Both the House and Senate are in session this week. What issues should REALTORS® follow? State of Minority Homeownership – JoAnne Poole (NAR) Testifies; FTC Oversight/Privacy and Data Security; Potential Markup of Money Laundering Legislation; and Tax Gap/Taxpayer Noncompliance.
BiggerPockets Podcast 328: How to Laser-Focus on the Wildly Important With Author Chris McChesney
If you’ve ever had an interest in turning your desire to invest in real estate into a well-oiled business machine, today’s episode is for you! Chris McChesney, bestselling author of The 4 Disciplines of Execution, shares some mind-blowing strategies recognized worldwide for their ability to help followers achieve more success! Chris shares the difference between lead and lag activities, how to use the power of leverage to move your business forward, and how staying busy isn’t always in your best interest. He also shares eye-opening insight into the way we use confirmation bias to avoid making progress, how to break major wars into smaller, winnable battles, and the secret of “tendency override.†Chris has developed an amazing system using four key strategies to improve your odds to succeed and has implemented them with companies like Coca-Cola, Comcast, The Ritz-Carlton, and more! Don’t miss this episode chock full of actionable advice for improving your life, as well as your business!
Talent wanted: How to hire and retain skilled community association managers
Recruiting and retaining skilled managers can be challenging for community associations and management companies, especially in a very competitive labor market and with communities limited by tight budgets.
In this reality, it becomes even more important for associations and management companies to highlight their strengths and address organizational shortcomings, says business speaker and author Peter Sheahan.
The founder and CEO of Karrikins Group, a Denver-based business growth strategy consulting firm, Sheahan has been an innovative business thinker for more than 20 years. He has advised leaders at companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Hyundai, IBM, and Wells Fargo. He’s also authored seven books, including the recently released Matter: Move Beyond the Competition, Create More Value, and Become the Obvious Choice and Generation Y, a book about the millennial workforce.
Peter Sheahan
Generation Y came about due to Sheahan’s experience as manager of a hotel in Sydney, Australia. “I noticed there was a very big disconnect between what the young people that I was hiring wanted from their experience of work and what I needed from them at work, as their employer,†he says.
Since that formative experience, Sheahan and his team have strived to help company leaders understand ways to attract talented workers.
“People think that the secret to attracting and retaining talent is little things like, ‘Let’s give them free lunch’ or ‘What perks can we offer?’ or ‘What are our benefits compared to the benefits down the road?’ But at the end of the day, it really comes down to the quality of the organization,†Sheahan says. “Is it successful? Is it high performing? Because good, smart people want to work in those environments.â€
Sheahan recommends a few best practices for community associations and management companies for recruiting and retaining talent:
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- Stop thinking about tactics, and start thinking about the performance of the organization. The focus should be on building an organization that is robust and resilient. “Great organizations have no trouble attracting and retaining talent,†says Sheahan.
- Build a culture that people want to work in. The perks and benefits can’t be the only lure for bringing in talented workers. Sheahan warns that if the culture doesn’t reflect what was promised to the manager when hired, “You’ll find yourself in bigger trouble.â€
- Be courageous. It’s important to brave a tight labor market to find talented people, says Sheahan. It’s also about having the courage to build a high-performing team. “A team is only as strong as its weakest link, so we need to be capable of managing the performance of the underperformers or, at times, even having the courage to move people on,†he says.
Sheahan will be one of the keynote speakers at the 2019 CAI Annual Conference and Exposition: Community NOW, May 15-18, in Orlando.
The post Talent wanted: How to hire and retain skilled community association managers appeared first on Ungated: Community Associations Institute Blog.
Special Announcement!
Today’s episode is more like a breaking news bulletin…Here’s the headline: BiggerPockets now has a third podcast, the BiggerPockets Business Podcast! Every Tuesday, J and Carol Scott will sit down with entrepreneurs from all walks of life and explore what it really takes to make it. Whether you’re looking to scale your real estate investing business or launch a new venture, you’ll learn a ton about marketing, hiring, firing, raising capital, and much more. Don’t miss an episode! Take a few seconds right now to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. Or head on over to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast page. Episode 1 is live right now, and features special guest Joshua Dorkin. The BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast will be back tomorrow, and returns to regular programming next week. You excited for the new Business Podcast? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
April 2019 Housing Minute
Pending home sales rose 3.8% from last month and REALTORS® name the top markets Millennials are moving to, with Madison, Wis. coming in at number one.
Crisis communicator: A board president’s coordinated strategy during Hurricane Irma
Michael Kulich, the overall winner of CAI’s 2018 Outstanding Homeowner Leader award, went above and beyond to help the Turtle Creek Homeowners Association in Orlando, Fla., deal with Hurricane Irma’s destruction. As president of Turtle Creek when the storm struck, Kulich led efforts to develop and implement the community’s disaster plan, and during Irma, he turned his home into a “war room” to give board members and vendors a space to provide the community with updates and review action plans.
When the skies cleared, Kulich—a management consultant by trade—took time off from his day job to coordinate vendor activities and lead the cleanup until the community was back on its feet.
What should homeowners do before and after a hurricane?
Residents should stock up on critical supplies and identify how to stay connected to the police and the association. It’s equally important for residents to be patient after the storm passes. Turtle Creek residents were eager to begin the cleanup process after Irma. While their intentions were good, it’s better to pause, confirm everyone is safe, and confirm it’s safe to begin clearing debris.
Michael Kulich
What must a community disaster plan include?
Our plan focused on preparing our infrastructure and homeowners for potential damage and partnering with local vendors and government officials to establish communications lines for continuous updates. Between computers and cell phones, Turtle Creek board members were in constant communication with local government officials, local law enforcement, and utility companies. This approach allowed us to gather pictures of the damage and have video conferences with our landscaping vendor to develop a cleanup plan. We were back to normal operations within a couple of weeks as opposed to months.
What makes a community leader effective?
Communication is an essential quality. As a board member, I use MailChimp for email updates, Twitter, and I recently launched a YouTube channel to livestream our board meetings. Residents appreciate our efforts to keep them informed, as it lends itself to another trait of a successful community leader: transparency. Operating an association board shouldn’t be a mystery. Residents should feel welcome to attend all activities, and feedback should be encouraged.
Why do you volunteer?
Volunteering gives me an opportunity to remove myself from the daily grind and focus my time and energy helping someone else. Since high school, I’ve made it a priority to find a cause or an organization where I can volunteer.
What do you enjoy about serving on your board?
As president, I find the ability to address a homeowner’s concern and find a resolution extremely rewarding. But my main source of enjoyment stems from the relationships I’ve built with our homeowners and local vendors.
What else do you enjoy?
Traveling with my wife and daughter and adding to my sports card collection. Lately, my free time is spent writing. I’m creating my first blog, which focuses on community association topics and trends.
April is National Volunteer Month. Read our articles about preparing for a volunteer role and five steps for effective community leadership. And you can read about the inspiring work done by a homeowner leader who put his community toward a path of financial stability.
The post Crisis communicator: A board president’s coordinated strategy during Hurricane Irma appeared first on Ungated: Community Associations Institute Blog.
Staging Tip: Remove the Window Screens Prior to a Photo Shoot
Besides a good window cleaning, there’s another way to boost your curb appeal and get those windows shining.
5 Steps to Creating the Perfect Outdoor Living Room
Submitted by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) 1. Declutter & Clean The first step to sprucing up the outdoor living room is to clear dirt and clutter from the space. Store lawn equipment, children’s toys, and pet play things in a shed or garage. Give the entire area a good scrub down, sweeping away dust […]
BiggerPockets Podcast 327: The “Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat†Method Made Simple With David Greene
It’s here—THE book on BRRRR! And who better to write it than the leading authority on this strategy: our co-host David Greene.In this episode, he breaks down exactly how to “Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, and Repeat†your way to wealth.David reveals how BRRRR allows him to force equity, leverage the talents of others, and recycle his capital so he didn’t have to keep working 100-hour weeks as a police officer.You’ll learn about the velocity of money, the “core four†players every BRRRR investor needs on his or her team, and the way to eliminate fear by taking a cold, hard look at the numbers.David also explains how this strategy can reduce capital expenditures and how to come to the bargaining table with a cash offer that puts you in the driver’s seat.He also addresses some common objections, including the notion that it’s difficult to influence the appraised value of your rehabbed property. Plus, you won’t want to miss the “Deal Deep Dive” where David goes into detail about one of his recent real-life BRRRR deals.Whether you’re brand new to this method of investing or are looking to fine-tune your BRRRR skills, this episode will provide you with a ton of value. Still, we only cover part of what’s in David’s book, so check it out on the BiggerPockets Bookstore.
Turnaround leader: How a board president revitalized a community in financial disarray
When Michael Shucart took the helm as president of Leisure Town Home Association’s board more than five years ago, financial disarray and outdated amenities plagued the 1,150-home community in Vacaville, Calif. Now, the retired banker is credited with putting Leisure Town back on a path to success.
Development of the 55-and-older community first began in the early 1960s, and the association had gone without a professional community manager for more than 50 years. There had been little resolve from the board to raise assessments and make improvements. “The community was left deferring maintenance with little in the reserves for replacement or repairs,†says Shucart.
Undoing decades of neglect, Shucart developed a list of priorities “to help define our vision†after consulting with the community’s 1,800 residents. The board developed a plan to overcome years of deferred maintenance.
Michael Shucart
Drawing from his experience as a banker specializing in wholesale mortgages, Shucart also reviewed each line in the association’s budget for cost-saving measures. He saw that the reserve study replacement costs were unrealistic and that vendor contracts could be improved.
“I realized all of our vendors were friends of friends. As a result, most of them were not giving us favorable conditions,†says Shucart.
In addition, after more than five decades without a manager, the board decided to hire a full-time, on-site manager to fill the void in day-to-day operations.
Through these steps and a few others, the community recently unveiled updated amenities including a new bocce court, a lawn bowling field, a remodeled swimming pool, and a new fitness center for residents.Â
Because of the contributions that have improved Leisure Town’s financial standing and infrastructure, Shucart was named Homeowner Leader of the Year by CAI’s Northern California Chapter in 2018.
Shucart credits the success of Leisure Town’s turnaround to the collaboration with the other members of the board. He also points out that effective leadership “starts with identifying the concerns of membership, putting a plan together that addresses those issues, and working together in the best interests of the association toward a solution.â€
But the work is far from over. Shucart has already set future goals to address at Leisure Town. “We are figuring out how to deal with the closure of our golf course, trying to bring in recycled water to use for the roughly 17 acres of green space, and installing new solar panels to offset the cost of electric usage,†he says.
April is National Volunteer Month. Read our articles about preparing for a volunteer role and five steps for effective community leadership. And stay tuned for another look at inspiring work done by a homeowner leader.
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