NARPM National Convention 2010

Wow, what an October! I have been so very excited to share some news of NARPM’s annual convention in downtown Seattle, but we have been busy getting lots of residents moved into their new homes. I’m sorry for the delay.

For those of you who don’t know, we have had a very exciting year here at Bell-Anderson. First of all, our broker (and my aunt) Vickie kicked breast cancer to the curb, all while running Bell-Anderson and leading the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM from here on out) as the 2010 National President. NARPM is an organization of over 3,400 residential property managers nationwide, so this is quite the accomplishment for Vickie. This year, our annual convention happened to be in our own backyard: at the Sheraton in downtown Seattle. Carrie Fjeld, residential property manager, co-chaired the entire event with over 500 attendees. Needless to say, we have been busy, but it was a blast!

Our week started off with the Leadership Seminar given by Dr. Joseph Michelli. He has written several books studying successful organizations: two from our hometown. We learned how the Pike Place Fish Market went from last in sales to first by deciding to treat their customer’s like rockstars, and how Starbucks has created the “third place,” a café that is more than just a coffee shop. What struck me was one of the mottos of the Ritz-Carlton, namely “Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentleman.” This type of attitude creates a culture of mutual respect, something everyone could use more of. We rounded off Tuesday evening with a beautiful cruise around the Puget Sound for the President’s Tour.

On Wednesday Morning, 22 golf teams headed out to China Creek at Newcastle for the first annual Past President’s Charity Golf Tournament. Bell-Anderson had four players in the tournament sporting pink polos and matching socks, and we also sponsored the 6th hole. While the majority of the players who men who maybe weren’t big Twilight fans, they were all good sports about our Forks-themed hole run by Debi and Maria. Overall, the tournament raised over $30,000 for Creative Living Services and was a great success and a lot of fun

Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday were a series of workshops and business meetings. My favorites were an economic forecast from local researcher Jim Hebert, and a hilariously entertaining presentation from Bill Stainton (Almost Live) about the best decisions the Beatles made that led to their success. On a more embarrassing note, four audience members including myself were called onstage for a live performance, black bowl wigs and all. (I played George Harrison).

The most exciting part of the convention came Friday at lunch during the award ceremonies. First of all, Vickie passed the baton to the next National President, Tony Drost. I know that Vickie thoroughly enjoyed her time working with NARPM, but we are all excited to get to see her around the office more. Also, all three residential managers in our department earned professional designations this year. Carrie was awarded her Master Property Manager (MPM) designation, and Dawn and I (Kasey) earned our Residential Management Professional (RMP) designations. Also, Bell-Anderson as a whole was awarded our Certified Residential Management Company (CRMC) designation. Yes, this is a lot of letters! What this means is that we have been working hard to educate ourselves so our clients can rest assured that they are getting property management professionals who value education and are very active in the industry as a whole. Finally, I was humbled to receive the Rocky Maxwell award for volunteerism in a new member of NARPM.

The convention closed with a gala and “NARPM’s Got Talent” show hosted by Vickie in her tiara where the membership showed off their skills. Stefanie Octave, Condo AR Bookkeeper played the bassoon, and she was AWESOME!

The entire Bell-Anderson crew was on hand for the dinner gala and then spent the night in the hotel for our annual retreat.

In an effort to not hog the keyboard, here is what a few of the other gals said about the convention:

“I think that it's important to share the fact that we were one of four companies in the state of Washington to receive our Certified Residential Management Company (CRMC) designation. Along with our AMO (Accredited Management Organization) from the Institute of Real Estate Management that makes us, to my knowledge, the only company in the entire US with both designations, signifying our dedication to professionalism and integrity. Also at the awards celebration Carrie Fjeld received her Master Property Manager (MPM) designation and Kasey Medina along with Dawn Hardley were awarded their Residential Management Professional (RMP) designation. This just demonstrates how the Bell-Anderson crew is dedicated to real estate management education as well as maintaining integrity at all times.” ~ Vickie Gaskill

” I always come back to work with a head full of great ideas and a bucket load of new contacts and friends around the country, both property managers and vendors! I am doing my best to treat all of my contacts like "rockstars" (from Dr. Michellis's Leadership course) if even for just a moment, and it has paid great dividends so far, I have picked up 3 news houses in just two weeks!!!” ~Dawn Hardley
“This year was a really special year at convention for me, with my mom, Vickie being the national president this year of NARPM. It was such a joy to watch my mom shine and shine she did at one point even wearing a tiara for our last night. We had a great year and it finally paid off when 3 people in our office, one of which included me, received professional designations. Our office also received the only company designation offered by NARPM that only 5 companies in the King County hold. The designation that I received is the highest professional designation that you can get and that is a MPM, Master Property Manager and the one that Bell-Anderson received is CRMC, Certified Residential Management Company. I am very proud of both of those accomplishments and also my co-workers, Kasey and Dawn who received their RMP, Residential Management Professional designations. The national convention in Seattle was one of the best I have been to and I have been to 6 of them all together. I am not even being biased it was truly a great year. I met some great people and got to catch up with friends that I haven’t seen in a while. Every time we get together it’s like a big extended family reunion along with great education to help us become better property managers. Our business is forever evolving with new laws and new ways of managing property more effectively and efficiently so it is nice to have these conferences so we can catch up. I am looking forward to Dallas in 2011 already.” ~ Carrie Fjeld


“Awesome experience! You should attend if you are a new member!” ~ Maria Garcia


Overall, the convention was fabulous! The hotel was beautiful, the turnout and the network opportunities were amazing. The speakers and classes were helpful and relevant to our business. I can tell that Carrie and the rest of the convention crew put a lot of work into it. Congrats again to everyone who made the week a success!

Bell-Anderson Earns CRMC® Designation

Continuing the chain of exciting announcements...Bell-Anderson & Associates LLC, AMO can now add another set of initials...CRMC®! Short for Certified Residential Management Company, this designation is awarded by the National Association of Residential Property Managers to management firms that demonstrate a high standard in both procedures and customer service, and pass a detailed examination of the company with recommendations from clients and peers.

For more information on NARPM® or the CRMC®, click here. Congratulations to Vickie and the whole crew for their hard work!

EPA Delays Lead Certification Requirement

On Friday, June 18th, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will provide additional time for contractors to become trained and certified under the new Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule. They have moved the deadline back to October 1st and will make exceptions regarding enforcement for workers who have applied to enroll or are enrolled in courses as of September 30th. Although it has delayed the certification deadline, the EPA will continue to enforce the work practice requirements set forth in the rule.

This announcement is a result of trade groups and elected officials voicing concern that contractors did not have proper access to the necessary certification courses. Contractors working on the pre-1978 target housing were originally required to be certified by April 22nd of this year.

For more information please visit the NARPM® webpage dedicated to the new lead based paint rules. There you will find helpful links to websites and important documents. Local and state governments have also started working on additional laws regarding lead-based paint. Please be sure you are monitoring updates from your local and state chapters of NARPM® to ensure compliance with all necessary laws regarding lead-based paint and residential property management.

This information is courtesy of NARPM®. For more information including contact information, Click Here.

Join NARPM for FREE

Are you a residential property manager who has considered joining the National Association of Property Managers? Now is the time to do so! Rentals.com has generously offered to pay the first year dues for any new member who is currently a property manager and works in an office that does not already have any NARPM members. This is a GREAT opportunity if you have been looking at the organization but are hesitant to do do. Visit http://www.narpm.org/ for more information.

Several members of our office are NARPM members who are actively working on designations to be able to better serve our clients, and our broker, Vickie Gaskill, is currently serving as the National President. If you have any questions or would like to visit our monthly luncheon, e-mail Kasey at kcnarpmhotline@gmail.com.

From NARPM's website:
The National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM®), founded in October 1988, provides a permanent trade organization for the residential property management industry. NARPM® continues to be the premier professional association of residential property managers, currently representing over 2,500 members comprised of real estate agents, brokers, managers and their employees.

NARPM National Convention in Orlando, FL

During the week of October 19^th-24^th Vickie, Dawn and I (Carrie) attended the National Association of Residential Property Managers annual conference in Orlando, FL.

On Tuesday the 20^th we took a special leadership class that was put on by the Disney Institute. You could not help but smile during their presentation. Most of the talk was regarding communication and how to effectively communicate. We did a really good exercise that involved a leader, manager, and co-workers. You could not look at each other or verbally communicate; you had to write everything down that you wanted to accomplish. Well needless to say I was the “leader” in our group and my team sat there the whole time because I didn’t flip my directions over to see what I was trying to accomplish! It was really funny how much I rely on verbal communication. If you don’t communicate what you are trying to accomplish, the whole process falls apart. It was a real wake-up call because we communicate so much by e-mail that I think we forget what we are saying in our e-mails is not necessarily the message that the receiver gets. I really liked it and highly suggest if you ever have the opportunity to go to one of Disney’s training courses you should.

During the conference on Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday we had 3 general session speakers and quite a few breakout sessions that were very helpful and invigorating. I really appreciate these conferences with NARPM because doing what we do can become a little monotonous once and a while. We also share a lot of information at these meeting and meet professional contacts in the industry. This group is amazing when it comes to sharing information and ideas. I always come away with new ways of handling situations and new ideas.

Another exciting event was held on October 23^rd, 2009 when my sister, Dawn, and I had the great pleasure of swearing in our Mom, Vickie Gaskill, to the position of President for 2010’s National Association of Property Managers. What an amazing opportunity it was and we are all very proud of her! Vickie is going to get to travel to a lot of NARPM chapters all over the United States next year and share with them her expertise in the area of Residential Property Management and Leadership.

We are all looking forward to the next year and what it has to bring!

IREM® & NARPM® Sign Memo of Understanding

The following news story was pulled from the National Association of Residential Property Manager's website regarding their recent affiliation with the Institute of Real Estate Manager's. We here at Bell-Anderson are very excited about this news, as several property managers belong to one or both of these organizations.

(Washington, DC, April 22, 2009) – The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®) and the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM®) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining a collaborative working relationship in support of their common goals. IREM® President Pamela W. Monroe and NARPM® President Fred Thompson, MPM® RMP®, signed the MOU during a special ceremony held at the just-concluded IREM® Annual Leadership and Legislative Summit in Washington, DC.

Monroe and Thompson, commenting jointly following the signing ceremony, noted that “IREM® and NARPM® are both committed to enhancing the real estate management profession through ethical business practices; providing top-notch educational resources to those who manage real estate as a profession; helping their respective members achieve success with the properties they manage and the businesses they own or that employ them; and, finally, promoting advocacies that benefit the real estate management industry and its clients.”

To advance these shared goals, the organizations will:

• Work together to further advance the real estate management profession within their respective market sectors and through other means as may be determined.
• Extend preferred member pricing on each organization’s products and services to members of the other organization.
• Publish articles developed by each organization and its members in the publications of the other, so long as prevailing editorial policies and deadlines are observed.
• Encourage submission of proposals for presentations at education sessions at the conferences of each.
• Exchange information on legislation, regulatory, and public policy activities affecting their respective members.
• Collaborate on other initiatives, as appropriate.

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE OF REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT

The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®) has been the source for education, resources, information, and membership for real estate management professionals for more than 75 years. An affiliate of the National Association of REALTORS®, IREM® is the only professional real estate management association serving both the multi-family and commercial real estate sectors. With 80 U.S. chapters, 12 international chapters, and several other partnerships around the globe, IREM® is an international organization that also serves as an advocate on issues affecting the real estate management industry.

Membership includes more than 18,000 individual members and 500 corporate members. IREM® promotes ethical real estate management practices through its credentialed membership programs, including the Certified Property Manager® (CPM®) designation, the Accredited Residential Manager® (ARM®) certification, the Accredited Commercial Manager (ACoM) certification, and the Accredited Management Organization® (AMO®) accreditation. These esteemed credentials certify competence and professionalism for those engaged in real estate management. In addition, IREM® offers Associate, Student, and Academic memberships.
Collectively, IREM® CPM® Members in the United States manage over $1.5 trillion in real estate assets, including 8.4 million residential units and 8.4 billion net square feet of commercial space. An additional 977,400 residential units are managed by IREM® ARM® Members. IREM® Members are employed by some of the most prestigious real estate firms in the world and nearly 70% hold upper-level management positions. Due to their professionalism and vast experience, property owners and investors worldwide continually seek out the management services of IREM® Members.

To learn more about the Institute of Real Estate Management and its chapter network, call (800) 837-0706, ext. 4650 (outside the U.S. call (312) 329-6000) or visit www.irem.org.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY MANAGERS

The National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM®), founded in October 1988, provides a permanent trade organization for the residential property management industry. NARPM® continues to be the premier professional association of residential property managers, currently representing over 2000 members comprised of real estate agents, brokers, managers and their employees.

• NARPM® promotes a high standard of business ethics, professionalism and fair housing practice. The Association also certifies its members in the standards and practices of the residential property management industry and promotes continuing professional education.
• NARPM® is an association of real estate professionals who know first-hand the unique problems and challenges of managing single-family and small residential properties.
• NARPM® members know that education and communication raise the level of our profession, so that we may better represent our clients.
• NARPM® is here to represent the interest of property managers.

To learn more about the National Association of Residential Property Managers, call (800) 782-3452, e-mail info@narpm.org visit www.narpm.org.

Source: http://www.narpm.org/about/news/index.html?detailed=308