This December 2025 guide is packed with practical, high-impact support for property managers, onsite teams, and anyone working in property management during the busiest season of the year. From simple leasing follow-up strategies to boost apartment marketing, to ready-to-use outreach marketing ideas that warm up winter traffic, this blog shows how small, consistent actions create real results. You'll learn quick ways to improve resident retention, strengthen team morale, streamline social media marketing, and elevate communication with easy, ready-made property management resources inside the Spark Resource Kit. Perfect for onsite teams at apartment communities who want lighter workloads, better renewal outcomes, and a calmer transition into January. This blog also includes a personal reflection from Barbara, encouraging managers to reconnect with joy, identity, and purpose during a demanding season. It’s a supportive, strategic, and heartfelt resource built for the people who make communities thrive.

Life doesn’t pause just because you manage a multimillion-dollar community. In this deeply personal and relatable post, a former property manager shares what it’s like to carry personal hardship while still showing up every day in property management and multifamily housing.

From single parents juggling tours and school drop-offs, to managers navigating burnout, grief, financial stress, staffing shortages, and impossible expectations—this piece speaks directly to the emotional toll of apartment marketing and property management leadership.

Inside, you’ll find 13 simple, proven joy boosters designed specifically for overwhelmed property managers, leasing teams, and multifamily marketing professionals—small, realistic ways to support your mental health, emotional balance, and day-to-day energy without needing corporate approval or a lifestyle overhaul.

This blog is for anyone in multifamily marketing who:

• Feels stretchedthin between work and personal life

• Is struggling with work-life balance as a property manager

• Is carrying emotional burnout behind a professional front

• Wants practical, grounding tools for everyday stress relief

You’ll also learn how the Spark Monthly Resource Kit was created to support both the work and well-being of property managers—offering simple marketing tools, retention support, and built-in moments of joy each month.

If you’ve ever thought, “I’m holding everyone else together, but no one is checking on me,” this one is for you.

Short weeks in property management have a sneaky way of throwing your brain into avoidance mode—cleaning desks, making grocery lists, doing anything except the work that actually matters. This guide walks you through a simple, calm plan to prep your team, support residents, and keep your maintenance crew aligned so nothing slips through the cracks. From must-do checklists and quick team huddles to creating a “when I return” list and communicating hours everywhere, these steps help you stay clear, organized, and stress-free. Plus, Sprout’s tools and templates make the little tasks lighter so you can focus on your community with confidence. A smooth, structured short week is absolutely possible—here’s how to make it happen.

Property managers today are stretched thinner than ever, juggling apartment marketing, resident retention, outreach marketing, renewals, events, and the never-ending design tasks that fill every spare minute. This blog breaks down the invisible workload that drains onsite teams — those “quick” social posts, flyers, resident event ideas, and outreach marketing tasks that pile up during lunch breaks, late nights, and the walk between units.

When managers are up at 10 PM searching for marketing inspiration, it’s a sign that burnout is building. These seemingly small tasks chip away at work-life balance and pull managers away from what matters most: leading their teams, building resident relationships, and supporting occupancy and retention.

That’s where The Sprout Membership steps in. Built specifically for multifamily professionals, Sprout delivers done-for-you apartment marketing plans, retention tools, resident event guides, design templates, renewal ideas, social media content, and outreach marketing support — all designed to remove the low-value tasks that drain onsite teams. It helps property managers reclaim time, improve resident engagement, and create a healthier long-term workflow so 2026 can feel lighter, easier, and more sustainable.

For teams on tight budgets, The Monthly Spark Resource Kit offers an affordable starting point with ready-to-use social captions, graphics, event ideas, notices, and renewal tools. Both options are built with real onsite capacity in mind to support property managers who need practical solutions, not another item to add to their to-do list.

Whether you need a marketing jump-start or a full support system, Sprout gives you tools that strengthen resident retention, elevate apartment marketing efforts, and protect your work-life balance — one small, strategic shift at a time.

Burnout in property management doesn’t happen overnight—it builds from wearing every hat, filling every gap, and pushing past your limits. In this post, we break down the quickest way to burnout and share three proven strategies to beat it even when budgets are tight. You’ll learn how to identify your highest-value work, invest wisely in tools that multiply your time, and eliminate recurring frustrations that drain your energy. Whether you’re managing apartments, multifamily communities, or rental properties, these tips will help you protect your time, avoid exhaustion, and focus on what matters most: growing your properties and serving your residents. Plus, discover how Spark, our $7/month resource, helps property managers save hours, reduce stress, and generate thousands in ROI.

Let's transform the way we approach renewals and make each conversation a positive and enriching experience.

If you're a property manager feeling overwhelmed by managing social media alongside your existing responsibilities, listen in as we explore how to make social media doable and easy by laying a solid foundation for your strategy and building scalable systems for consistent content creation and engagement.

On this episode of Marketing Home, Marketing You we're diving into the power of a three-day reset. Making small changes over a three-day period can truly transform our lives and make us feel like a different person.

We've identified three often underestimated areas that can empower property managers to maintain their joy, even in the face of challenging circumstances. These keys revolve around effectively managing your morning, attention, and energy.

Let’s talk mentorship in the property management industry and tips for transitioning from Property Manager to Regional Manager! This week we’re interviewing mentors Danielle & Sejla. I first started seeing some of Danielle’s content on LinkedIn and I was so impressed at what an encourager she was to her team. There was a specific post where she was celebrating Sejla and some of her accomplishments and that’s when I knew we had to get them on the podcast. In our industry, many people have an idea of a career path, but they're not sure how to get there. They don't know how to look for mentorship and ask for what they need. This conversation is really focused on how to foster that type of learning place where we can mentor others and keep it going.

Easy apartment gift ideas for fall. On a tight budget? No problem! Several of these gifts come in under $3.00 each! Make your residents smile this month with these ideas.

Make resident referrals SUPER easy with a Referral Automation Station. Check out this cute way to spoil residents at your apartment community and put the word out about your referral bonuses. Plus, download our FREE referral flyer for apartments!

If you are a property manager looking for resident event ideas, we have you covered with 7 resident events for December 2020. There is something for all apartment communities no matter the budget or the time constraints. This is the time to up your resident engagement and these easy events make the best memories for your residents at your apartment community.

We are learning that we need to love where we live…now more than ever. Remind your residents and show your prospects that your apartment community is a place they can make that a reality!

Nothing is off-limits in this conversation! Kate shares her journey, some foundational principles that have shaped her career, and how she ultimately landed her dream role as an apartment developer - combining her many passions and talents!

I know you will benefit from the conversation! Listen to the audio below or check out the video for a full experience and SO many more laughs.

We are learning that we need to love where we live…now more than ever. Remind your residents and show your prospects that your apartment community is a place they can make that a reality!

In addition to keeping yourself safe and healthy, you are trying to come up with fun ways to keep residents engaged through virtual events. You are still committed to reaching your occupancy goals even though you are limited in what you can do for outreach marketing. And I know you want to keep showing up on your apartment’s social media platforms. All on top of regular day-to-day operations. Whew…can I just say it: THAT IS A LOT!

I’ve been looking forward to this conversation! As this COVID-19 situation unfolded we were all glued to social media. From an outside perspective, I’ve seen RedPeak really jump into action and I admire their communication with their internal team and the initiatives they’ve put together with their residents.

In this episode of Marketing Home, Marketing You I interviewed Tony Sousa to get insight on all things personal branding and employee retention. Cultivating a positive personal brand is important in adding value to yourself that makes you more valuable to your workplace. Tony also gives tips on how to recruit, hire, and retain employees that are high quality and add value to your apartment community. He also gives insight on what makes a good interviewee and allows you to stand out from the other candidates being interviewed.

If you’re a part of the Sprout Community in any way then you know that we just released some BIG news and our new project has finally launched! Our new podcast called Marketing Home, Marketing You is now available for all you awesome peeps to dive into. Our CEO, Barbara Savona, being the lifelong learner that she is, launched this podcast out of a passion for creating content that is easy to consume while still being jammed packed with education and value for the listeners. This podcast was born out of a desire to create a space where all housing professionals can come and discuss all things marketing, business growth, and career development. Seriously, ALL housing professionals - multifamily, student housing, senior housing, affordable, brokerage, real estate.