Company: Spherexx.com, Tulsa, OK, U.S.A
Company Description: Becca Wilson, President & CEO established Spherexx.com, LLC in 2000. Spherexx.com provides advertising, web design and development, cloud based software, hosting and data centers for hundreds of real estate management and investment companies, and a variety of other business industries.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Woman of the Year - Technology

Nomination Title: Becca Wilson, President and CEO

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated woman since the beginning of July last year (up to 525 words):

The multi-family industry began utilizing revenue management software to price apartments early in the new millennium. The apartment yield management systems were largely adapted from the hotel, casino and airline industries and there was reluctant multi-family adoption. There are timing, term and demand aspects in apartment pricing that require algorithmic considerations that require vast retooling from previous models. Most early implementers were large, multi-family owners and management companies that created their own software in many instances. The cost was prohibitive for smaller companies.

Becca Wilson, President and CEO of Spherexx.com® realized yield management would soon be in great demand for apartment owners and managers and she began developing RentPush.com® Revenue Management late in 2011 with an impressive team of scientists, property management experts, financial advisors, consultants, and programmers. The live beta launched in October 2012 and performed beyond expectations.

One of the former drawbacks of revenue management for apartment developers was that previous yield management versions did not work well for newly constructed apartment buildings in lease-up. A close study of the typical algorithmic structures would explain why the anomaly existed; briefly stated, the established mathematics did not “bounce” well off an empty building, thereby generating nonsensical pricing recommendations that had to be manually adjusted.

Ms. Wilson took on the challenge of expanding RentPush capabilities to generate optimum pricing for apartment projects in lease-up. Oakland Hills, the first construction client, launched RentPush in November 2013, during one of the worst times of the year to invite prospects to move. There were also strict limits on lease terms so that all leases did not expire in the same time frame and thereby create exposure to financial crisis the following year.

Happily, the community reached 93.3% stabilized occupancy in only seven months, May 2014. Actual rent per unit exceeded projections by $11.23 and the community gained 11.8% in rent per occupied unit during the lease-up process. Concessions and loss to lease (the difference between current pricing and former rented rates) were kept at a minimum. MarketSurveyTools.com, a Spherexx.com developed software that houses internal proprietary market survey research and survey management, reported pricing trends on a sampling of eighty-seven apartment communities in a fifty-mile radius of Oakland Hills. The rate increases for that area during that time frame were only 1.02%. That number was also validated by a competitor’s survey data. The Oakland Hills Case Study is provided herein.

On September 1, 2014, Multi-Housing News announced that RentPush.com div Spherexx.com had won their Technology Choice Award for 2014. Multi-Housing News is a respected source of news, information and analysis that has served the multi-housing industry since 1966. This year marks its tenth year to identify the multi-family industry’s top technology product and services providers by popular ballot of its 25K subscribers. Included on the winner’s list this year is RentPush.com div Spherexx.com that was selected as one of the choice companies “who provide flexible customization, competitive pricing, and the most innovative solutions, all backed by superior customer support.” RentPush now stands side-by side with giants in the Multi-Family Revenue Management business, and perhaps a bit taller.

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Provide a brief biography of the nominated woman (up to 125 words):

Becca Wilson, B.S. B.A., founded Spherexx.com in 2000, having foreseen the need for Internet Technology services designed especially for the multi-family industry. Becca has provided website development, Internet marketing services, and custom programming and software tools for thousands of multi-family management organizations. Becca offers the unique perspective of problem-solving from extensive financial, marketing, and technological experience. Becca was chosen by IREM in 2013 as one of the “Women Changing the World of Real Estate Management.” Ms. Wilson has been a guest speaker at the NMHC Conference, Apartment Internet Marketing (AIM) Conferences, and the NAHB Pillars Conference. Spherexx.com has supported the National Apartment Association's Suppliers Council and many state and local apartment associations; she has served on the NMHC’s Multifamily Information and Transactions Standards (MITS) committee.