Association News
CTAA would like to welcome our three newest Board Members that have filled the recently vacated seats on the 2007 Board of Directors.  In accordance with the CTAA bylaws CTAA President Kate Moriarty submitted their nominations at the August Board Meeting.  The nominations were then approved by a 2/3rds majority vote of the Board of Directors present at the meeting. Please help us in welcoming our new Board of Directors:
 
Treasurer – Steve Boucher, Northland Investment Corp.
Steve Boucher has taken on the Property Manager position at Bigelow Commons, a Northland Property. Steve began his career with Northland at Bigelow Commons in Enfield, CT as there Bookkeeper.   He was then promoted to Property Manager at the Boulders in Amherst, MA. He has now received another promotion to Property Manager of Bigelow Commons.

Director of Northern CT – Odis P. Coleman, CPM of Winn Residential
Odis is currently employed by Winn Management as a Senior Property Manager.  He was previously employed by Beacon Residential Management and Avante Management Group as a property manager. Previously, Odis was employed for 12 years as an Investment Officer for Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company.

Director of Southern CT – Joanne Heckman, Konover Residential
Joanne Heckman has been a Regional Manager for Konover Residential for the past five years.  She has over 1500 apartments in her portfolio.  She also holds her CT Real Estate License.  Prior to joining Konover Residential Joanne was employed by Tarragon Management.

Upcoming Events
2007 Fifth Annual CTAA Tradeshow & Nutmeg Awards
Featuring our Keynote Speaker – Former Governor John G. Rowland
Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, CT
November 16, 2007

Associate Members – if you haven’t signed up for your booth, yet, click here for your registration form

There are still a few sponsorship opportunities available, as well. Click here for more information

New Members

Apartment Management Members:

Wintergreen of Westville
Linda Knapp, Manager 
Lane Management  
400 Blake Street - Leasing Office 
New Haven CT 06515-  
(203) 389-7593 phone 
(203) 389-5912 fax 
wintergreen_mgr@lanecompany.com

Antares Marketing Group  
Kristine Ragone  
52 Main Street 
Greenwich CT 06830-  
(203) 653-6014   
kragone@antaresrealestate.com 
www.antaresrealestate.com

Greenwich Oaks
Gina Cotaj, Manager
Antares Marketing Group  
219 Weaver Street - 9C 
Greenwich CT 06831 
(203) 532-5794 
(203) 532-5797 
gcataj@antaresrealestate.com 
www.greenwichoaksct.com 

Greenwich Place
Gina Cotaj , Manager
Antares Marketing Group  
100 Western Junior Highway 
Greenwich CT   
(203) 532-5790 phone   
www.greenwichplacect.com 

Associate Members:

Resident Data, a Choice Point Service
Lauren Harris 
1770 Mass Avenue #253 
Cambridge MA 02140-  
(617) 354-9332 phone 
(617) 812-5827 fax 
lharris@residentdata.com 
www.residentdata.com

MiddleOak Specialty
Cliff Taft  
P.O. Box 891 
Middletown 
CT 06457-0891 
(860) 704-4619 phone 
(860) 638-5120 fax 
clifford.taft@middleoak.com 
www.middleoakspecialty.com
 
Aeroseal Contracting Corporation
Justin King, Administrative & Marketing Manager
5710 Furnace Ave, Ste F
Elkridge, MD 21075
410-379-8102 phone
410-379-8103 fax
Justin@aerosealcorp.com

Member News – Promotions, Changes, New Hires …

AvalonBay
Yvonne Van Allen was promoted to Customer Service Manager at Avalon Springs in Wilton. Joseph Grossi was promoted to Community Manager at Avalon Glen in Stamford.  Kate Ricci was recently promoted to Community Manager at Avalon Milford in Milford.

Articles and information you can use….

And The Survey Says…
Results From A Recent SatisFacts Resident SatisFaction Telesurvey:
Improve Maintenance To Retain Residents!
By Doug Miller and SatisFacts Research

Residents at this apartment community in Florida were extremely satisfied with the office staff, however significant dissatisfaction with the maintenance staff’s performance and how well the “curb appeal” was maintained clearly were issues impacting satisfaction and renewals. Directing attention to the maintenance issues can certainly impact the low scores the property received regarding the likelihood to renew. Specifically, a terrific 90% of residents were very or extremely satisfied with the courteousness and professionalism, as well as responsiveness and dependability of the office staff. The scores the maintenance staff and curb appeal received, however, were significantly different.

About a quarter of the residents were dissatisfied with the courteousness and professionalism of the maintenance staff, how quickly maintenance requests were handled, and the quality of the maintenance work done. Adding to the dissatisfaction was the fact that nearly two-thirds of the residents reported that maintenance problems still existed in their apartment! Obviously failure to complete these work orders had a huge impact on resident attitudes; taking care of these promptly should become a priority! This high percentage of outstanding work orders probably also impacted residents’ attitudes about their specific apartment. When asked how satisfied they were with it, only 40% were very satisfied – and nearly 20% were dissatisfied. The collection of these responses, dissatisfaction with maintenance, many pending work orders and low satisfaction with their home is obviously a bad combination!

Continuing on the “maintenance” theme of this report, exterior curb appeal also scored poorly with only 22% of residents very satisfied and a significant 36% dissatisfied. Specifics, which are covered later in the article, are related to the condition of exteriors and landscaping. Building interiors rated better, however there still were above average dissatisfaction ratings; it appears the scores are related to laundry room condition. In addition, nearly a third of the residents were dissatisfied with the safety and security of their apartment community.

Of significance is that only 36% stated they were “Very Likely” to renew their lease. When the remaining 64% of residents were asked why they were unsure or would not renew, the answers were consistent with earlier ratings and revealed issues which are under the property or management company’s control. Reasons cited most frequently were building exteriors, landscaping, laundry, apartment issues, buying home and found a better deal. If Management can take action on some of the overall issues identified, as well as review each resident’s response pages they can attempt to resolve their issues and turn dissatisfied residents into satisfied ones…who will renew their lease!

When asked what could be done to improve the community, the issues were similar to why residents would not answer that they were “Very Likely” to renew their lease. The major suggestions made for improving the community (in descending order) were building exteriors (54% stated this), landscaping, recreational facilities, and laundry facilities. Most of the issues are well within the property or management company’s control.

The results from the telesurvey are extremely valuable, as they show that the keys to resident retention and renewals are more under the property’s control than one would expect – and can be resolved. Sharing these results with the staff, providing customer service and job training, and having the staff understand the impact of their performance…on the performance of the property and thus their own well being…can have a dramatic impact on the bottom line by improving satisfaction, reducing resistance to rent increases, minimizing unnecessary turnover and increasing renewals.

SatisFacts Research, LLC is customer satisfaction research company that specializes in the apartment industry. Doug Miller, President of SatisFacts Research, has over 15 years experience with a number of property management firms.