Monthly Archives: April 2011

When you get your hands on the contract for the home or apartment you’ve set your sights on, there a few key areas to pay attention to in order to help you understand the commitment you’re making before you put your name on it. If it turns out you want to change something in the [...]

Sharing a living space? You’re not alone. And if you live in the U.S. chances are your housing situation is pretty good in comparison to folks in other countries on the planet. For example, in the United States the average home size is about 2,400 square feet. And both the average household size and the [...]

There are a few commonly-cited benefits of having roommates: your space-to-money-paid ratio is good, you spend time outside of work with new people or old friends, and you pitch in on shared expenses like utilities and laundry soap. But keep in mind that anyone you cohabitate with will probably have their flaws and moods, just [...]

Thinking of heading to Houston to live? You’re in luck: apartment rent costs in Houston have been bucking the trend, staying even or, in the case of studio apartments, even dropping over the past three months. Nope, that’s not a typo. The average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment cost $848 in January (for reference, that’s [...]

After reading all about kids finally getting jobs and moving out of basements to their very first apartments, I was feeling in need of some sunshine and fresh air myself. (Once, I sublet a plywood-walled room carved out of the living room of a Brooklyn basement apartment occupied by beer-pong-and-Nintendo-addicted jocks. It was a good [...]

New chatter in the multifamily industry blogs this week ranges from eco and exciting to demographically intriguing, and also touches on sound management practices too. First, let’s get down to green business. According to MultiHousing News blog Chicago’s Flair Tower got the prestigious LEED Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. (Quick recap: LEED [...]

Feeling like you’re on the cusp of an employment breakthrough? Thinking of getting an apartment with pals instead of sharing your parents’ basement with lidless Tupperwares and your sister’s gymnastics trophies? Does the thought of owning a home make your palms sweat? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, pay attention: the Economist, [...]

Does the following scenario seem familiar? “Your site looks great. It’s loaded with content your users want. Navigation is a snap. Bingo, bango, bongo – let the leads roll in! Right? Maybe. Only if your site is also fast. If it’s slow – and by slow we’re talking about fractions of a second – your [...]

It’s okay to be afraid of birds because they evolved from dinosaurs. So there is really no need to feel silly while screaming like a schoolgirl when you encounter a winged beast en route to the shower; evolutionarily, your reaction is vaguely in line with how the big species battle played out. Of course, cavemen [...]

The National Apartment Association (NAA) recently featured “Multifamily Mobile: Texting Residents Gets A Thumbs Up,” in the April version of Units Magazine. The article discussed ways apartment managers and management companies have been trying out texting as a way to reach renters. Let’s review the main take-home points made in the article, which contains some [...]