NAHB's 50 + Symposium in Philadelpia Offers Tons of Tips

If you think the 50+ housing market lacks potential ... think again. The recent Philadelphia symposium (April 27-29) offered positive signs. The annual conference offered 19 different sessions geared to the 50+ housing market, the exhibit hall and the 50+ Housing awards.

The Keynote session and economic forecast with David Crowe, Ph.D., NAHB, Washington DC and Mark Zandi, Moody's Economy.com provided a good overview of where we've been and what the future holds for a housing recovery. They feel the fiscal stimulus will help. It's well designed giving funds to states and unemployed as well as cutting taxes to reduce payroll tax and infrastructure spending. Zandi anticipates the downturn will end Dec. 15 but recommends reading his book for greater details.

I was a facilitator and judge on an interactive program organized by Jane O'Conner, CAASH, CMP, MIRM of 55 Plus, LLC & Mature Living Choices and Amy Martino, CAASH and AIA of Building Site Synergy. "The Competion: Build a Better 50+ Community" divided the group into two development teams to plan the perfect community.

Architect Bill Sutton of Sutton Yannis, Tysons Corner was among participants.

Other judges included industry icon Bill Becker, The William E. Becker Organization; interior merchandiser Lita Dirks from Denver; Jay Metcalfe of Wyndham Homes in Brewster, NY; and Gary Snider, AIA of BSB Design, in Boston.

The 90 minute session certainly got creative with alot of type A's contributing.

There was great networking and opportunities to see old friends. The NAHB staff at the 50+ housing council did a great job organizing sessions and managing the event. Special thanks to the team.

More on my session High Tech, High Touch in a later blog.

Value of Exit Interviewing

We've been conducting exit interviews for several of our senior housing clients and what we been learning is very valuable. While it won't bring a vacating resident back to the community; it fosters goodwill with families and residents who welcome the opportunity to talk with a third party, non biased listener. This telephone interviews take no more than 3-5 minutes of someones time. Questions delve into the reasons behind the move--what precipitated their departure. If communities then take this information back to their operations managers; some issues can be addressed to improve services and communications. In this economy it would seem that reasons behind a departure would be based on the monthly fees but we find many more reasons behind residents leaving a community.