“I really don’t get it,” I said to her, sitting on the couch in an oversized t-shirt, scrolling through the TV’s On Demand menu so I could watch Maria Menounos and Derek Hough’s rumba (for the third time) on “Dancing With the Stars.” “Hey, do you mind if I open a can of tuna?”

My roommate—who is a self-proclaimed mess right now, both personally and professionally—has started downloading podcasts from Oprah’s Spirit Channel to re-center herself. Last week she pulled out a notebook and began rattling off inspiring catch phrases—nuggets of wisdom such as “remember your spirit,” “what we dwell on is who we become” and “never speak out against the beef industry.”

My roommate was having, as Oprah would say, an “aha moment.”

While some of Oprah’s phrases are a bit much—as is her “Live Your Best Life” coffee-table book that now sits in our living room—I do appreciate certain sentiments, such as turning every negative into a positive.

For example, when I got caught in a torrential downpour seven miles into a bike ride last week, instead of fretting over the tidal wave building in my shoes, I decided to look at it as a free shower. That tiny bit of Dove soap I was rationing would live to see another day.

I was tested again the following day when I went to a Mexican restaurant and was forced to order in Spanish. Instead of panicking because I couldn’t properly articulate my desire for green sauce, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to practice my foreign language skills. Uno chicken enchilada and uno cheese enchilada, por favor!

It isn’t always easy to be a glass-half-full type of person, but I do recognize the power of optimism.

So, too, does Bert Jacobs. When he founded the apparel company Life is good in 1994 with his brother, John, Jacobs says all they had to make it a success was the very outlook that the company promotes.

Although Jacobs says he and his brother didn’t have any business acumen or money, they did have a sense of optimism—and an optimistic message to share with others.

“We are very much about finding ways to blur the line between work and play, and between what you want to do with your life and what you want to do with your career,” says Jacobs, who will share the Life is good story during the 2012 NAA Education Conference & Exposition Thought Leader session “Good Vibes Are Contagious” at 8:30 a.m. June 29, 2012, in Boston. “Many people think that I’m a person who really likes business. Okay, but that doesn’t mean that I was born for business.” (Just as I was not born to speak Spanish.)

Whatever Jacobs initially lacked in natural skill, he made up for with passion, perseverance and positivity. He credits the optimistic way in which he runs his company to his mother, in particular, who would ask each of her six children to tell her something good that happened that day when they sat down for dinner. Despite an often chaotic household, he says his mother always saw the glass half-full.

Oprah would be proud.

For more on Bert Jacobs’ message of optimism, check out Management Insider in the May issue of units, which mailed May 8. The e-version is available here.

You’re about to start hearing a lot about this year’s winners of our PARAGON, Apartment Career and Education (ACE) and Anthony Pusateri Career Promotion awards. We’ll honor all of them at our NAA Education Conference and Exposition in June. In the meantime, I’d like to let you know about an innovative program being done by the Arizona Multihousing Association (AMA) to introduce job seekers to our industry. AMA is being recognized with a Pusateri Award for its October job fair.

AMA’s Jump Start Training program was created as a supplement to the association’s wildly successful property management job fair held in October for more than 600 job seekers. The association’s Education Committee was looking for a way to prepare people with strong customer service, sales or maintenance backgrounds for successful careers in property management using skills they already had. It came up with the two-day Jump Start program for prospective leasing consultants and maintenance technicians.

The course provides an overview of property management before diving into position-specific topics such as leasing dynamics, appliance and electrical, phone techniques and pest control. AMA members and associate members volunteer their time to teach the course. Course participants receive a certificate of completion at the end of the two days. AMA sends their names to its membership, so that companies hiring for entry-level positions can contact them.

Since October, the association has been offering the program on the second Monday and Tuesday of every month. It also has made some of the course components available online through its Learning Management System. Some management companies are using the Jump Start program as a refresher for current employees.

Our industry has a constant need for talented people to fill entry-level positions. Many already have valuable experience, but they just don’t know how to transfer that experience to our industry. The Jump Start program is a great example of how to bridge that gap.

Pam Shelton, AMA Education Committee Chair and principal at Allison-Shelton Real Estate Services, recently commented that, “It’s (Jump Start) an incredible way to introduce people to the industry. There are a lot of people who would do well in multifamily housing, but they simply don’t know what it’s all about – or sometimes, that we even exist.”

She also said that once someone starts a career in multifamily housing, they never want to leave. “You may start out as a leasing consultant, and 20 years later, you own your own property management company.” Pam should know. She started in our industry more than 30 years ago as a leasing consultant, and now she co-owns her own firm.

To learn more about the Jump Start Program, please visit the AMA website.

Back in the day I used to sit in my elementary school’s computer lab, playing the game Oregon Trail.

Originally developed in the early 70s to teach school children about the harsh realities of 19^th century pioneer life on the Oregon Trail, the game was a real gut check.

Sitting in front of Apple computers the size of coffee tables, my classmates and I each assumed the role of a wagon leader, guiding our party of settlers from Missouri to Oregon. We had to use guns and bullets to hunt wild animals, keep our fellow travelers in check and make adult decisions—such as whether or not we should attempt to ford a river. More often than not, one of our oxen drowned in the process.

It was heavy stuff for a 9-year-old.

Even worse, members of our wagon party could die at any time from measles, a snake bite, typhoid, cholera, exhaustion or a broken leg. When the game wanted to truly break us down, a “you have died from dysentery” message would pop up on the screen—a turn-of-events so devastating that it once caused a classmate to burst into tears. Seeing her wagon Mother perish in such a savage manner was too much for her to handle.

“The Hunger Games” was a fairytale compared to this.

But despite the death and starvation and horrendous computer graphics, we forged ahead—with or without our oxen and family members—in search of a better future. It was 1848 and there was untapped fortune and opportunity to be had.

Two centuries later, those same opportunities (minus the oxen) are still available—in rural North Dakota.

Today, the country’s biggest and most productive oil field is drawing thousands of workers with the promise of plentiful and profitable jobs to serve the booming energy exploration industry. There’s no shortage of employment—but now there’s a serious housing crisis.

Officials estimate that Williston, N.D., a town of 14,716 according to the 2010 U.S. Census, could grow to as much as 50,000 during the next 15 years. Neighboring cities such as Minot, Dickinson, Stanley and others also are showing the early signs of burgeoning population growth—all due to the seemingly limitless supply of oil.

Many of the modern-day pioneers who are traveling to these towns for work are struggling to find a place to live. Some have no choice but to shack-up in jam-packed rudimentary dorm-style facilities. Others hope they can fit into overcrowded hotels and extended-stay facilities. In even more extreme cases, some are spending $12,500 a month to sleep on the floor of a dilapidated farmhouse and others are considering online listings for renting 1970s-model conversion vans. Covered wagons might be next.

With so many in desperate need of housing, apartment developers have recognized a potential long-term growth opportunity and many are choosing to invest in these risky rural markets. Others are more cautious—recognizing that stories of overnight boomtowns are often bookended with similar stories of overnight busts. One thing’s for sure: no one pays above market-rate to live in a ghost town.

But for now, these towns in North Dakota are showing no sign of slowing down.

Or dysentery, for that matter.

For more on the development opportunities in North Dakota, check out Frank Mauck’s article “Where There’s A Williston, There’s A Way” in the May issue of units, which mails May 8.

Originally developed in the early 70s to teach school children about the harsh realities of 19th century pioneer life on the Oregon Trail, the game was a real gut check.

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life.

Bangs, for example. I grew up in the late 90s, a decade after Bubble Bangs were in, but I said to hell with fashion and continued to sport them well into Y2K.

If that wasn’t bad enough, I attempted to cut said bangs with poultry shears on several occasions. My mom would ask me why there was hair in the bathroom sink and I would shrug, my bangs creeping crookedly over my eyebrows. Nancy Drew would have to solve that one.

During that same disturbing period of time, I also made the mistake of thinking that any sort of interaction with the opposite sex meant that person was interested. I blame this on my parents, who never sent me to any sort of sleep-away camp where girls were encouraged to associate with boys.

Deprived of such an experience, I grew up without any real male friends. Thus, when a football player in my AP history class asked to borrow a marker one day in high school, I naturally assumed we would be dating by final period.

In a shocking turn of events, he only wanted a marker.

Eventually I outgrew the bad hair and bad boys (sort of), spending my early twenties making more mature mistakes—like attempting to complete the Cinnamon Challenge (look it up, but do not try it), “accidentally” leaving a carved pumpkin on my balcony until February and contemplating pulling a “Felicity” by chopping my hair off and moving to another city for someone I had a crush on.

I’ve really grown up.

Well, we all make mistakes. Some are just a part of life—an inevitable rite of passage as we get older. Then there are others—those that affect our profession—that should never happen in the first place.

Following are some common apartment industry faux pas:

1. Leniency in collecting rents. Effective rent collection starts with selecting qualified residents who have a history of timely rent payment. However, that’s not always possible. So, what do you do?

Start collection efforts early, before the rent is past due. If a resident offers an excuse for not paying on time, focus on solutions. Help residents determine where and how they can find the money. This might include finding out if they have any available credit remaining on their credit cards, having them contact family members for help or providing a list of agencies that provide emergency rental assistance.

If residents are unable to produce the money or seem unwilling to do their part, then it is time to help move them out as soon as possible.

2. Not planning for major capital items. When estimating cash flow, few independent rental owners, in particular, reserve for major repairs. There is always one unexpected item that pops up. Accruing a cash reserve monthly for these items will go a long way toward paying these somewhat unexpected bills.

3. Focusing on filling vacancies rather than preventing them. Most owners are complaint-driven. If a resident calls in a maintenance complaint, the owner will usually get it fixed. But few owners have a strategy designed to keep their residents in the property longer.

Little things such as an occasional upgrade or a gift certificate for a pizza go a long way toward pleasing residents, convincing them to extend their residency.

But back to the real point of this blog: Should I just show up on his doorstep?

For more, check out Dan Lieberman’s IRO Insider in the May issue of units, which mails May 8.

Bangs, for example. I grew up in the late 90s, a decade after Bubble Bangs were in, but I said to hell with fashion and continued to sport them well into Y2K.
If that wasn’t bad enough, I attempted to cut said bangs with poultry shears on several occasions. My mom would ask me why there was hair in the bathroom sink and I would shrug, my bangs creeping crookedly over my eyebrows. Nancy Drew would have to solve that one.

A unicorn, an unlimited supply of Toaster Strudel and Zac Efron.

When I went in on the Mega Millions in late-March with several co-workers, these were the things I dreamed of purchasing with my cut of the money.

I knew I had a better chance of being pecked to death by a hummingbird than winning the lottery, but I’ve always been lucky and didn’t see any reason why this would change. Few people win Bingo twice in one night and a free burrito their first time at Chipotle, after all. Surely the lottery was next.

Tickets in hand, I prepared myself for the moment our numbers were drawn. Things would change, but I didn’t want to be like some of those lottery winners who go bankrupt or develop a pain-pill addiction.

No, I would still be the same me—just a little heavier from the pastries and a little happier from Zac Efron. (Seriously, ladies, have you see the trailer for “The Lucky One?” Those shoulders are as broad as a Buick.)

Zac in tow, I’d ride off into the sunset on my unicorn, eating Toaster Strudel like M&Ms.

Unfortunately, someone else went home with my money. Sad—yet fair.

But what about a lottery in the apartment industry—is that fair? According to Nadeen Green, Senior Counsel with For Rent Media Solutions™, it’s not.

As an apartment marketing professional, it’s important to understand the differences between a contest, a sweepstakes and a lottery—because while the first two are legal, a lottery is not.

When defining the differences, there are three elements to consider: chance, consideration and prize. If two are correctly included, your promotion is legal; if all three are, it’s not.

Consideration + Prize = Contest. A person has to do something to win a prize, such as write the best essay or come up with the best slogan or best design; this is the “consideration” that is required of them. There is no “chance” since the “best” entry will win.

Chance + Prize = Sweepstakes. A person doesn’t really have to do anything—give consideration—to win the prize, because winning is based on chance, i.e. a random drawing. Courts have decided that sticking a stamp on an envelope or exerting a tiny bit of effort online is not consideration.

But you have to be careful not to require that people visit your community or perform in some other way—such as taking a tour or signing a lease—in order to qualify for a drawing, because that is consideration.

Chance (random drawing) + consideration (what you are requiring of a person) + prize = lottery.

Strapping actor + mystical horse + iced breakfast-pastry = happiness.

For more, check out Nadeen Green’s article, “Winning Ways to Hold Community Contests” in the May issue of units, which mails May 8.

When I went in on the Mega Millions in late-March with several co-workers, these were the things I dreamed of purchasing with my cut of the money.