New Class A Property Equals Ghetto?

I've been talking a long time about how our industry needs a massive PR campaign , much like the Got Milk campaign, the "beef, it's what's for dinner" campaign, or any other industry-style program. How can we possibly progress when this is the standard response to a new community?

Luxury apartments planned for Katy
(Read the comments for what I'm talking about)

This is not an isolated situation. I think we need to take these steps:

1) Find out whether this is perception or if it is reality. If it is perception, then a PR campaign should work to help educate. If it is reality...
2) Assess whether the entire industry is plagued, or if slumlords are really to blame, and the rest of the industry is fairly quality. If they are to blame...
3) Create a system to truly rate apartments beyond apartmentratings.com or by the label of "luxury", which is meaningless. Work to create a certification for quality communities for all classes.

These are just "off the top of my head" ideas, but what do you think we should do so that a new, beautiful community isn't automatically assumed to turn into a ghetto within 10 years?

Brent - The attached comments brought two issues to my mind.
1.) the assumed auto-transition from luxury to ghetto within a relatively short time frame; and 2.) why does adding more apartments to an area seem to be perceived as a devaluation of the area.
I guess I'm a little stunned...

The sad part is that I'm not stunned - this is pretty par for the course with public opinion, a lot of times. Of course, this is in Houston where land is cheap, so there might be different dynamics at play here.

I think two things really come into play with public perception:
1) The news always prefaces bad news at a home at being at XYZ apartment community, but the same isn't done for single family developments.
2) News travels more widespread at apartment communities. If you take someone three streets away in a neighborhood, you may never know they were robbed. But if someone is robbed at the apartment community, it is widely known.

So my question is whether crime is actually more prevalent at apartment communities relative to equivalent economic single family neighborhoods, or whether that is all perception.

I totally agree with the idea of a campaign. Apartment communities are not just 4 walls, carpet and a "landlord" anymore. They are "resorts" and "service with a smile" and "conviences" that equal----FREE TIME!!!!

Maybe our slogan could be "Got Time?"...Well you could if you had the lifestyle of living in an apartment community....So many communities offer so many things that you just do not get from home ownership!!!!!

The NAA should take up this idea and run with it!!!!

And yes...news does travel faster in apartment communities...It is up to us to make more good news than bad news that we have ZERO control over.

Ok...stepping down from my soap box now...Have a great weekend everyone!

Milisa Crouch
The Haven at Western Center
[email protected]
www.havenwc.com

The "American Dream" has always been to own your own home. The idea is drilled into our minds at every turn. With this comes the assumption that if you don't "own the dream" or aren't after the dream you are socio-economically challenged (so p.c. don't you think?). I remember going to a friends mother's home way back in the dark ages (the 70's), her mom lived in an apartment. I remember thinking I never wanted to be like that when I grew up(and yes I do rent an apartment now and if I went to a friend's home in the 70's well then clearly I'm "grown up"). This is one of those ideas that is part of our national consiousness.
How do we as an industry change that perception? I think some of the large management companies are doing a good job - professionally attired office staffs & offices and well-kept communities are a start. But as a vendor I visit many properties across all classifications, a,b,c etc. and unfortunatley some of them do continue to contribute to the old perceptions.
What Brent is proposing is a fantastic idea. Do what home builders did after WWII. They made owning a home in the suburbs seem like heaven on earth (Google: Levittown). It's all about perception! Get a good PR firm to change the perception of the rental industry. Hey, if they can make us think there is such a thing as "clean" coal, and that petroleum companies care about the earth surely they can make people think apartments in their neighborhood will be a good thing, right?

Laurie - You are so right about being perceived as socio-economically challenged. It is so prevalent that even on this forum I truly wonder what the perception is that I currently live in apartment. It doesn't matter that I live here because of all the reasons we discuss, such as convenience, flexibility in moving, maintenance, etc, but as crazy as it sounds, I always feel a bit hesitant to discuss it.

(Note: I am currently buying a house, but that doesn't lessen my enjoyment at living at an apartment community.)

I would like to buy a house but my rent is so high it's hard to save for a down payment. My rent is the equivelent of the mortgage I would pay if purchasing a $300,000 house. Clearly the perception needs to change.

I think this issue is a symptom of larger problems beyond the multifamily industry's ability to correct.

This is not a new issue. Many communities don't want Apartment Communities in their back yard. It is definitely a perception problem. In this case Katy is an affluent suburb of Houston. It is not as diverse as Houston. The unknown creates FEAR. Home owners have chosen to live in the area outside of the city. . .now an apartment communities coming to their neighborhood!. . .Apartment communities are for folks who can't afford a house, folks that are more transient. This is not true of course, but it is still the perception of many folks. (I live in an apartment community by CHOICE!) The PR should start well before the actual building! It about educating folks, and alleviating their FEARS. From the studies that I have done, crime is not higher in apartment communities, word just spreads quicker. Again it is perception and fear

@Joe - It isn't a matter of "correcting", it is a matter of fighting for our industry to make incremental gains. We have allowed ourselves to be picked on and bullied by the media, by government programs, and by a misconstrued perception of apartment living for far too long. It has always been just easier to battle amongst ourselves rather than to see ourselves as a true competitor to home-ownership.

And through this, "winning" does not necessarily mean that we are seen as universally better than home-ownership, but rather winning incremental battles. I suggest that the goal should be something attainable, such as increasing the average renter period by one year . The financial benefits would be enormous, even at that level!

@Gerry - The problem is that these facts are not well known! I had completely forgotten about these documents from NMHC , one of which deals specifically with crime myths with multifamily . And if these facts are not well known within our own industry, I bet they are nonexistent with the general population!

I agree Brent. Maybe we need to start by educationg our own folks and then reaching out to the community!

I agree, and I just added it to our list of webinar ideas!

Brent, NMHC also has an excellent white paper on this subject. www.nmhc.org/Content/ServeFile.cfm?FileID=5717
I think a webinar is a great idea. Just looking at your survey, there is a need to educate our industry folks!

Brent, I felt compelled to add my 2 cents worth as I'm a fellow Katyite. Read the article and the comments section and firmly believe that those 10 or so people are cynical angry little individuals that would spew their negativity regardless of the topic.

You mention a PR campaign like the Milk or Beef industry. Personally, I stopped drinking milk 20 years ago because I lost the taste for it. Incidentally, those ads with celebrities sporting milk moustaches gross me out. I eat beef because I love the way it tastes in spite of my doctor's warnings about my cholesterol. I own (pay a mortgage on) a single family home because I enjoy a big back yard, the square footage that only a house can provide and prefer having more than just a wall separating me from my neighbor.

I just don't see how a marketing campaign could change anyone's mind on whether to sign a lease instead of a mortgage contract. I think that decision is ultimately based on needs and affordability.

One last thought. I've never seen any stats but what percentage of owners and management within the industry live in a single family home as opposed to one of their multi-family communities? A campaign proudly proclaiming the glories of living in an apartment could backfire depending on those numbers.

Thanks for joining the conversation! (Haven't seen you in a while - hope all is well)

I think ultimately marketing doesn't care about one individual. If the Got Milk campaign didn't work for you, it didn't work. What matters is what effect it had in the big scheme of things. From what I've read, after the campaign started, there was a modest improvement in sales, but the real success was the stopping of a downward spiral due to competition with other beverage types. In other words, you can't judge the campaign based upon only your experiences.

In the end, you are right that marketing will not help if we don't have a compelling competitive advantage. And to that end, I think we really need to understand what makes us great.

And like I said before, it may never stop someone from getting a mortgage, but what if it effectively delayed that decision for one year? The financial windfall by delaying that decision by one year, on average, is INCREDIBLE!