Latest / The Academy Presents podcast / Building Stronger Communities Through Asset Management with Cyndee Harding

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Building Stronger Communities Through Asset Management with Cyndee Harding · The Academy Presents podcast

• 0:01
  Did you know that 90 % of the world's millionaires
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  invest in real estate? Well, I'm Angel with the
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  Academy Presents Real Estate Investing Rocks,
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  and I'm here to help you if you want to go for
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  costly mistakes, and begin living the life you've
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  dreamed of all through real estate investing.
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  You're already taking the first step. just by
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  joining us here today. Hey guys, it's Angel and
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  you're here with the Academy Presents Real Estate
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  Investing Rocks podcast and you guessed it. We
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  have another one of my amazing guests, one of
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  my good friends. This is Cindy Harding and she's
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  going to talk to us about asset management. So
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  if you're sitting here and you're struggling
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  right now, just know, I think everyone is struggling.
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  I know we are. And so I'm excited to hear what
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  she has to say, because I've got questions. I'm
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  going to be writing down questions. And I hope
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  that I get some of your questions answered, too,
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  since I don't know what they all are. But Cindy,
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  I'm going to hand it over to you and let you
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  intro yourself in, and then we'll get started.
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  OK, thank you so much for having me. Asset management
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  is my passion. There is nothing else I love doing
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  better. My background is I had an accounting
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  business for about 25 years. And what I specialized
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  was small businesses. So if you think about it,
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  an apartment complex is a small business. It
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  has its own income, its own expenses, its own
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  idiosyncrasies. And so with my accounting practice,
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  I would meet with my owners once a month. I actually
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  worked as a business consultant with them to
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  help them try and figure out ways that they could
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  increase their bottom line, which is exactly
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  what I do. with asset management on apartment
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  complexes. And so it's something that I think
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  about all the time. I'm always working on it.
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  We have found different ways to increase income
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  on a property. So I will go over some of those
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  with you to give you some ideas to start thinking
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  about ways that you can increase your income.
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  We always want to try and make sure our expenses
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  are 50 % or below. If they're not, then we really
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  dig in and try and find out where can we make
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  a difference. I will say one of the areas that
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  we are pretty generous in is in marketing. And
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  I'll go over that and tell you why we put money
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  in marketing. So one of the concepts that we
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  use is called from complex to community. And
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  what we do is if we buy a complex, so oftentimes
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  it is the seller has had it for a long time,
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  they're tired, they're ready to retire, or it's
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  been in the family and no one in the family wants
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  to keep running it. That's a couple of them that
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  we have purchased. But most of the time they're
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  being sold because someone above is tired they're
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  just tired of dealing with it which means that
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  they have really not been putting a lot of energy
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  into the property and so they haven't done a
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  lot of the deferred maintenance maybe some of
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  the big stuff has been done but the small stuff
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  the little stuff the stuff that people see when
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  they come home every day it's just a complex
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  they go to work They do their work, they come
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  home, they go to bed, they get up, they go back
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  to work. And so it's just a complex. And our
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  whole goal is to turn it into a community. So
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  it's a community where people live, where they
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  know their neighbors, and they actually feel
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  like they belong. We believe that every person
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  deserves to live in a beautiful, safe, environment
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  which is something that we provide and it doesn't
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  matter what the income level is. So we feel you
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  know that that's just something that everyone
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  should be able to have. So how do we create this
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  sense of belonging? Well we do three minimum
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  of three activities a month. So the first one
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  that we do is called a pay on time incentive.
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  So let's say rent is due on the fourth. So on
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  the fourth, we will have maybe a pizza and soda
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  in the leasing office. So anyone that has paid
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  their rent prior to or on the fourth will come
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  in, get some pizza, get some soda. I mean, I
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  don't know about you, but you can just go to
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  Little Caesar's and come away with a big stack
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  for not a lot of money. Sometimes we won't do
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  pizza. Sometimes we'll do a gift card for maybe
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  $25, $50 to say Walmart or a local grocery store.
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  And so everyone that pays on time. between the
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  end of the month and the fourth, they get entered
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  into a drawing and then they win a gift card.
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  The other things we've done, we've done like
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  a popcorn bar where they'll come in and get popcorn.
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  We've also done a payday bar where literally
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  we have, we've ordered paydays off of Amazon
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  and you just come in, pay your rent, get a payday
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  bar. Part of the beauty of this is what we're
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  trying to do is change the perception of the
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  leasing office. And this is the first step toward
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  doing that. Most people think of the leasing
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  office as the principal's office. You only go
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  there when A, you cannot pay your rent or B,
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  you're having trouble with maintenance. That's
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  the only time people go in the leasing office.
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  Well, that isn't what we want. We want people
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  to know that the leasing agent really is their
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  advocate. Like they are the ones that are between
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  ownership and the residence. And so they represent
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  the residence. So by them coming in on a regular
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  basis, it helps change that perception. So our
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  leasing offices will have coffee. They'll have
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  snacks. I know one in particular that we have
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  they have quite a few children and so they know
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  when they get off the bus they can come in and
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  get a snack out of the office. Now we did have
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  to tell them they can only come on Tuesdays and
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  Thursdays because they were coming every day
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  and like raiding everything and so we're like
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  Tuesdays and Thursdays but they have to come
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  in they talk to the leasing agent and tell her
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  like what happened at school during the day what
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  are the projects they're working on so there's
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  conversation it's just they don't walk in and
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  take something and wait they actually talk to
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  the leasing agent and so we have found that there's
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  two things that happen with that one is they
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  begin to change the way they look at the leasing
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  office. And the second is they actually build
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  a relationship with the leasing agent. And with
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  that relationship comes the sense of, I know
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  you, you know me. So when they come in and say
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  they're going to pay their rent on a different
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  date, on a day that it's not due, oftentimes
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  they will keep that promise to pay. because they
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  have established this relationship with the leasing
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  agent. And so we have found that they are a lot
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  more forthcoming. They do talk about like what
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  they're going to do, when they're going to pay
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  it, and then they keep those promises to pay.
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  So that is something that we feel really helps
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  transition that from a complex to a community
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  is just building that relationship. So that's
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  the first one that we do. The second one that
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  we do is we always do a birthday celebration
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  because we have the leases. We know when people's
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  birthdays are, anyone that lives in the house.
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  So we run a report at the beginning of the month.
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  We send out a text and an email and say, you
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  know, it's your birthday. We want to celebrate
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  you. And it's the same day of the month. So for
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  example, maybe she'll pick the third Thursday.
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  So third Thursday is birthday celebration. Please
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  come to the leasing office and they'll have cupcakes
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  or cookies or something to celebrate their birthday.
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  And basically it's one of those things that we
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  see you, we're aware that you live here. I mean,
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  people love to hear their name. They love to
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  be recognized and especially on their birthday.
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  Like it's like, oh my gosh, they recognize it's
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  my birthday. And then the third thing that we
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  do is some sort of activity that is relative
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  to the month. So for example, our properties
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  that have pools, they open the pool Memorial
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  Day weekend. So that is in May. And then we close
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  it Labor Day weekend. So for Memorial weekend,
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  now that's also when kids have graduated from
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  high school. So what we do is we will contact
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  vendors, especially if we've been doing renovations,
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  ask them if they would be willing to donate some
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  gift cards. We do have a budget set aside for
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  it. So some months we're kind of lean in what
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  we do and then some months what we're concerned
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  about is our annual marketing budget. And so
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  that might be a more expensive month. but what
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  we'll do is we'll order a cake that says congratulations
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  seniors and it will be in the colors of the school
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  that the community is in. So it's going to be
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  their high school colors. You know there's lots
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  of kids that don't get really recognized for
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  graduating from high school. It's just like another
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  day has passed. And so we want to honor them.
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  So we make sure the seniors are invited. They
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  have a cake. We'll do some sort of hot dog hamburger
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  grill, open the pool, and just really have a
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  big celebration. So we do that in May. And Labor
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  Day weekend, we will have another grill, like
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  a grill and chill, because it's the last of the
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  pool season. So we already know those two events
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  are going to happen. Some of the other events
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  that we do, we'll do breakfast on the go. So
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  we'll have our onsite and maintenance, you know,
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  at the front gate. And as people drive up, we
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  will give them, you know, a granola bar, a, you
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  know, a donut. We'll have a variety of things
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  kind of depending on what people eat for breakfast.
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  And they can pick that and get a cup of coffee
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  or get a container of orange juice. And we do
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  that. we always do it on the first day of school.
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  Because that, I don't know about you, but when
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  my kids were little, the first day of school
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  is always so harried. No one can find their shoes,
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  their backpack isn't ready. It's just this craziness.
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  And so we send out a memo beforehand saying,
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  breakfast is on us. So we will make sure that
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  you guys get breakfast. So either, you know,
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  if the kids are walking to the bus stop, we give
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  it to them. If they're in the car, we give it
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  to them. So that has been very successful. People
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  really like breakfast on the go. So we'll do
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  that the first day of school and then we do it
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  one or two other times throughout the year. So
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  we try really hard to be aware of what's going
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  on in the community. So when does school start?
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  That's when we're going to have that. The other
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  thing is we have Mother's Day. So we did a Mother's
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  Day brunch where we invited the resident and
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  their mother to come and have a brunch with us.
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  And so we'll do that. This year, I had a property
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  that did a father's day brunch because they were
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  like fathers you know we always do something
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  mother's day flowers plants brunch they don't
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  ever do anything for father's day and so they
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  decided that they were going to do a father's
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  day brunch it was so successful i guess you know
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  like they never really get recognized and so
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  they were super happy to come in and have brunch
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  bring their dads What kind of stuff did you have
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  for the brunch? They did a brunch. So we just
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  had like finger sandwiches and burritos. And
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  I let the onsites take care of that. They know
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  what is popular in the area. I do have properties
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  all over the United States. So I really try to
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  let them decide whatever they want to do. That's
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  what they'll do. That's awesome. Yeah, I think
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  so. And then, you know, we just any other holiday
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  Valentine's Day, we had a really big bass. Yeah,
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  it was a big was a big jar filled with. heart
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  -shaped candy, they had to guess how many was
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  in the jar, the closest one got the jar of candy.
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  So we try and do things. I have one particular
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  property that the cable, they have an exclusive
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  contract with the cable and that cable company
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  every month says, can we do a barbecue? And every
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  month they do a barbecue. So people come out,
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  And then one of the things that with doing all
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  these activities, because we are syndicators,
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  we're able to take pictures and then we send
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  those pictures to our investors in our newsletter
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  so they can see what is going on at the property.
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  So not only in the newsletter are they getting
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  you know, what's happening on the property, they
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  get KPIs telling them, you know, where we are,
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  you know, financially, what is the health of
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  the property, but also they get to see pictures
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  of people that are actually participating in
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  a community. Now, I just had a community talk
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  to me last week. They, we have a... pretty good
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  space. We have a lot of acreage and it's just
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  kind of a green belt and they want to do a community
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  garden. The residents have come up and said you
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  know we want to do a community garden and so
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  that is something that we're working on is you
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  know allocating where is it going to be. One
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  of the ladies has already said that she has a
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  connection for a pumpkin patch like pumpkin now
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  plants and so we're probably going to our first
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  thing is probably going to be a pumpkin patch
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  and how fun is that you know the kids will be
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  able to get pumpkins and decorate them so and
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  we're always trying to do things that are going
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  to increase the value of the property so we'll
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  do like this we did a spring cleaning contest
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  of your back patio or your front patio depending
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  on you know what what you had but it was a it
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  was literally was a spring cleaning contest so
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  whoever took you know their patio that had all
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  kinds of stuff and cleaned it all up we had gift
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  cards for them to win so So then on like the
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  spring cleaning, do you just have like one gift
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  card or do you put like five in there and then
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  everybody that spring cleaned gets their name
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  in or? So with that spring cleaning we actually
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  did three gift cards and they actually just the
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  on site had the residents vote and we did first
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  and second and third place. Oh wow. Yep. That's
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  cool. Yeah, we've done it too like for Halloween
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  where they can decorate the front and then we
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  just have the residents vote. We send out a simple
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  poll and you know they pick who and whoever gets
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  the most votes wins. One of the things we do
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  at Halloween mentioning Halloween. is this is
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  kind of a double edged sword, but we do a pet
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  contest. And so we have people bring their pets
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  in and we take pictures. We also document whatever
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  unit they live in. And then we make sure that
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  they're paying pet rent. That's a little double
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  edged. So we don't do it a lot, but we do definitely
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  do a pet contest. If they have an undocumented
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  pet, do you give them time to do what they need
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  to do or do you immediately ding them with it?
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  Yeah, what we'll do is we'll contact them and
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  just say that we've noticed that you do have
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  a pet. We don't want to charge you a lease violation.
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  So what you need to do is register your pet.
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  And then oftentimes, because we do have a pet
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  deposit, we'll break up that deposit in two or
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  three payments depending on the property and
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  how much it is. And so we say you'll need to
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  include an extra $50 with your rent that goes
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  towards your non -refundable pet deposit. And
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  you'll need to pay $25 a month for your pet starting.
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  And then we give them whatever the next month
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  is. So we try to give them time to prepare for
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  it. Or if they want to get rid of the dog or
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  have it go live at their mom's or whatever they
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  want to do. And we do tell them that we're doing
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  this instead of giving them a lease violation.
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  So I think that also creates that sense of community.
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  Or then they can come in and talk to the leasing
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  agent and go, oh, my gosh, I just got this. I
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  didn't realize I was going to have a lease violation.
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  Because one of the properties that we've owned
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  for about a year prior to us owning it, they
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  had no pet anything, no pet deposit, no pet rent,
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  no no breed restrictions. It's just if you had
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  a pet, you brought your pet. Oh, yeah. And that
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  took a little bit of house cleaning. We it wasn't
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  I was going to say it was inconvenient and it
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  made us feel a little awkward, but we did have
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  some breed restrictions. I mean, there's a list.
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  Insurance has it like it's hard to get around.
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  Yeah. So we just worked with them. The one person
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  that was really being the most obstinate I'm
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  going to say actually her dog tried to bite someone
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  and so it was very easy just to say yeah we're
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  and she was up for renewal. I was like I'm sorry
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  we can't renew you with the with the pet. Wow
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  you know that would oh my no not fun. All right.
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  So I do have two questions right now. So I don't
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  want to break up the flow. Like I'm writing all
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  this stuff. Yes. Do you also do like Christmas
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  or other other like holidays that are popular
• 20:48
  in the region? Like if it is say it's a higher
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  Muslim population or Islam or like, do you focus
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  on those holidays? So what we do I would say
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  that we don't necessarily do Christmas because
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  we do have Hanukkah and there's some others.
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  So we will do a holiday in December. So we just
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  do like a holiday celebration and we'll have
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  cookies and hot cocoa. Sometimes we have a Santa
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  there. It just kind of depends on the property.
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  The other thing we do in my Mississippi properties,
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  we own four. and they're all relatively close
• 21:29
  together. And one of them has a very spacious
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  green way with a big playground that we put in
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  after we bought it. And so what we do is an Easter
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  egg hunt. So we have 400 eggs that all four onsites
• 21:48
  fill. They each fill 100 with, you know, candy
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  and then they hide them. And I would say in about
• 21:57
  the middle of February, people start coming in
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  and asking, are we doing the Easter egg hunt?
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  Are we doing the Easter egg hunt? And so we take
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  that time. We also do a grill. So we'll do hamburgers
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  and hot dogs and side dishes. And then we do
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  the Easter egg hunt. Now, one of the things that
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  we do that is actually paid for by the owners.
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  So this is part of what we pay for and we budget
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  for it is we do back to school backpacks. And
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  this is kind of an unusual thing. We take advantage
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  of prime. So prime is right now. And so I think
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  Monday was the first day and we ordered backpacks.
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  And then we ordered the fillers to go inside
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  of them, and then an extra set of notebooks.
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  So the onsites will get all the backpacks, they'll
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  stuff them all with everything, and then that
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  will be the pay incentive for, I believe they
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  started in August, so that will be the pay incentive
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  for August. Pay your rent on time, we'll get
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  your backpacks for your kids. We don't want people
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  to have to... think about am I going to pay my
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  rent or am I going to get my kids ready for school.
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  And so but we're very proactive on that because
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  we we want to do it during prime because that's
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  really when we get the best price. And so I know
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  we ordered over 100 backpacks this year. So in
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  our area, Um, depending on the demographic, they
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  do free back to school supplies. And if you go
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  to their event, um, they provide backpacks and
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  depending on the age. So like for the junior
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  high and high school, they provide like good
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  backpacks, like Jan sports. Um, and I'm not saying
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  the other backpacks aren't good, but younger
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  kids don't carry as many books and they're not
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  going to be as rough. Um, so they get like the
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  cuter backpacks that have like characters on
• 24:13
  them and stuff. Um, So I wanted to provide something
• 24:17
  to our residents, but I had a hard time getting
• 24:19
  everybody else excited about it. And so we've
• 24:23
  been picking up stuff here and there. So I was
• 24:27
  a teacher on and off for 18 years. So when Ticonderoga
• 24:31
  pencils go on sale, I buy up all that I can find.
• 24:35
  So I get Sam's, I got, I don't even know how
• 24:38
  many, I got 800 or 900 pencils in a box for $4
• 24:41
  .91. teconderogas are like the holy grail they
• 24:48
  are the best pencils um and then like i would
• 24:51
  try and even when i had my classroom um when
• 24:55
  the markers like the crayola markers the bad
• 24:57
  ones are the thin ones they're on sale at the
• 24:58
  beginning of school for like 50 cents a box and
• 25:01
  so i'd buy 10 or 20 boxes um when the crayons
• 25:05
  the i'm specifying i'm specifying crayola because
• 25:09
  crayola is a really good brand so whether it's
• 25:12
  your your pencils, your other pencils or your
• 25:15
  crayons or your paint or any of those things.
• 25:18
  Crayola does make a difference. Crazy Art will
• 25:21
  fit the bill for what is required, but it doesn't
• 25:25
  color the same way in any of its items. So I'm
• 25:29
  not I'm not bashing on anybody. This is not I'm
• 25:32
  not like specifically saying don't buy them because
• 25:35
  we've had to buy them too when they were 20 because
• 25:37
  they were 25 cents as opposed to 50. Like I get
• 25:39
  it. But just to me, I don't know what prime prices
• 25:44
  are, but if I can get crayons for 25 cents a
• 25:47
  box or 50 cents a box, I'm going to buy 10 or
• 25:49
  20 of those, maybe 30 of those. And that's just
• 25:52
  my own thing that I did as a teacher for the
• 25:54
  kiddos that they're in this weird spot where
• 25:57
  they don't necessarily get free lunch or reduced
• 26:00
  class lunch, which is when they can go to those
• 26:02
  events and get the free school supplies. But
• 26:04
  their families are still having a hard time making
• 26:06
  it. And so I would try and bridge that gap in
• 26:09
  my own classroom. um for those students so I
• 26:12
  wanted to do it for the for our complexes but
• 26:14
  um I don't know any tips on how you got your
• 26:17
  ownership on board because like people like oh
• 26:20
  yeah that's great and then it falls off the side
• 26:22
  of the earth.