The pandemic certainly pushed multifamily industry business practices — and market conditions — to the edge of the envelope, forcing us to become better virtual operators.
Automation and consolidation of administrative responsibilities falls into the world of “centralization,” but that is not quite the right word to define the increased efficiency, improved performance and better career paths that this business strategy can offer to owners, operators and residents.
Scaling these optimization efforts takes planning, precise execution and continued analysis to improve and pivot where necessary.
Join an amazing group of panelists who are working through these stages of task consolidation, virtual operations and back-office centralization, as RealPage® industry expert Jay Parsons moderates the discussion to explore these leaders’ successes, challenges and lessons learned.
As the Vice President of Portfolio Operations, Gina Carter is responsible for the development and implementation of programs that promote the optimal performance of Blue Ridge’s multifamily portfolio. Gina began her career at Blue Ridge in 2001 and transitioned to the corporate headquarters five years later.
Gina has experience in all levels of property management from Leasing to Operations. Gina’s intimate knowledge of the leasing process and expertise in all facets of property management systems administration is as a vital element in Blue Ridge’s management platform. Gina has taken the lead role in the portfolio-wide deployment of programs, such as Online Leasing, Spend Management and, most recently, our Paperless Office initiative to ensure that Blue Ridge’s onsite management teams have the necessary resources to achieve the goals set by owners, investors and third-party management, clients.
Gina holds the Certified Apartment Leasing Professional (CALP), Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) and Certified Apartment Portfolio Supervisor (CAPS) credentials through the National Apartment Association (NAA) and is a member of the National Apartment Association Educational Institute (NAAEI) Faculty, as well as an Education Advisory Board (EAB) appointee (2023). Gina is also a graduate of the NAA Leadership Lyceum Program and serves on the NAA Technology Committee as the Education Subcommittee Chair. Besides being an active member of the Apartment Association of North Carolina, Gina also serves as co-chair of the RealPage Steering Committee.
When Gina married her high school sweetheart, instead of taking a honeymoon her whole family went fishing. She and her husband have two beautiful boys, who are active in their local sports teams. Gina has now worked at Blue Ridge for more than half of her life.
Chelsea Jones
Chief Operating Officer, Irvine CompanyChelsea Jones, Chief Operating Officer at Irvine Company, has spent over 20 years in the multifamily industry. She has held many different positions in operations and led teams in multiple markets across the West Coast. Most recently, she has been an integral part of Irvine Company’s focus on creating a customer-centric, centralized business model to create efficiencies.
Jay Parsons
SVP & Chief Economist, RealPage, Inc.Jay Parsons serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Economist for RealPage, leading the Economist and Industry Principal teams to provide deep insights on market trends and consumer behaviors. He is a frequent author and industry speaker on topics affecting multifamily apartments and single-family rentals, including rental housing investment and asset management strategy, rental housing policy issues, risk mitigation and property management.
Jay has been cited in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Financial Times, The Economist, and The New York Times, and he has appeared on CNBC and BloombergTV. His commentaries have been published by Barron's, the Pension Real Estate Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Apartment Association, American Banker and GlobeSt.
Tracy Saffos
Industry Principal, Asset Optimization, RealPage, Inc.As an Industry Principal in the Asset Optimization group at RealPage, Tracy supports all Asset Optimization as well as Consumer Solutions. She joined RealPage in January 2014 after a 30-year career in multifamily real estate.
Tracy was Vice President of Operations for a 50,000 unit Multifamily REIT based in Denver where she was responsible for a portfolio of 10,000 units in California an Arizona. Responsible for 34 communities and revenues of over $142 million annually, she was awarded with the “Distinguished Service Award” and “Career Achievement Award” by this REIT.
Tracy also served as Vice President of Multifamily Operations for a 40,000 unit Diversified REIT. She managed a portfolio of over 9,500 units in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and Alabama for which she was awarded the “Vice President of the Year” for exceptional financial and operational achievements.
