As the U.S. Population Ages, Multifamily Managers Will Need to Adjust

Americans are growing older, but they are not going away. Far from being consigned to nursing homes and retirement communities, those age 55 and older have in recent years shown a desire to be where the action is, and will want that again, after the coronavirus pandemic subsides. They want a connection, not only with [...]

How to Keep Multifamily Properties Safe During the Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has presented multifamily property owners and managers with a challenge unlike any they have ever faced before, and one that has brought with it dire consequences. Through Dec. 30, over 83 million people around the globe had been diagnosed with COVID-19, and over 1.8 million had died from it. Over 19.8 million [...]

By |2020-12-31T18:53:51+00:00December 31st, 2020|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , , , |

Escaping the Parent Trap: Are Millennials Leaving Home For Good?

Millennials have long gotten a bad rap as slackers who graduate college and move back into their parents' homes indefinitely. While this may be a reality to some degree, the causes for it may also be somewhat misleading. In truth, more millennials are getting bachelor's degrees than any other generation in history but they are [...]

By |2020-11-16T20:08:28+00:00September 17th, 2019|Categories: Blog|

A-List Amenities in Multifamily Properties

The ancient axiom about real estate, accurate (it seems) since the dawn of time, continues to hold true in the booming multifamily housing market: It’s a matter of location, location, location. That said, potential residents are seeking far more in the way of amenities from such properties. And high on the list are secure common [...]

By |2020-06-15T18:13:26+00:00May 23rd, 2018|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , |

How To Know When The Rent ISN’T Too Darn High

The challenge facing the owners of rental properties was underscored by a man named Jimmy McMillan, who once ran for governor of New York on the-rent-is-too-(darn)-high platform. In fact, that was what he dubbed his party: The Rent Is Too (Darn) High. (Footnote: He was later evicted from his rent-controlled apartment in New York City [...]

What to do When Your Multifamily Property Turns Out To Be Historic

The phrase “George Washington slept here,” a reference to a long-ago play and motion picture, has also been used, tongue-in-cheek style, in connection with any property that might have historical significance. But what if that is really the case? What if George Washington (or, for that matter, Gen. George Patton, or George Santayana) really did [...]

The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Midwestern Towns

  The images of Rust Belt cities haunt and amaze: frame after frame of homes and businesses and factories, hollowed out and abandoned -- some looking as if the occupants just stepped out for a minute. They leave one thinking of a bygone era, when business boomed and these places thrived. They backslid because of [...]

By |2020-05-11T19:33:55+00:00March 23rd, 2018|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , , , |

Preserving the Past, while Facing the Future

The Wrigley Building, one of Chicago’s iconic structures, dates back to the early 1920s, when William Wrigley Jr. settled on a site along Michigan Avenue, hard by the Chicago River, for the headquarters of his chewing-gum empire. It has loomed over the city’s skyline ever since, though it underwent a makeover after being purchased in [...]

The Local Watering Hole: Neighborhood Anchor or Lodestone?

At their best, neighborhood bars serve as the social hubs of their neighborhoods -- vibrant places that draw people in and draw them together. At their worst, they are nuisances, producing excessive noise, littering, vandalism, etc. The question, then, is this: What are the pros and cons of investing in real estate near such places? [...]

Leaving the Family Business to Become An Entrepreneur

Strike out on one’s own, or stick with the status quo? That was the question facing Cobus Visser, a South African and self-described mental strength sports coach and master firewalker. For a very long time he wasn’t sure. He had moved on from the family business -- going on what he called a “hero’s journey” [...]

By |2018-01-25T16:18:23+00:00January 25th, 2018|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , , , |