in January, adding an average of 147,000 jobs a month through June, according to the Labor Department. Employment for people 20 to 29 years old -- a key group for landlords -- rose in May and June on a year-over-year basis for the first time since the end of 2007.

While payroll growth has been modest compared with pre- recession levels, it may be enough to have persuaded some families sharing housing with relatives to get their own places, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Bunking With Brother

“Given how hard it is for families to live together for very long, they moved out as soon as they got a job or even thought they could find one,” he said in an e-mail.

Mike Odenthal moved to the New York area in January from San Diego in search of a communications job, sleeping on his younger brother’s couch in the Heights neighborhood of Jersey City, New Jersey. He moved out four months later after the condominium went up for sale, eager to live on his own and not wanting the sight of his possessions in the living room to discourage potential buyers.

“I was tired of depending on my family for housing,” said Odenthal, 27, who also stayed with his parents in Jersey City. “I can’t imagine doing that forever, and all retiring to Florida together.”

Odenthal found a roommate and moved July 1 to Manhattan’s Upper East Side, paying $700 a month for his share of the rent. The next morning he got an offer to work at a New York public relations firm.

Foreclosures Persist

Finances for homeowners didn’t improve fast enough to prevent more than 1.65 million foreclosure filings in the first half, an increase of 8 percent from the same period in 2009, RealtyTrac Inc., a data company in Irvine, California, said July 15. A record 269,962 U.S. homes were seized from delinquent owners in the second quarter as lenders set a pace to claim more than 1 million properties by the end of 2010.

The U.S. homeownership rate fell to 66.9 percent in the second quarter, the lowest since 1999, the U.S. Census Bureau said today. The rate peaked at 69.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004.

“As homeownership continues to decline, people need to live somewhere,” said Henry Cisneros, who was President Bill Clinton’s housing secretary from 1993 to 1997 and is executive chairman of CityView, a real estate investment firm in Los Angeles that focuses on urban projects including apartments.

Sales Decline

The rate of new-home sales last month was the second-lowest on record, behind May, following the expiration of a government tax credit for homebuyers, the Commerce Department reported yesterday. Sales of previously owned homes fell 5.1 percent in June, the National Association of Realtors said last week.

“The rental market will be robust for the next few years,” Cisneros said.

Effective rents, or what tenants pay after concessions or breaks from landlords, increased 1.4 percent in the biggest markets in the first half, according to MPF Research. Rents may rise 4 percent to 6 percent in both 2011 and 2012, compared with a gain of about 2 percent this year, Willett said.

AvalonBay, which took a nine-month hiatus from construction in 2009, said in April it had seven communities under development and would increase rents for tenants renewing in the second quarter. It raised its forecast last month for second- quarter and 2010 earnings based on “improved operating trends.”

The Arlington, Virginia-based company’s funds from operations, a widely used measure of earnings, will rise 8 percent in 2011, according to the medial estimate of 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Equity Residential

Equity Residential, based in Chicago, has pushed rents up by “high single digits” in all of its markets since January, Chief Executive Officer David Neithercut said in a June 11 interview. Funds from operations in 2011 also will rise 8 percent, according to a survey of 22 analysts.

Landlords won’t be able to raise rents too aggressively because unemployment remains high at 9.5 percent and declines in home prices have made it no more expensive to buy than rent in about half of larger markets around the nation, Willett said.

Buy Versus Rent

In Atlanta, the median home price has fallen 37 percent to $110,100 from the peak in the third quarter of 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors. Assuming a 10 percent down payment and a 30-year mortgage at 5 percent, the monthly principal and interest cost is $532. That compares with average monthly rents of $774 in the city, Willett said.

Riverstone Residential Group of Dallas, which manages 175,000 units in 30 markets around the country, reduced average concessions to about a half-month’s rent from about two months a year ago, CEO Walt Smith said. Vacancies have fallen below 5.9 percent in buildings that aren’t newly constructed, from 8.25 percent last year. Smith said he expects significant rent growth by 2012 as supply tightens with so few new units being built.

“Landlords are cautiously testing the strength of the submarket their property is in to see if the market will withstand small rent increases,” Smith said. “In most markets, they’ve been successful.”

--With assistance from Oshrat Carmiel in New York. Editors: Larry Edelman, Kara Wetzel

To contact the reporter on this story: Prashant Gopal in New York at Pgopal2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net