How do you get rid of that long-winded resident?

Ok, to be clear, residents who like to hang out in the office are your best customer, so I think it's very important to treat them like the VIP they are. But everybody who has worked on-site knows how frustrating it can be to have a gabby resident just standing around the office when there are a ton of things on your plate!

So what strategies do you have in place to nicely inform that resident that you have to get back to work? (Or do you prefer letting them just stay there all day?)

My leasing agent and myself have a system.....If they have exhausted their time frame chatting rhetorically, (20 + min or more) We will call one of our 3 lines in the office and of course if she is on the phone I have to answer it, then we pretend it is a important call and will take a while. That usually works well. They go about their business and leave without feeling ignored.

Love that idea! It's kind of like the emergency first date date call, where you call your friend to give them an "out" if their date is going badly... (Not that I have ever done that - Not sure if it is a thing guys do in general)

I will slowly start going to the door while keeping the conversation going and then begin opening the door and politely make a joke about the time and that usually does it. I always offer them to do my work for me... yet no one has taken me up on that offer! Or sometimes I will say, "Hey I'll walk you out, I was heading to the mailbox anyways"... even if they weren't leaving and the conversation usually ends by the time I get back from the mailbox.

I actually like having people come in just to chat every now and then and my residents do it but they can tell usually within 1 minutes of being there if today is not a chit-chat day when all three phones are ringing and I look at them with crossed eyes!