UGOC Spotlight: Erika Champlin Celebrates Five Years

United Group is proud to recognize Erika Champlin, Property Manager of Deerfield Place, for reaching her five-year milestone! 

Erika began her career at United Group in 2018 as the Property Manager of Deerfield Place, a multifamily community in Utica, New York. She held that position until 2021 and was later promoted to Area Manager. After a brief pause with the company in 2022, Erika ultimately returned to Deerfield Place as the Property Manager.

Erika is highly regarded by her colleagues and supervisors for her collaborative spirit and dedication to going the extra mile to support her team. She exemplifies what can be achieved through commitment and a strong focus on delivering results. We are incredibly lucky to have Erika as part of UGOC and are excited to see her continued success.

To learn more about Erika’s journey within UGOC, read her Q&A below.

Congratulations, Erika!

Questions:

1.) Take us back to day one! What was it like? What do you remember about your first day?

The very first day at the office at Deerfield Place, I was excited, yet a little nervous until I got more acquainted with the workplace and my staff. Once days passed, I became quite overwhelmed to be completely honest with the LARGE array of items that I had witnessed that needed improvement; from operations, to staff, to just daily workflow in general. I then created my very large “to do list”, prioritized them, came up with solutions, and faced my challenges head on to get Deerfield Place operating the way it should. Today, I still love what I do day in and day out here at Deerfield Place and love my workplace as a whole.

2.) Walk us through a typical workday!

Oh, where, oh where, do I even begin to start….!! LOL. A typical workday in the life of Erika…..WELLLL……

First thing in the morning I take a drive around my community to look for trash, parking violations, or anything that may stand out to me preventative maintenance wise on my drive in. I then ensure the clubhouse is staged for tours for that day as I walk in the door. Then I come into my office and approve Revenue Management’s rates for the day, approve payroll if it’s a Monday, and will then ensure work orders from the previous evening that may have been submitted have all been assigned appropriately to my maintenance team. Next, I check my email, check my calendar schedule for any conference calls I need to be on for that day so I can plan out my schedule for the day, and ensure all emails are responded to and prioritize my responses based on what’s most urgent to least urgent. I will, however, do all urgent items first and then will work my way back from there. I then will input any invoices that are needed for that day and will follow-up with all vendors I may be missing invoices from for that month, as I have my own excel invoice log I check daily to know when certain invoices are sent on which dates per month, to ensure I am not missing any invoices I should be inputting for that month. I then will ensure all urgent items on my Entrata Dashboard have been completed, and that my APM has responded to all leads, ensure she’s prepared for the tours for that day, has followed up appropriately with all leads, and ensure all move ins/move outs have been communicated with. I then will ensure any move ins/move outs as needed are processed in Entrata and review any move out inspections for any damages so I can process my move outs financial move out appropriately. I then will check in with my maintenance team to ensure we are staying on our turn schedule and will place any orders as necessary for supplies my maintenance team may need or office supplies, we may need. I then will call any vendors and schedule any upcoming inspections/needs as necessary. I then check and update my apartment availability sheets/turn board schedule in my office and ensure my maintenance team has been communicated to with any updates as necessary. I ensure any reports that may need to be completed for that day are then taken care of, ensure to send all renewal letter/renewal leases as needed and update my propensity to renew spreadsheet. I also audit and check my pet rabies expiration excel sheet we have made internally to ensure all pets in our community’s vaccination records are up to date and will reach out to residents for updated records as needed. I also check to ensure tour folders, move in packets, move in keys, key fob activation, move in forms are all stocked, organized and ready to go. I also will ensure any checks as needed are scanned in and that any late notices are sent/resident on our delinquency list are emailed and called. Also ensure to send any mass communication emails out to residents, if need be, for any possible upcoming inspections/important notifications they may need to be aware of. (In the mix of all of this I will also tend to resident visits/complaints, conduct tours and answer the phone if my APM is unavailable to do so.) At the very end of my day I then will ensure each and every one of my emails was tended to, and will then again check that everything on the Entrata dashboard is at ZERO, and will ensure all work orders for that day have been completed out in Entrata, and ensure any new/late incoming work orders for that day have been assigned to the proper Maintenance Tech to take care of the next day. Right before I leave I then then write on my little white board that my maintenance team looks at each and every morning they come into the office with a fun little note for that day, ensure to write on there any important updates they need to know for that day like if there is any inspection or vendor visits, as well as a list of what their duties of focus are for that day to ensure there is no miscommunication. (If it’s a Friday I send my weekly Friday’s owners reports and weekly WAR) Lastly, I then take my final nightly drive around the community to ensure all is safe and sound before heading home, and then do it all over again the next day 😊

3.) What is your favorite memory (so far) from your time at UGOC?

I would have to say my favorite memory was when Michael Uccellini teared up when I received the Property Manager of the year award in 2019 after being employed with UGOC for only 1 year. Michael teared up simply because of how proud he was of me. This moment was mostly special to me because even though he pushed and challenged me to great measures that first year of me being employed with UGOC because of the challenges we were facing at Deerfield, he always saw the potential in me and believed in me. The moment he teared up solidified for me he truly recognized all the hard work, dedication, blood, sweat, and tears I had put in, which meant the world to me.

4.) What advice would you give yourself reflecting on the last 5 years?

Take time for yourself mentally/physically, ALWAYS! Yes, work is important of course, but you need to always prioritize also taking that time for YOU, so you don’t get burnt out.

5.) How has your role changed over the years? (If at all possible)

My role has changed in many ways over the years. I was fortunate enough to be promoted to Area Manager in 2021, to be able to take my skills/knowledge and help other communities improve their operations, and daily office workflow. However, over time the travel simply became too much for me, and put a major stain on my personal life, therefore I had to take a step back and focus on myself even though I truly enjoy traveling and loved helping others. I am happy to be back at where my career all started with UGOC, with being on site, and strive to improve Deerfield Place the best I can each and every day. This past year I also took on the responsibility that a Maintenance Supervisor would have, aside from the physical aspect, even though I WILL jump into the physical side of things to help with anything if needed. (I even painted the inside of our clubhouse back in May of this year) Taking on this role, I believe has truly helped me be an even better manager and has taught me so much. I would encourage every manager to involve themselves in the maintenance side of things as much as possible, as it is truly eye opening and will only make you better at what you do day in and day out.