Pacific West Intranet
Welcome to the Pacific West Management Employee Intranet! This site was created to help our onsite property management professionals with many aspects of their daily responsibilities. E-mail jmayo@pacificwestmgmt.com if you need assistance navigating this site, require log on credentials or have suggestions for making the Intranet more useful.

Winter Preventive Maintenance
With cooler weather sweeping across much of the country, now is the time to make sure building and property maintenance in preparation for winter has been completed. The NAA recommends checking the following: 1. Heating Systems. Replace filters, check gas lines and valves for leaks and inspect electrical components, safety controls and ventilation systems for proper operation. 2. Fire Places. Make sure chimney cap screens are in good condition, dampers are open and chimneys are clean. 3. Exterior of Buildings. Make sure walls, doors and windows are sealed properly to prevent cold air or water from entering. Install caulk, weather strip and door sweeps wherever necessary. 4. Roofs, Gutters and Downspouts. Make sure all gutters and downspouts are cleaned properly and leak-checked and that roofs do not have any damaged shingles or flashing. 5. Plumbing. Ensure that garden hoses are drained and exterior valves and pipes are protected from cold weather with some type of insulation. 6. Landscaping. Make sure tree branches are trimmed and sensitive plants are protected from freezing temperatures. 7. Exterior Areas. Make sure exterior driveways, sidewalks, stairways and public areas are safe, with no tripping or falling hazards, and drains are clean. 8. Winter Emergency Supplies and Equipment. Make sure enough stock of ice-melt and sand are available, and special equipment like snow blowers, rakes, snow shovels and ice choppers are in working condition. 9. Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors. Make sure all detectors are in working condition and batteries replaced. 10. Vacant Units. Check that heaters are on and set at least to 60 degrees, cabinet doors are open and water heaters and/or washers in outside storage areas are turned off and drained property. Article from UNITS October 2009.

10 Goals of Leasing Professionals
Use these goals as a brief refresher of what you are trying to do each time you meet with a rental prospect. 1. FEEL GOOD about asking them to sign the lease. Know your community well, and know that your rental prospects will be happy living there. 2. Create an INSTANT RAPPORT with the rental prospect. You want them to feel comfortable and welcomed, not overwhelmed and pressured. 3. Hold the RENTAL PROSPECT’S ATTENTION throughout your presentation. Perfect your pitch so that it is interesting, engaging and fun to listen to. 4. Keep price from being THE ISSUE. Keep the focus on your fabulous amenities and how much they will LOVE living there. 5. KNOW THE MARKET better than the competition. This is a must if you want to be an effective leasing professional. 6. Convince more leads to MEET WITH YOU in person. You are far more likely to get a lease when you get prospects through the door. Every call should end with you asking when they can come by and meet with you. Use Lisa Trosien’s trick: if the prospect calls you from a cell phone, say "Where are you right now? Why don’t you come right over?" Forty (40%) percent of the time the rental prospect will drive right over. 7. Profit from THE NOs you get. If someone does not choose your community, use it as a learning experience. Think about what happened and possible ways to overcome those same difficulties with rental propsects in the future. 8. Get rental prospects to BE HONEST with you. They might not want to be completely up front, but it is essential to know what really is going on to give an effective presentation or pitch. 9. Get your WHOLE LEASING TEAM to work with you. Team is the key word here. Do all you can to encourage a team atmosphere where everyone is working together and doing everything they can to help each other out. 10. Make sure your residents and rental prospects APPRECIATE THE EXTRA LENGTHS you go to make them happy. So, make sure you follow up with questions like, "Are you satisfied?" Article from Rent & Retain November 2009

Elizabeth Moreland HCC Training
We also partner with Elizabeth Moreland Consulting Housing Credit College (HCC) for online tax-credit training. While this specialized tax-credit training is mandatory for some employees who work on or with a tax credit community, it is also available to any interested employee. E-mail Geri Kihlberg at gkihlberg@pacificwestmgmt.com to learn how to transfer previous training credits to your new account with Pacific West or to receive a registration form to begin your tax-credit training.

GraceHill Training
Pacific West Management partners with GraceHill’s Apartment Management Learning Center to offer all employees free online training on a variety of topics. If you have questions on the mandatory courses for new employees or to check the status of a bonus submission, contact Pacific West’s Dawn Gonzales at dgonzales@pacificwestmgmt.com. Contact the GraceHill Help Desk at (866) GRACEHILL for questions on accessing the site or other technical support issues.