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Weekly UpdatesIN 1977 when Barbara Holland, CPM[R] and president of H&L Realty and Management Co. in Las Vegas, began working as a property manager in that Nevada town, English served her everyday needs. Lately she often finds herself looking for a translator.
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And for good reason. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's "2006 American Community Survey Data Profile Highlights," Hispanics and Latinos currently make up 30.6 percent of the Las Vegas population, up from 23.6 percent in 2000.
"If I don't have at least a maintenance technician or one of the office staff--either on-site or in the corporate office--who speaks Spanish, I'm in trouble," Holland said.
Throughout the United States huge demographic changes have occurred over the past 30 years. According to a 2008 "Population Brief" published by the Western Rural Development Center-one of four regional center funded by U.S. Department of Agriculture-the population of Nevada was 83.4 percent White in 1980; by 2000 the figure had declined to 67 percent.
This change was the result of a dramatic increase in Nevada's minority population. Between 1980 and 2000, the Hispanic population grew by 627 percent, the Asian population by 509.9 percent and the Black population increased by 155.7 percent.
Figures for Nevada reflect demographic changes underway across the United States. The Census Bureau predicts the country's Hispanic and Asian populations will more than double between 2010 and 2040, with Hispanic numbers rising from 49.7 million in 2010, to 66.4 million in 2020.
In nearly every state, newly arrived members of various ethnic groups influence everything from vegetables in supermarket produce aisles to programming on local access cable channels. It's no wonder that immigrants are having an increasingly greater impact on the everyday interactions and long-term success of property management professionals.
"Non-English speakers are a growing part of our business," said Pamela Monroe, CPM, IREM 2009 President and senior vice president at Community Realty Management in Pleasantville, N.J. "We need to be aware of what our demographics are and adjust our management styles accordingly to make it an easier process for a new person moving into a property who doesn't speak English to adjust to the style of living in the United States."
BIG NUMBERS
Not every area of the country is affected equally by the growing immigrant population, said Mark Mather, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that informs people around the world about population, health and the environment. States in the Midwest such as the Dakotas have experienced overall population loss, and those in the Southwest and Sunbelt have exploded in population over the last 20 to 30 years.
Currently in the United States, about half of all children under age five are members of racial or ethnic minorities, Mather said.
"If you project that forward 15 or 20 years, you can see that it won't be long before the next generation of workers will be mostly Latino, African American or Asian," Mather said. "They will be adults, going out on their own and looking for place to live, and quite possibly they will have different preferences than people have right now."
Characteristics common to immigrant Populations can have a positive effect on property managers over the next few years for several reasons. This is particularly true for those who specialize in multifamily properties consisting of larger units.
First, members of immigrant communities tend to have larger families and are more likely to live in multigenerational households, Mather said.
Given the hardships of establishing first generations in a new country, shared housing and pooled resources give new immigrants a place to go when they first arrive. Second and third generation members of these communities may seek having fewer members in their households, but the constant turnover of new immigrants means there is always a wave of young people coming into the country, continuing the same types of living arrangements and requiring larger housing units.
Many members of ethnic groups also work blue collar jobs in industries negatively affected by the current economic downturn. That, coupled with the mortgage meltdown, should lead to increased demand for multifamily units, said David Hargrove, CPM, president/partner at Gerystone Asset Management in Houston and president of the Texas Apartment Association. Affordable housing will continue to be a major element in filling that need, he predicted.
In response to immigrants' needs, developers are building housing that includes three-and-four-bedroom rental units. Many of these fall into the Sections 42 affordable housing category.
But it's not all smooth sailing for property managers with high numbers of immigrant residents. For instance, immigrants who tend toward multigenerational living arrangements also are likely to sublease to a friend, said Clifford A. Hockley, CPM, president of Bluestone & Hockley Real Estate Services in Portland, Ore. Laws in each state govern how many people may live in variously sized units. Extra residents need to be screened by on-site managers, but when on-site managers feel pressured to fill units, they may rent to a greater number of individuals per unit than is provided by the property's occupancy guidelines.
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"Or you'll have two residents, maybe a couple with a kid or two, and they'll sub-rent to another worker or two," Hockley said. "To prevent this, it's important to be visible on-site. If you walk through a property and see heavy-duty locks on bedroom doors, you know this is happening."
Other problems occur when some members of multi-generational living groups are discovered by their employers to have immigrated illegally. When they lose their jobs, entire families are likely to move to another state, said Jodi Sheahan, co-owner, MEB Management Services in Phoenix.
"Even if they just live near each other in the same community and not in the same unit, they may leave," Sheahan said. "That has had some devastating impacts on occupancy in our communities."
Legal immigrants, too, have found themselves suddenly unemployed, and not all of them stay put. For instance, thousands of long-term residents have lost their jobs in the Las Vegas construction industry and have left the state, causing a swift rise in residential vacancies, Holland said.
Similarly, in Phoenix, as a result of high unemployment, vacancies in the Class C rental housing market--consisting of multifamily communities of 50 units or more--rose from 7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 to 22 percent a year later, said Pete Te Kampe, vice president of investments at Marcus & Millichap in Phoenix.
Another recent economic problem--home foreclosures that send families into the rental market--might appear at first glance to be a boon for managers; however, that's not always the case, said Sheahan, whose company manages mostly high-end A, gently aged B and renovated C products.
"Someone who has lived in a home wants to maintain that image," Sheahan said. "In the Phoenix area there are 120,000 single-family homes and condos for rent now. We used to call rental homes and condos a shadow market, but it's not a shadow anymore."
Companies that manage rentals in single-family home communities match concessions offered by apartment managers. They can lower rental prices on homes to make deals more attractive. Also, people who want to live together as groups perceive single-family homes as ideal as opposed to apartments where the number of occupants may be restricted.
"This has had a very large impact on our occupancies," Sheahan said.
ATTRACTING IMMIGRANTS
Despite possible problems, attracting immigrants is essential in markets where they comprise large portions of the available renter pool.
"I'm not one to focus on peoples' differences," Te Kampe said. "I focus on what's similar. I don't care to know how many minorities live in my places, just how many people. But some market trends indicate that by catering to certain types, while keeping in mind fair housing and non-discrimination, you can take advantage of some incredible opportunities in this marketplace."
Communicating in languages other than English can help managers approach potential non-English-speaking residents. Monroe's company reaches out by placing Spanish language advertisements in Latino publications. The company also translates forms and offers its brochures in Spanish at some properties.
Holland's company translates informational signs into Spanish. She suggests making certain the person who translates event notices--such as the scheduled arrival of the exterminator--is familiar with the written as well as the spoken language, and with local idioms.
In addition to creating marketing materials in various languages, leases, applications and some management forms may need to be prepared in other languages to facilitate understanding, Hargrove said. Before translating any materials, it is important to familiarize yourself with any state laws that may apply. In some states, like California, if a contract is negotiated in a language other than English, all subsequent communications are then required to be translated into that language.
To encourage immigrant retention, residents need to be made comfortable with on-site management, Holland said. "Especially when they are dealing with a problem; people feel more comfortable if the person they are talking to speaks their language," she said.
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