Halloween is an anticipated night in which children and adults alike can pretend they are their dream's delight! This year Halloween falls on a Friday, which means Halloween parties and trick-or-treating might run later than usual. Keeping your residents and their trick-or-treaters safe might seem like a daunting task, but we have the tips you need to keep the frights away!

1. If trick-or-treating is welcomed in your community, post the acceptable hours, so that residents are not disturbed into the wee hours of the morning.
2. If your community does not promote trick-or-treating, make sure that residents know they will have to take their youngsters elsewhere.
3. Provide residents with a sign to post on their door to designate that trick-or-treating is welcomed. Remind trick-or-treaters that only those doors with a signed posted welcome their visit.
4. If your community has a courtesy officer on staff, make sure that he/she is available on Halloween night.
5. Encourage residents to form trick-or-treating groups with at least one adult in the mix. This will help keep children under control and help with safety concerns.
6. Throw a low cost Halloween party in the clubhouse. A little candy and a cute Halloween movie will ensure that your youngest residents have a safe place to be. You can make it a charitable event with admission being a canned food item.
7. Notify residents to drive slowly and park with caution on Halloween night, since children will be out.
8. Remind residents to blow out the candle in their jack-o'-lantern or to unplug any Halloween lights before turning in for the night.
9. Advise residents to inspect their children's candy before allowing them to eat it.
10. Whether or not they are trick-or-treating or having a Halloween bash, remind residents to be respectful and watch the noise levels so that their neighbors are not disturbed.

Don't forget you can use your Relate 24/7^SM system to send these helpful Halloween reminders via email to your residents. If you have Halloween selected as a holiday, your residents will also receive a festive holiday message from your community on October 31^st. If you don't have a Relate 24/7^SM system and are interested in getting one, so you, too, can communicate with residents via email, please call us toll free at 888-678-3869 or email us at relate247@ellipseinc.com.

Happy Halloween from The Ellipse Group!

Do you like your orange juice organic or regular, with or without calcium, or with minimal or maximum pulp? How about your toothpaste? Is it the herbal variety with added fluoride, the cavity-busting option with baking soda or the original formula with flavor crystals?

Although an explosion of consumer choices may mean we sometimes get exactly what we want, too many choices can also overwhelm us to the point where we choose nothing at all. The multifamily industry is no stranger to offering a plethora of amenities so great in number that the one amenity a potential resident is looking for may be lost in a sea of choices.

It's important to offer the right amenities rather than offering all of the wrong ones. In an effort to pare down what you have it's important to consider your target audience. Just like in any brand advertising strategy you must consider whom you are trying to appeal to with your choices.

"Knowing your target audience and what their interest are [is] key into picking just the right amenities. Just because you think its cool does not mean your residents will find the same appeal. Survey your current residents to find out what they really want! Amenities should be used and viewed as a brag factor in your sales process and among your residents," says Kim Cory, Leasing and Marketing Coordinator for MGI Communities.

Also consider what you are offering your residence that could possibly entice prospects to choose your community. A website, for example, is often something that we neglect to consider a service for residents but we all know that being able to submit a service request ticket online is an amenity itself.

"I think we neglect to sell our community events as amenities. It is very important to survey your residents on what amenities they would like to see added before making rash decisions on additions that may be needed. The community may be surprised that the requests can be something we already have that we are just not selling/offering," comments Tammy Yeargan, Marketing Director for Fogelman Management Group.

It is still important that you offer some amenities that provide residents and potential residents with a reason to choose your community.

"Back in the day you could get away with just having a pool and you were golden. Now people not only expect certain amenities they demand it. Our society wants convenience, so amenities like fitness centers, pools, tanning salons, club houses to host private parties and planned social events will give them what they want right at their front door. Today you really need to offer cutting edge amenities that people want to use and will have them talking about it to others," states Cory.

It's important that your communities are offering residents a happy balance of useful amenities and not an over abundance of outdated and unused services. Knowing your residents and their needs will ensure you aren't overwhelming your prospects with a crowded and irrelevant amenities list.

Automated Clearing House (ACH) is the name of an electronic network for financial transactions in the United States. Using direct debit or direct withdrawal, it is a payment system that allows your property to instruct your bank or financial institution to collect varying amounts directly from residents' accounts, using an electronic funds transfer. The most recent Federal Reserve study shows that more than two-thirds of noncash payments are now submitted electronically. The highest rate of growth was in ACH payments, which grew approximately 19% per year, followed closely by debit card payments at 18% .The benefits are outstanding for both you and your residents.

For Residents:

• No more late fees
• No more writing checks
• No time spent dropping off rental payment
• Pay rent automatically with no inconvenience

For Leasing Teams:

• No processing checks for deposit
• No hassle of assigning late fees
• Eliminate returned checks
• No chance of skipped or missed rental payments

If you are not currently using ACH, speak with your bank or financial institution representative. If you are, get the word out! Use your property's website bulletin board to post a message to all residents encouraging them to sign up. Display a notice at the spot where rent checks are currently dropped off. Let your residents know the specifics of signing up. Offer a contest or drawing for residents who sign up. One successful contest offered by some of the Palms Associates communities has been entry into a drawing for a $50 gas card for all those signing up within a set time period. The time limit creates a sense of urgency and who wouldn't be motivated by the chance to win gas money? Improve your services and simplify rental payments with ACH!