How can I get my 18-month old to sleep in her own bed?

My daughter is 18 months old, and for some reason bedtime is always a huge war. It’s impossible to really keep her on a routine schedule because I work until 10 pm most night and she’s with a sitter until then. When she comes home, she doesn’t want anything to do with falling to sleep. She will finally get to sleep but will wake up within an hour of us putting her into her crib. My husband and I have to sacrifice “marital” time because she is in our bed EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Has anyone else had this issue with their toddlers, and if so how did you deal? We’ve tried to just let her cry and do the Ferber method, but we live in an upstairs apartment and the neighbors complain when they hear her screaming through the floor at one AM.