A day before the 2010 Apartment Finance Today Conference, I was doing some yard work while my 3-year-old son, Nate, played on his scooter. Suddenly, Nate wiped out, fell off his scooter, and screamed “Holy crap!”

I’d never heard him say that before. So I asked: “Do you know what ‘holy crap’ means?” And Nate replied, “Sure. It means, ‘Get up and keep going.’”

For two years, the apartment industry has been saying, “Holy crap!” But now we know that what that really means is “get up and keep on going.” And as an industry, we’ve done just that. Take last week’s conference, where the mood was notably better than the previous year. Back then, the bottom of the market seemed, well, bottomless. Fast forward 12 months, and there was a palpable sense of renewal, a feeling of survival. And there was a lot to talk about: Life insurance companies and even conduit lenders have re-engaged the market, and bridge and mezzanine lending has become a hot topic again.

Obviously, we’re not out of the woods yet. The future of Fannie and Freddie, and the continued dearth of construction lending, continue to be two sources of anxiety. But it’s night and day compared to last year. Bottom line: We’ve gotten back on the scooter, and we know which way we’re going.