Natalia Todorov is all about building community, developing relationships and embracing family.
For Natalia, all three come together as the Community Manager of Vintage Canyon, an affordable senior apartment community in Brea, and with USA Properties Fund.
“I was meant to be here at Vintage Canyon,” says Todorov, who recently celebrated her 20-year anniversary with the company, much of it as Community Manager at Vintage Canyon, while being a trainer, mentor, Yardi Buddy, and consultant for many Southern California employees. “Vintage Canyon is a family. As soon as you walk in, it feels like home.”
The 105-apartment community has been her passion, from working with her dedicated and hard-working onsite management and maintenance team to helping the hundreds of residents through the years at Vintage Canyon.
“I feel privileged to work here,” she says. “I embrace it as my own.”
‘USA Properties is a very special company’
The apartment community has been a huge part of her life, from the all-too familiar Bingo games and birthday parties to the eye-catching “The Descending Dancer” sculpture at the entrance of the property. Both of her children – now-adult daughter Sophia and almost-teenage son Theodore – were born while Todorov has been at Vintage Canyon.
“They were the children with 100 grandparents,” she laughs.
The connection, emotion and passion go beyond the apartment community. Vintage Canyon, the 25th property built and managed by USA Properties, is an extension of the company, where balance and family are just as important as hard work and success.
“USA Properties is a very special company,” Todorov says. “It was created with a lot of love and purpose.”
Many opportunities for Todorov, from learning software to training team members
There are many examples, from the company’s commitment to building affordable apartment communities for low-income families and seniors – many who may not be able to afford a home of their own – to the many career opportunities for team members.
Todorov was the first in her family to move from Bulgaria to the U.S. in 1997 and became a community manager at another Orange County apartment community in Southern California. After a few years, she joined USA Properties – and Vintage Canyon.
She has excelled as a community manager and expanded her skills, from becoming an expert in Low Income Housing Tax Credit Section 42 and getting a Housing Credit Certified Professional designation to learning PEAK and ACCUCert software programs.
Todorov was promoted to Compliance Auditor, which ensures residents meet stringent age and income requirements for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, and worked out of the Rancho Cucamonga Southern California office from 2004 to 2007. She became the Southern California trainer for new and seasoned team members holding regular in-person classes in Section 42 and current software used by the company. She continued to train USA employees even after she returned to be the community manager at Vintage Canyon in 2007.
Todorov was even offered a promotion to work at USA Properties’ corporate headquarters in Roseville, about 25 miles from Sacramento. But her family – and heart – were in Southern California and with Vintage Canyon. Her parents, who later moved from Bulgaria to the United States, were older and faced numerous health issues, not the best time for their daughter to move 300 miles away. Her father passed away in June 2022.
While the timing for the promotion – and the move from Southern to Northern California – was off, the company’s response to her difficult decision was perfect. Her colleagues, including her compliance supervisor Kimberly Tenold and the USA Multifamily Management President Karen McCurdy (both have since retired), understood.
“USA Properties is more than a company, it’s a family,” she says. “It’s a living, breathing entity.”
Much like her own apartment community of Vintage Canyon.
“Vintage Canyon has my heart,” says Todorov, whose birthday is the same day as when Vintage Canyon received its Certificate of Occupancy. “But I’m also ready for the next chapter.”
Away from work, Todorov enjoys spending time with her family – her husband Angel, who worked as a Maintenance Supervisor for USA from 2001 to 2013, and daughter and son – and their German shepherd, Bosco, adopted during the pandemic. She also likes to cook, bake, dance, and sing while surrounded with her multi-cultural friends, and to travel around the world. So far, she has been to China, Israel, Turkey, England, Mexico and six U.S. states.
“I think I have a lucky star above me,” she says.
