The Multifamily Collective

Coffee and industry conversation, led by Mike Brewer

Mike Brewer

REIT’s catch a break

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By Alex Frangos

From The Wall Street Journal Online

When the music stopped in the residential-real-estate market,
speculators who got caught with unsold houses and condos began putting them on
the market as rentals. This "shadow market" has made investors jittery about
price-destroying competition for the real-estate investment trusts that own big
apartment complexes. [read more here]


Modern Convenience

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First gas stations. Then grocery stores. And now there’s even a fitness club that stays open around the clock.

Do you think the craze will ever hit our business on a mass basis? I don’t mean just the 24/7 concierge, I mean a full on leasing and maintenance team ready to serve.

Thoughts? Click on Comments to leave me your idea. M

Change Management

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Cool Question: What’s not going to change in our business over the next ten years? With so much focus on what is going to be different about our business wouldn’t it be smart to ask the opposite question.

I got the question from an article about Jeff Bezos founder of Amazon.com. He and his team of innovators ask themselves the question on a regular basis to ensure they don’t focused on the pillars of their business.

What do you think will be the same 10 years from now in our business?

Student Loan Debt

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From the pages of the St. Louis Today;

Many in the next generation of workers will be so debt-burdened that they
will have to delay home purchases, limit vacations, and even eat out less
to pay loans off on time.

Kristin Cole, 30, who graduated from Michigan State University’s law
school and lives in Grand Rapids, Mich., owes $150,000 in private and
government-backed student loans. Her monthly payment of $660, which
consumes a quarter of her take-home pay and is scheduled to jump to $800
in a year or so, confronting her with stark financial choices.

Should we label it now? The forever-renter generation?

It pains me to think that the higher-level education system has become a business. It’s losing sight that it’s a place to prepare people for life and toil. It’s a problem today and will only worsen over time.

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