Tales from the Multi-family Industry

I wrote this one a few years back. I hope you enjoy. Be nice to your apartment management!

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I think I've got a pretty interesting day job. No, its not my dream job, but it pays the bills and keeps me on my toes. I am a leasing specialist for an apartment community. Yes, I'm that girl, the overly cheery one that greets you  ready to lease an apartment to you, and the one you get tired of talking to should anything go wrong once you've leased said apartment. We, the management staff, have a bit of a bad rep, I know, but the honest to goodness truth is that we are your ambassadors to the corporate collective that owns the building.
I've been doing this type of work for about five years, and as I said I find it pretty interesting. The job is part sales, part mediator, part accounting, part babysitting. I have to be knowledgeable of the law (at the very least real estate law, but in some instances other forms of law as well), versed in basic home maintenance, and highly perseptive and resposive to each individual's needs. I'm constantly hounded about numbers, occupancy percentages, income and the like from the higher ups, and always know that my job is on the line.

I've worked at small "A+" properties (properties are usually graded, much like your high school exams) to large, average (think high "C" to high"B") communities. I've worked on older properties undergoing full renovations, beautiful new properties and one that just needed to be bulldozed.

I've had residents from all over the world, and many who were born and raised down the street from the neighborhood the apartment community is in. There was the elderly Italian widow, who's name escapes me, but used to tell the most amazing stories. The Japanese couple who told me I would always be welcome in there home (even if I "was ever in Japan!") simply because I remembered to take off my shoes when I entered their apartment. Mrs. Hammer, an elderly woman who would call the police if she heard her air conditioner kick on too late at night. I could go on...there are so many that leave an impression. A mother who came into my office worried because she hadn't heard from their adult daughter who live at my property, and wanted me to investigate. Same scenario, but with a worried son who was supposed to meet with his aging father, and the father had missed the meeting.

I've been there through pregnancies, marraiges and divorces with my residents. I've seen them at their best, and at their worst. I mean, you may not go to work, but you gotta pay rent even if you're running a 102 degree temp! You get to know who keeps a messy house, and who keeps theirs pristine. You get to know their children, their pets, their pets they treat as children.

You learn that there are a lot of different forms of crazy, lazy and just plain stupid. There was one young guy, maybe in his early to mid twenties, who was needing out of his lease early. I explained to him that he was bound to his contract for the remainder of his lease, or else pay additional fees, and his response was, "Do you really think people read those things?!" ...um, its a legal and binding contract...How do you say that
delicately and without sounding patronizing?

I've seen a darker side too. The poor soul that lived in absolute filth too horrid to even describe here. We had to hire a company who normally cleans up crime scenes after that man left because they were the only ones equipped to clean up hazardous material, and they were shocked at what they saw. The apartment had to be completely gutted, fixtures, sheetrock and all.

At one property, dead, decayed bodies were found in a trunk of a long abandoned rental car. At yet another property, a young girl, 18 years old, got mad at her boyfriend and locked herself in a room and lit his clothes on fire. Everybody made it out of the building okay, but many families were displaced, their belongings and treasures water or smoke damaged, and she had ruined her life all over a silly boy. Needless to say, I've dealt with local news and camera crews as well.

I've put potatoes in the oven for one sweet lady and her husband who were expecting guests that evening, but she was stuck at the "beauty parlor," her terminology giving away her age. I've made phone calls for frightened little ones who's parents were running late picking them up from the bus stop.

I can tell you where the post office is, the nearest bank, how to contact the electric company, what information you'll need, and what they'll charge in deposit for a new account. Yes, you're responsible to change the light bulbs, air filters and smoke detector batteries in your apartment. No, I can't notify you ahead of time for an emergency water line break that requires us to shut off the water for repair. And I promise we don't shut off water or cause power outages to get our kicks. Power outages DO need to be reported to the electric company, as we do not control the grid, and no, I do not know how long before your electricity will be back on. And I try to say all these things with a smile, even if its the thousandth time I've said it.

So when I'm asked what I do for a living and I say, "I'm a Leasing Specialist for an apartment community," if they respond, "Oh, so you're in sales?" you'll know why I roll my eyes!