This past weekend I went to a Bar Mitzvah for a bunch of teenagers. There was a DJ, food and dancing. It was a fun time for all…including the parents! It seems our music is popular with the youngins’. I felt like I was back in the 80’s…AC/DC, Journey, Bon Jovi, Peter Frampton, Poison, Madonna, etc. The amazing thing was the kids knew the words!! What is happening??? The kids were asking the same thing, as the “older and heavier than we were in the 80s” adults started dancing our own special dance…which probably looked something like Elaine from Seinfeld. I felt a little robbed…I didn’t want kids to know the songs I drank beer or slow danced to in my youth. Our songs were to be left in the past, only to be brought to the future for reunions and crying sessions on how wonderful High School was. I didn’t want to share my memory of the guy I kissed while slow dancing to Stairway to Heaven.
Which brings to my point…has time changed the apartment world? (Great segway, huh??) Or is the past like the present?
A 2009 survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling showed that almost half of all American adults no longer believe owning a house is a realistic way to build wealth. Another 42 percent no longer own a house and don’t expect to ever own one again. The past 50 years Americans thought the American Dream was to own a home, but with housing prices collapsing, the so-called “dream” of homeownership turned into a financial and emotional nightmare for millions. The largest generation of children in the history of the US will be entering the housing market in the next few years. Will this change Apartments? Heck yeah!
The National Multi Housing Council states that 2.83 million new renter households were created in the last four years, the biggest such gain in 24 years. And the renter household is changing from the “typical” Married couples with children…a growing number of nontraditional households are emerging…single parents, couples without children and empty nesters.
What does that mean for us? It means our industry will be the beneficiary of the new way of rethinking rent. There will continue to be demand for safe and desirable rental housing. And we need the people to help manage, maintain and enhance the value of the rental properties.
But stick with Justin Bieber and Katy Perry…leave my Bret Michaels alone.
