On January 31, 50+ VAMA/AOBA members gathered to meet with state senators and delegates at the General Assembly in Richmond. VAMA members were able to distribute our legislative message to over 60 different elected officials. Keep your eyes open for next year's lobby day and come make a difference. Click below for the week 4 update on VAMA's legislative efforts.

Check out this great calculator to use with prospective residents or residents that say they are giving notice to buy a house.

It’s a new dichotomy for Botetourt: Significantly more people earning wages best suited for renting an apartment will be working in a county where 84 percent of the households consist of homeowners, many living in mid-to-upper priced houses.

The largest rise in a county in the WDBJ7 viewing area is Montgomery County with a 388 person increase. The only bigger increase was in Lynchburg, which saw 856 people in a year.

Apartment operators should prepare accordingly, as this is not a knee-jerk move by Amazon. First Data reports that ecommerce’s share of retail sales in the holiday season was 21.3 percent, a hefty increase from the 15.4 percent of 2015.

J Turner Research's ranking of the top 50 properties based on online reputation ; there are 56 properties in Virginia that are in the top 1%.

Carriage Hill Apartments in Richmond, VA received zoning approval to expand the property by adding 267 units and renovating the clubhouse and amenities.

Get a little insight in to the maintenance machine that is Rick Zimmer! Regional Maintenance Manager with Harbor Group.

The RAMMY's, held on January 27, 2017, presented 28 awards of excellence in front of 500 attendees. Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you to all the nominees. Competition Promotes Excellence!

The VRHC Morning Motivator Series got off to a great start. Click to learn more about the most recent topic and to find out what's next for the series.

RLRAC started the New Year without missing a beat, hosting numerous events! We had our CPO class in mid-January with over 20 students and then our Trade Show & Education Expo at the end of January with 50 percent more supplier participation than in previous years as well as a strong owner/manager attendance. The Trade Show & Education Expo was a fantastic event that included two education sessions to choose from as well as a bar, Hors d'Ouerves and lots of prizes during the Trade Show. Our February 3rd Fair Housing class is sold out with 40 students and our next event will be a Morning Perk in Lynchburg on March 10th to discuss Assistive Animals and HUD's Guidance on Criminal Background Screening. We are also offering an NALP class on March 20th-22nd. So keep our eye out for our email invitations as we have a packed calendar this year!

VAMA 2017 State Conference - April 19th - 21st CVAA 2/10/17 Morning Coffee Meeting HRAC 2/15/17 Triple Play CVAA 2/16/17 R-410A HFC Certification HRAC 2/17/17 Morning Coffee Meeting CVAA 2/21/17 Fair Housing Certification (Fredericksburg) VRHC 2/21/17 Student Panel Meeting CVAA 2/22/17 National Apartment Leasing Professional (NALP) BRAC 2/23/17 Morning Coffee - Fair Housing Pitfalls NRVAC 2/23/17 Networking Happy Hour HRAC 3/1/17 R-410A HFC Certification HRAC 3/3/17 National Apartment Leasing Professional (NALP) BRAC 3/08/17: R-410A HFC Certification Course CVAA 3/09/17 Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) Course CVAA 3/09/17 Certified Apartment Supplier (CAS) course CVAA 3/09/17 Networking Happy Hour RLRAC 3/10/17 Lynchburg Morning Perk - Assistive Animals and Criminal Screening HRAC 3/15/17 ACE Awards Ceremony

Millennials may have different attitudes and preferences than their baby boomer or Generation X counterparts. But that doesn't make them bad employees. It just means they need to be managed differently to keep them inspired and engaged.

With so many different apartment marketing strategies available, the first challenge is determining which ideas are worth the time.