NAA members host a London-based conference to educate attendees on the U.S. apartment housing industry.
They may drive on the wrong side of the road, but the British are getting on the right side of the apartment industry. Several NAA members traveled across the pond in early November to host a one-day conference, "Managing Build To Rent/PRS: The U.S. Experience," intended to give attendees a taste of the U.S. market without leaving London.
After opening remarks from Roger Southam, Chairman & Chief Executive of London-based Chainbow and one of NAA's global partners, NAA President and CEO Doug Culkin, CAE, presented an overview of the U.S. apartment housing industry.
"We've learned that, generally speaking, their apartment industry is approximately 35 years behind that of the United States," Culkin says. "However, there's a great deal of room for growth in their amenities and customer service sectors of the industry and they're eager to catch up to us."
NAA Chairman of the Board Tom Beaton, Senior Vice President, Management, The Dolben Company, presented on the topic of employees, offering insights on everything from how to attract industry talent to development of training programs, educational offerings and prevalent employee-benefit trends.
Other presentation topics included marketing (Cindy Clare, President of Kettler Management), the resident experience (Amber Anderson, Senior Director of Real Estate for Greystar Europe Holdings) and panel discussions on technology and design features.
NAA supplier partners CORT, Appliance Warehouse/CSC ServiceWorks and Yardi Systems provided customer service strategies from the supplier viewpoint, as well as a closer look at technology trends.
The conference concluded with a Q&A panel discussion.
After the conference, many attendees said they were particularly surprised and impressed by the amenity packages at many U.S. apartment communities, as well as the services dedicated to resident convenience and customer service.
Other notable differences were the U.S.'s mainstream adoption of revenue management systems-a transparency of rates currently not offered in the UK, though many believe it will be embraced in the near future. Attendees also noted the potential for increased income with the United States' itemized billing for ancillary items such as pet rent, utilities and parkinga change from the UK model in which all costs are included in one monthly bill.
With apartment housing rapidly expanding in the UK, Culkin says it's the perfect global partnership.
"Roger and the entire Chainbow team welcomed NAA with open arms, undoubtedly proving that our brand is in good hands in the UK," Culkin says. "There's a tremendous opportunity for U.S. investors. It was an enlightening trip."
For more on NAA's global outreach, check out "Going Global" in the June 2015 issue of units Magazine.
NAA Globetrotters
More than 24 NAA members also traveled to Munich, Germany, in October-two of whom spoke on an EXPO REAL panel for real estate professionals. The 18th edition of the International Trade Fair for Property and Investment included nearly 40,000 attendees from 74 countries. NAA members discussed investment opportunities in Europe, and, specifically, Germany. Afterward, the group went on a two-day tour of several Amsterdam and Rotterdam apartment communities in the Netherlands.