What Gen Y wants in a new apartment home, cont’d
This is the 3rd installment of a series we are doing on what Gen Y wants in a new apartment. I am using information gathered at a conference I recently attended in Colorado.
The five panelist were asked the following question: How important is being Green or LEED certified to you and how much extra would you pay to live in a community that meet the criteria for such?
I was blown away by the answers and I would challenge the authenticity of it:
4 out of 5 of the panelist said $100 to $150 extra!!! WOW!
The fourth panelist gave the answer I would agree with most. $0. Her logic, everyone should be doing their part to "save the planet," she went on to imply that those who would profit from it are being intellectually dishonest.
I agree with her on the premise that everyone should be doing their part. I do understand that it cost money to be green/LEED certified. I do also agree that people want to get in on the gold rush. Just last night I was sent a story from California where a management company had just received an award for being Green. In the story the owner admits outright that their major premise for doing it in the first place was for marketing reasons and the ability to make more money.
I get that and I am troubled by it at the same time. To me at some point those willing to pay $100 to $150 more are going to start asking the question what am I really getting for this $1200 to $1800 a year. Maybe they go a step further and say, hmmm, this 200 unit property is 95% occupied and if the other 189 people are paying $1200 extra a year, that is $226,800. Beyond that and furthermore if the community is putting LED lights in common areas and exercising a new recycling program aimed at reducing trash bills, where are the savings and why are they not being passed on to me? Hmmm, I am paying $1200 extra and the community is reducing its cost. Brilliant!!! That really doesn’t line up with my values, I think its time to move. And by the way I have a blog that yields 500 to 1000 unique visitors a day and I think I will lecture my fellow generation on the marketing tactics of our boomer owners.
My real point is this, be careful on how profitable you choose to be by exploiting the powerful pull of being Green/LEED certified.
Technorati Tags: LEED certified, green apartments, apartment marketing, property management, mike brewer
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About Mike Brewer
My mission is to tease out the human potential in the multifamily space.