Welcome to Senior Housing Unfiltered. I am your host Tod Petty and I will be taking the next 30 minutes to reveal some statistics that will blow you away. You’re not going to want to miss the data I will be sharing today on our show.

Our podcast is being brought to you by Lloyd Jones in beautiful Brickell Bay, Miami, Florida. Lloyd Jones is a world-class real estate investment, development, and management firm with over 40 years’ experience in both the multifamily and senior housing spaces. Visit our website at ljasl.wpengine.com to learn more about our team, our expertise, and your future growth opportunities with us.

I want to talk to you today about the analytics, demographics, and psychographics associated with the baby boomer generation: our new customer in senior housing and how we as a country will not have enough senior housing to serve this generation beginning in the very near future. The United States will not have enough senior housing even if every project in the pipeline is completed and every unit becomes full. We will not have enough housing to serve the baby boomer generation beginning in the year 2030.

Right now as I’m speaking into this microphone, there are 46 million seniors age 65 or older currently living in the United States. By 2030, all baby boomers will be included in this demographic group. Every day, 10,000 people in the United States are turning 65 and older. By 2030, we’ll truly have a massive shortage of appropriate senior housing. Every community, every unit, and every project coming out of the ground right now will be full.

As I said earlier, there is not enough housing coming out of the ground right now to meet the demand of the baby boomers coming online in 2030. That is very exciting from a growth standpoint and creates opportunities for everyone in our industry. The demographics I just cited reveal a wave of unprecedented, un-met demand coming soon. The demand for senior housing is here, but this question still remains: Will the baby boomer generation seek out the traditional existing housing product on every corner in America? The answer is resounding no. The baby boomers will demand a new model to serve them.

I want to share with you a bifurcation of senior housing need that has evolved in the last few years in the senior housing space. By bifurcation, I mean the senior housing needs of the older adult. Their desires and their wants have been dividing quite substantially into two branches, or parts, over the last few years. I want to talk about these two different groups of seniors with two different sets of needs and why the amenities demanded associated with these needs are going to change rapidly. This transition is beginning now and we must be prepared.

First let’s look at the older adult over the age of 85. Here are some salient facts you need to know about this over 85 group. The average weighted age moving into assisted living today is 86.7 years of age, and that is rising by 80 basis points every year. So think next year we’re 87 years of age. And then the next year after we’re at 88 and so on. So every year that goes by, the average age moving into assisted living is increasing by almost a year.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in two adults over the age of 85 have dementia and one in three adults over the age of 85 will experience a positive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. This means that the person moving into assisted living, the average person, is either demented or more likely has Alzheimer’s. The average length of stay has steadily decreased over the last 10 years because seniors are not moving into senior housing until they must. That makes sense.

Usually, the driving factors that cause this are memory loss, co-morbidities, complex medication supervision, or end-of-life care. The average length of stay has also decreased from 24 to 36 months a decade ago to 12 to 24 months today. Why is the length of stay decreasing in assisted living? Because of the following reasons:

1. Baby boomers are waiting to move in at the last minute when they no longer can manage their decline at home. They are actively dying and now need healthcare supportive services.
2. Federal and state regulations are allowing older adults to age in place. So, assisted living now includes complex medication management, diabetic testing, insulin management, two-person assist, and respiratory services delivery. All these things years ago would had to have been done in a skilled nursing setting. The result is a beautiful place to live while you’re receiving healthcare services and assistance with daily living. The regulators do not want residents moving into skilled nursing communities anymore primarily because they don’t want them to become beneficiaries of the state.

The legislators want to keep beneficiaries out of skilled nursing and off the burden of the taxpayers. I can assure you I’ll be moving into assisted living when I need these services, when I need complex medication management, when I need diabetic testing and insulin management, when I’m demented, when I need two-person assist. But I’m not going to move in until I need these services. So, newsflash, baby boomers over 85 are not looking to have a shot of whiskey at 4:00 PM, smoke a cigar and talk about the good old days.

In this setting, where they find themselves in the sunset of their lives, baby boomers are wanting to feel love from the staff. Medication and ADL need attended to. Companionship and connection with others going through their final journey of their lives is needed. The baby boomer wants a safe and secure place when they are declining. Even though we built lots of amenities in the new properties, our new residents are declining and they’re declining more every year.

Our deliverables should be geared to compassionate care, getting the resident their medicine on time, facilitating the reunification of the resident to their families when possible, and creating a team in the community to make the resident comfortable. What I’ve described is the first of two branches, the one of two. The post-COVID-19 assisted living model will be healthcare-focused and less amenity-focused because the needs for the 85-year-old client will be healthcare services. Whoever can deliver the service in a beautiful setting wins the day, that’s why we’re seeing people in beautiful settings not being able to care for the residents.

Now let’s turn our focus on the second branch of the bifurcation of senior needs, which is the under 85 years of age client. As I discussed previously, this big group of seniors under the age of 85 who are not demented are not going to move into the over 85 model under any circumstance until they absolutely must because of cognitive decline. I want to take a few moments to look at the psychographics of the under 85 resident and what they’re looking for and will want or will demand from their new home.

Let’s just recap real shortly here. The over 85-year-old baby boomer will be declining in health. They’ll be demented. They’ll want a beautiful place to live, but they’ll want love, care, safety, security, and assistance with activities of daily living. They’re going to want more of a healthcare model and they’re going to need it. But the under 85 group, they’re not going there because they don’t need it. So, what is this group of people under 85, say 65 to 84, looking for? They’re aware that they’re aging and for the most part they’re very self-aware.

This group wants and will demand a zero-entry pool. They will want to drink at four o’clock in the afternoon at the bar bistro. They’ll want a one or two bedroom with an office to manage their wealth. They will want a connected life. In fact, you are going to have a move-in in the very near future and have a senior version of the Bumble app that will allow them to connect with people. Here’s why: the assisted living model is not the environment the active adult 75-plus person wants to go to because they don’t want a healthcare service model, they want a non-healthcare model.

The divorce rate for people 65 to 75 is skyrocketing. And the baby boomer is looking for something new. When this group was asked in a recent survey why they are now deciding to divorce after so many years, the response was that they never anticipated being married to the same person as long as they have been. The 65 to 75 group is one of the fastest growing groups on Facebook as well. They realize they’re aging, and their near future may be the last opportunity to take one last bite of the apple.

Remember, this is the Woodstock generation, and they want freedom. Between 70 and 80 years of age, many are experiencing the death of a spouse, or are now moving into a community to manage their wealth from the sale of their house, or want to be close to their grandkids, who represent their connection to relevancy. So, the baby boomer senior will want lots of amenities to stay young, be relevant, age successfully if they can, manage their wealth, and connect with someone for one last shot before they enter the sunset of their lives.

The new model of an active adult 55-plus and the new model of independent living will allow a baby boomer resident to age in place and successfully age until and if cognitive decline takes place and the residents’ needs exceed the ability to meet those needs by the third-party healthcare continuum who will become part of this new active adult community or independent living community. If programming is done correctly, as owners we should realize an average length of stay is exceeding eight years or more because of technology and the connection between communities and the third-party healthcare services being offered in the building are, in many cases, the equivalent of assisted living at a lower cost to our clients. 

There are many reasons for that that we won’t cover today. One of those is we have a non-licensed building. Another reason is we don’t have to have a steel building. It could be stick versus steel. Another reason is we don’t have legal regulatory compliance expenses associated with the independent living inactive adult. So there’s a lot of cost-saving development areas that result in a lower rent to the baby boomer client that’s moving in. This will allow them to take remaining disposable income and spend it on the third-party healthcare continuum. 

So, think of bringing a pharmacy to the active adult and providing medication that’s connected to the Wi-Fi that delivers them packaged pre-dosed medication three times a day, or Medicare Part B mental health services that anyone over 65 isn’t eligible for for six weeks, or rehab can be brought in so a tenant can rehab in the active adult space, or even care services that can be paid for by the tenant to a third-party provider. The client can pay their rent and the total amount is going to be less than assisted living.

So, this is a real change that’s coming. These are two different models that the industry needs right now. There’s been a lot of debate on what the new model looks like. Well, I think there’s two new models. There’ll be those that enter into the AL memory care world that will be provided with very good healthcare services in beautiful settings. The baby boomers will have the dollars to spend because they’ll be in the sunset of their lives. There’ll be those that are living longer, have a death of a spouse, they’ll have a divorce, they’ll want to manage their wealth and they’ll move to an independent living or active adult care continuum that will allow them to age in place, successfully age with seniors that are still relevant, still manage their businesses, and still try to make a difference in life.

I am very excited about the prospects of the future and senior housing. Lloyd Jones has several of these models in our pipeline. We’ll be glad to share these projects with you in detail in future podcasts. So until we speak next time, this is Tod Petty with Senior Housing Unfiltered wishing you a very good conclusion to your summer, and we’ll see you at the next podcast in August. Godspeed

Jimmy Carrion:

Welcome again to Senior Housing Unfiltered broadcast. I am excited about today because Tod is going to talk about the Leader’s Greatest Gift. Tod, you said it’s passion, it is commitment, but really it is passionate commitment that matters. I am really excited about this lesson for two reasons. One, Tod is going to add tremendous value to you on the podcast today. And secondly, we believe this program will speak to the leaders and members at a community level, providing leadership for their teams and services to their clients.

Tod Petty:

Hey, Jimmy. And hey, welcome to all the raving fans of Senior Housing Unfiltered. Jimmy, we were talking before the podcast about why we like college sports better than professional sports. And we realized it’s pretty simple, it’s because of the passion that’s experienced in the college sports and not always experienced in professional sports.

Jimmy Carrion:

That is right, Tod. And you know what I have concluded? I think I pick passion over ability. I think I would rather watch someone a little less competent with a lot more passion.

Tod Petty:

So in full disclosure to our audience, Jimmy is setting this up, because in a moment we’re going to talk about a leader’s greatest gift to their people, their organization – and that’s passion and commitment. We’re going to put them together. So let me just flesh this out briefly with you. We’re going to talk a little bit about passion. We’re going to talk a little bit about commitment. And then we’re going to join them and marry them, and see why this combination happens to be the leader’s greatest gift.

So let’s talk about passion first. Jimmy, let me give you and the audience some statements about passion. So number one, followers need passionate leaders. It is a need for those who follow to have a leader who has passion in his or her life. Now get this, I love this. People are instructed by reason, but they are inspired by passion. I’m going to say that one more time. This is so important. People are instructed and directed by reason, but they are inspired by passion. The listeners of our podcast and raving fans of our social media content, they’re all passionate leaders, or they wouldn’t be listening to us. And that’s why they’re listening to us and wanting to grow. So real important.

Now point number two, passion is the birthplace of all dreams. You could say it another way, Jimmy. Passion is the incubator of all dreams. Your dreams that you have, of your life, what you want to accomplish, where you want to go. It comes from one place. You track it back. It comes from your passion. It’s an internal thing. It’s inside you. No passion? No dreams. I challenge you, if someone has no passion, they probably don’t have any dreams. So we have to help them get passion. So think about this and let it soak in. Where does a dream become birthed? It’s from your passion.

Jimmy Carrion:

Wow, Tod. You’re always saying passion turns the dreamer into a doer. When I see a person that has a dream and never accomplished anything, you know what? I know they do not have the fuel in their car. They are not going anywhere, because the fuel is passion. It is passion that causes you to get up, sacrifice, and pay the price and do what others are unwilling to do. That’s great, right there. What others are unwilling to do. It is passion that almost always separates the person who accomplishes something from the one who doesn’t. It is the birthplace of the dream.

Tod Petty:

Right on, Jimmy. That’s good.

Jimmy Carrion:

Now remind me, Tod, there is a quote that our chairman said all last year during the pandemic and I have it on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t quite remember it.

Tod Petty:

On passion?

Jimmy Carrion:

On passion, yes.

Tod Petty:

Yeah. Hold on a second. I’ve got it on my phone here. I file everything. So yes. So he said passion is an internal motivation to keep us going when the external rewards drop out of sight. He was talking about 2020 and talking about the pandemic. He said, when you can’t see the goal, then passion keeps you going. It kind of reminded me, when I first heard it, of the instrument rated pilot, right? Because an instrument rated pilot, to be instrument rated, has to get in the plane so that when he cannot see, he can just run that plane by the controls in the airplane and land the plane safely and get to the destination. And when you can’t see the big picture because of a pandemic, your passion will continue to fuel you and keep you going in a time of distress.

Jimmy Carrion:

Absolutely. Absolutely. And as you can tell, we have a lot of passion and can talk about passionate in our podcasts for hours. But Tod, we need to now take a moment and talk about the commitment portion.

Tod Petty:

Yes, commitment. So let me say this first, before we get into the commitment, Jimmy. You remember, and to share this with the audience, you remember when we were at an intersection in downtown Columbia, South Carolina last year, I think it was November of 2020. And we were touring a variety of communities. It was a portfolio of communities that were for sale that we were looking at. And we were in Columbia, South Carolina, and we were sitting there and we noticed while we’re standing at the intersection, there was a homeless man, I guess he was homeless. A homeless guy, not dressed certainly very well. And there was a group of people yelling at him because he was crossing the street in the middle of downtown Columbia with a “no crossing” lamp flashing. And they’re like, “what an idiot,” they were saying to this guy. “Get out of the road.” What are you doing going down across the road, obviously there’s a “no crossing” lamp.

And so we were sitting there chatting and admiring beautiful Columbia, South Carolina. And then there was a different group and they were all crossing the street and we noticed the lamp is flashing “no crossing.” The difference is that there’s this well-dressed man, he’s in an Armani suit, he’s got a Rolex watch, you could see the Montblanc pen in his pocket. And he was crossing with the same “no crossing” lamp flashing. But now I guess it was okay to cross the road because they were all crossing and following the guy. It just shows you how different things influence people. How fickle human beings are. And they’re not really committed to anything.

Jimmy Carrion:

Absolutely. I remember watching this, Tod, and I remember we saw this and we both kind of just laughed and commented on how true this is to human nature. Most people lack commitment, energy, and just follow what the crowd is doing. Just like at a sporting event, right?

Tod Petty:

Yeah, we were talking about it earlier as well. You and I both talked about being at sporting events. I’ve been at speaker events. I’ve been at churches where we’re lined up to go inside the building and one door is open. And everybody’s in this long line to get in and there’s 10 doors, only one door opening, everybody’s waiting. And the other nine doors are open. They’re not open. Someone just has to go and open them. But the crowd is following the person in front of them with no passion, just drones doing what the other person doing, having no idea if it’s right or wrong.

Jimmy Carrion:

And most people just wait until another person takes the leadership and opens the other door. And then what happens? They just follow them, too.

Tod Petty:

Right? And what’s the worst scenario? You go up and the door’s locked and then you get back in line. But you know, I admire that guy or that lady because they have passion.

Jimmy Carrion:

Absolutely.

Tod Petty:

Let’s talk now about commitment. Let me read you a paragraph from a book of Michaelangelo. This is great. Whose career as a sculptor and a painter was not handed to him on a silver platter. He had to earn it. So listen to these words, let me read this. “Although he (meaning Michaelangelo) possessed great talent, his accomplishments and fame came only after he invested himself to the point of physical exhaustion.” Now, remember we’re talking about commitment. Passion is great. It’s a great elixir. But you’ve got to have commitment. “Michaelangelo spent years laying flat on his back, from a scaffold, painting, when he was painting the Sistine Chapel. By the time he completed this magnificent project, he was virtually blind from the paint that had dripped into his eyes.”

Jimmy Carrion:

That’s amazing. Now that’s commitment.

Tod Petty:

And because of that, Michaelangelo was willing to invest himself. His creations have been admired for now more than four centuries. This is a great example of a leader with commitment and passion, having this combination to accomplish what he did. This is the greatest gift a leader can possess to give others.

Jimmy Carrion:

That’s a good point. Let me just circle back to what you just said. Commitment with passion. So both must be linked together, correct?

Tod Petty:

Yeah. Jimmy. Here’s why I link them together. Commitment without passion is focus without fuel. Let me say that again. Commitment without passion is focus without fuel. Isn’t that true?

Jimmy Carrion:

That’s so true.

Tod Petty:

And passion without any commitment is a heart without a backbone. Don’t you see you have to have both? Commitment and passion will allow you to become a leader. Both of them. Why? Because commitment with passion has influence value. Standing alone by themselves, there’s some value, but there’s leadership value when you combine the two. Now we teach in our organization and when we’re on the road and we’re with other groups, borrowing it from John Maxwell, who’s the greatest leadership management consultant in the world, in my mind. Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less. And everything rises and falls on leadership.

If we want to increase our influence, we have to only increase our passion. Passionate people influence us. Think about that. Passionate people draw us to them. I’m drawn to people that are smart, but not as much as passionate people. Passionate people influence us, we’re drawn to them. I have known people with passion who had views I didn’t even agree with. But I sensed myself drawn to them, something inside of me, emotionally drawn to them because I loved their conviction. I loved their passion. I loved their fire. I loved their belief in what they were saying. I loved that emotional quality that drew them to me magnetically.

Jimmy Carrion:

Yeah, so why is passionate commitment a leader’s greatest gift? What makes a leader full of passion and full of commitment a great gift to society and a great gift for the people he or she leads?

Tod Petty:

Okay, here we go. So number one, passionate commitment is the foundation of every great movement, every great organization, every great trend, every great political movement. It’s all about passionate commitment. There’s a gentleman I’ve studied in the past, going back to my college days, who said this, Isaac Burl once said, nothing of weight or worth can be achieved with half a mind, a faint heart and with a lame endeavor. How many of you know people coming to your mind as we’re speaking of this? Half of a mind, a faint heart and a lame endeavor. Do you think of them accomplishing anything? Changing any of them? Being the catalyst for change? Passionate commitment is an absolute foundation for every great movement. You’ve never found a movement begin, an organization begin, without it.

So number two, I would say passionate commitment is the making also of every great leader. That’s why we must possess it. That’s why we have to nurture it and find ways like we’re speaking of today of how we can get it. How are you going to get it in 2021, after going through 2020? When 2020 tried to beat it out of you? What I’m trying to say is that this is the ingredient of making a great man, a great woman, a great organization, a great industry, a great movement. You don’t create organizations with apathy. You do not build a great people with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. Passionate commitment, you see in it the lives of every great leader.

What does passionate commitment do for you? It’s very simple. When you have it inside you and you face a problem, the first emotion, thought, reality you feel about, is how can I fix it? Passionate commitment you see it in the lives of every great leader. What does passionate commitment do for you? What does it do inside of you? It’s very simple. When you have it inside of you and you have a problem you face, you ask yourself how can I fix it? When you don’t have it and you face a problem. You’re asking, how can I get out of it?

Jimmy Carrion:

That’s good. And you know, I must confess to the audience and Tod, we’ve talked very openly about this. We did not have this passion when we were younger. We bummed around, hung out with our friends, went to parties.

Tod Petty:

Yeah. And still got good grades. You’re right, we didn’t have passionate commitment. But we’ve talked about this and not sure where it happened, but somewhere down the line, we went through a process internally in our growth process and a realization that we need to change. If I’m going to be successful. If I want to grow. If I want to make a difference in other people’s lives. I want to bring value to them. I want to be a good husband, a good leader for my team. I want to go where other people are not going. I want to change up an industry stuck in ancient cultures. And I came to a place that we knew, both of us, at some point we had to make passionate commitment part of our lives. So today that passion fills us with fire. It fills our minds with resolve, commitment, and we’re going to make a difference in people’s lives. We’re going to serve them. And we’re going to lead this industry out from the past. Many cases stuck in ancient cultures.

Jimmy Carrion:

Absolutely. And I think once I started to immerse myself and started reading books about great leaders, podcasts, articles, and I saw this quality. I just realized I needed passionate commitment in my life and I was just cured.

Tod Petty:

Yes. And that’s why we want to help people. We want to stay cured and we want to help people get for cured. I’m not trying to be mystical about this, but the bottom line is, whatever you want to call this, what we’re identifying as passion and commitment. When this quality gets in your life, it begins to get in the lives of others. It’s contagious. It rubs off on them. So I know there’s some listeners in this podcast might be saying, well, you know, I’m just easy going. I’m not really engaged about anything in life. And yes, we’re trying to get you cured. I want you to know you can get cured too. The happiest person in life they love what they’re doing. And they love it so much and keep doing it, that it becomes their passion. The happiest person in life is the one who believes in what they’re doing and they keep doing it until it becomes a commitment in their life. And then that commitment of passion and commitment over spills to others and leads them to great places they would otherwise have not gone.

Jimmy Carrion:

Man, Tod, Senior Housing Unfiltered is on fire.

Tod Petty:

Listen, the message we want to get out to all of our friends and fans and partners and team members and future clients is that it’s not 2020 that is defining us. It’s not the current conditions in senior housing or in the real estate industry. It’s none of that. What conditions us is the future conditions, because what we commit ourselves to determines who we are. What we think about, we will become, more than anything that has ever happened to us yesterday or the day before or the past. It is what we commit to in the future that changes us. Not the past.

I want to ask a simple question to myself, to Jimmy, and to those that are listening to us. What are your commitments? Where are you going in 2021? What are you going to be? You show me somebody who has not decided yet and I’ll show you someone who has no identity, no personality and no direction. Jimmy, Lloyd Jones, you and I are committed to going. We are passionate about bringing value to other people and making a difference in their lives. And we’re committed to growing in new areas of opportunity in 2021.

Jimmy Carrion:

Thank you everyone for joining us today. Next month, we have a very special guest. I can’t tell you who it is, but you will thoroughly enjoy it. And Tod, can you tell us a little bit about what we have coming up?

Tod Petty:

We’re going to talk about, we’re launching, what we’re calling Successful Aging. This is luxury healthcare that really I haven’t seen before. We believe it’s time for healthcare to take its preeminent spot in the future of senior housing. It’s been marginalized. It’s been commoditized. It’s taken a second place and we reaped the consequences of it in senior housing, not being prepared to take care of residents in the middle of a pandemic.

So there’s components to this that we’re launching here with all of our partners. And we’re going to have a guest on that is doing some remarkable things that I would say is one of the architects of this Successful Aging module we’re going to introduce. And of course, Chris Finlay gets great credit for it. I’ve been working with our chairman for a year, he’s been thinking about this, dreaming about it, and being passionate about it and is committed to it. In spite of everything, committed to it, over the last two years. So we’ll let you know next on LinkedIn, who it’s going to be, and we look forward to hearing you next time on Senior Housing Unfiltered. Thank you. God speed.

Jimmy Carrion:

Welcome again to Senior Housing Unfiltered broadcast. I am excited about today because Tod is going to talk about the Leader’s Greatest Gift. Tod, you said it’s passion, it is commitment, but really it is passionate commitment that matters. I am really excited about this lesson for two reasons. One, Tod is going to add tremendous value to you on the podcast today. And secondly, we believe this program will speak to the leaders and members at a community level, providing leadership for their teams and services to their clients.

Tod Petty:

Hey, Jimmy. And hey, welcome to all the raving fans of Senior Housing Unfiltered. Jimmy, we were talking before the podcast about why we like college sports better than professional sports. And we realized it’s pretty simple, it’s because of the passion that’s experienced in the college sports and not always experienced in professional sports.

Jimmy Carrion:

That is right, Tod. And you know what I have concluded? I think I pick passion over ability. I think I would rather watch someone a little less competent with a lot more passion.

Tod Petty:

So in full disclosure to our audience, Jimmy is setting this up, because in a moment we’re going to talk about a leader’s greatest gift to their people, their organization – and that’s passion and commitment. We’re going to put them together. So let me just flesh this out briefly with you. We’re going to talk a little bit about passion. We’re going to talk a little bit about commitment. And then we’re going to join them and marry them, and see why this combination happens to be the leader’s greatest gift.

So let’s talk about passion first. Jimmy, let me give you and the audience some statements about passion. So number one, followers need passionate leaders. It is a need for those who follow to have a leader who has passion in his or her life. Now get this, I love this. People are instructed by reason, but they are inspired by passion. I’m going to say that one more time. This is so important. People are instructed and directed by reason, but they are inspired by passion. The listeners of our podcast and raving fans of our social media content, they’re all passionate leaders, or they wouldn’t be listening to us. And that’s why they’re listening to us and wanting to grow. So real important.

Now point number two, passion is the birthplace of all dreams. You could say it another way, Jimmy. Passion is the incubator of all dreams. Your dreams that you have, of your life, what you want to accomplish, where you want to go. It comes from one place. You track it back. It comes from your passion. It’s an internal thing. It’s inside you. No passion? No dreams. I challenge you, if someone has no passion, they probably don’t have any dreams. So we have to help them get passion. So think about this and let it soak in. Where does a dream become birthed? It’s from your passion.

Jimmy Carrion:

Wow, Tod. You’re always saying passion turns the dreamer into a doer. When I see a person that has a dream and never accomplished anything, you know what? I know they do not have the fuel in their car. They are not going anywhere, because the fuel is passion. It is passion that causes you to get up, sacrifice, and pay the price and do what others are unwilling to do. That’s great, right there. What others are unwilling to do. It is passion that almost always separates the person who accomplishes something from the one who doesn’t. It is the birthplace of the dream.

Tod Petty:

Right on, Jimmy. That’s good.

Jimmy Carrion:

Now remind me, Tod, there is a quote that our chairman said all last year during the pandemic and I have it on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t quite remember it.

Tod Petty:

On passion?

Jimmy Carrion:

On passion, yes.

Tod Petty:

Yeah. Hold on a second. I’ve got it on my phone here. I file everything. So yes. So he said passion is an internal motivation to keep us going when the external rewards drop out of sight. He was talking about 2020 and talking about the pandemic. He said, when you can’t see the goal, then passion keeps you going. It kind of reminded me, when I first heard it, of the instrument rated pilot, right? Because an instrument rated pilot, to be instrument rated, has to get in the plane so that when he cannot see, he can just run that plane by the controls in the airplane and land the plane safely and get to the destination. And when you can’t see the big picture because of a pandemic, your passion will continue to fuel you and keep you going in a time of distress.

Jimmy Carrion:

Absolutely. Absolutely. And as you can tell, we have a lot of passion and can talk about passionate in our podcasts for hours. But Tod, we need to now take a moment and talk about the commitment portion.

Tod Petty:

Yes, commitment. So let me say this first, before we get into the commitment, Jimmy. You remember, and to share this with the audience, you remember when we were at an intersection in downtown Columbia, South Carolina last year, I think it was November of 2020. And we were touring a variety of communities. It was a portfolio of communities that were for sale that we were looking at. And we were in Columbia, South Carolina, and we were sitting there and we noticed while we’re standing at the intersection, there was a homeless man, I guess he was homeless. A homeless guy, not dressed certainly very well. And there was a group of people yelling at him because he was crossing the street in the middle of downtown Columbia with a “no crossing” lamp flashing. And they’re like, “what an idiot,” they were saying to this guy. “Get out of the road.” What are you doing going down across the road, obviously there’s a “no crossing” lamp.

And so we were sitting there chatting and admiring beautiful Columbia, South Carolina. And then there was a different group and they were all crossing the street and we noticed the lamp is flashing “no crossing.” The difference is that there’s this well-dressed man, he’s in an Armani suit, he’s got a Rolex watch, you could see the Montblanc pen in his pocket. And he was crossing with the same “no crossing” lamp flashing. But now I guess it was okay to cross the road because they were all crossing and following the guy. It just shows you how different things influence people. How fickle human beings are. And they’re not really committed to anything.

Jimmy Carrion:

Absolutely. I remember watching this, Tod, and I remember we saw this and we both kind of just laughed and commented on how true this is to human nature. Most people lack commitment, energy, and just follow what the crowd is doing. Just like at a sporting event, right?

Tod Petty:

Yeah, we were talking about it earlier as well. You and I both talked about being at sporting events. I’ve been at speaker events. I’ve been at churches where we’re lined up to go inside the building and one door is open. And everybody’s in this long line to get in and there’s 10 doors, only one door opening, everybody’s waiting. And the other nine doors are open. They’re not open. Someone just has to go and open them. But the crowd is following the person in front of them with no passion, just drones doing what the other person doing, having no idea if it’s right or wrong.

Jimmy Carrion:

And most people just wait until another person takes the leadership and opens the other door. And then what happens? They just follow them, too.

Tod Petty:

Right? And what’s the worst scenario? You go up and the door’s locked and then you get back in line. But you know, I admire that guy or that lady because they have passion.

Jimmy Carrion:

Absolutely.

Tod Petty:

Let’s talk now about commitment. Let me read you a paragraph from a book of Michaelangelo. This is great. Whose career as a sculptor and a painter was not handed to him on a silver platter. He had to earn it. So listen to these words, let me read this. “Although he (meaning Michaelangelo) possessed great talent, his accomplishments and fame came only after he invested himself to the point of physical exhaustion.” Now, remember we’re talking about commitment. Passion is great. It’s a great elixir. But you’ve got to have commitment. “Michaelangelo spent years laying flat on his back, from a scaffold, painting, when he was painting the Sistine Chapel. By the time he completed this magnificent project, he was virtually blind from the paint that had dripped into his eyes.”

Jimmy Carrion:

That’s amazing. Now that’s commitment.

Tod Petty:

And because of that, Michaelangelo was willing to invest himself. His creations have been admired for now more than four centuries. This is a great example of a leader with commitment and passion, having this combination to accomplish what he did. This is the greatest gift a leader can possess to give others.

Jimmy Carrion:

That’s a good point. Let me just circle back to what you just said. Commitment with passion. So both must be linked together, correct?

Tod Petty:

Yeah. Jimmy. Here’s why I link them together. Commitment without passion is focus without fuel. Let me say that again. Commitment without passion is focus without fuel. Isn’t that true?

Jimmy Carrion:

That’s so true.

Tod Petty:

And passion without any commitment is a heart without a backbone. Don’t you see you have to have both? Commitment and passion will allow you to become a leader. Both of them. Why? Because commitment with passion has influence value. Standing alone by themselves, there’s some value, but there’s leadership value when you combine the two. Now we teach in our organization and when we’re on the road and we’re with other groups, borrowing it from John Maxwell, who’s the greatest leadership management consultant in the world, in my mind. Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less. And everything rises and falls on leadership.

If we want to increase our influence, we have to only increase our passion. Passionate people influence us. Think about that. Passionate people draw us to them. I’m drawn to people that are smart, but not as much as passionate people. Passionate people influence us, we’re drawn to them. I have known people with passion who had views I didn’t even agree with. But I sensed myself drawn to them, something inside of me, emotionally drawn to them because I loved their conviction. I loved their passion. I loved their fire. I loved their belief in what they were saying. I loved that emotional quality that drew them to me magnetically.

Jimmy Carrion:

Yeah, so why is passionate commitment a leader’s greatest gift? What makes a leader full of passion and full of commitment a great gift to society and a great gift for the people he or she leads?

Tod Petty:

Okay, here we go. So number one, passionate commitment is the foundation of every great movement, every great organization, every great trend, every great political movement. It’s all about passionate commitment. There’s a gentleman I’ve studied in the past, going back to my college days, who said this, Isaac Burl once said, nothing of weight or worth can be achieved with half a mind, a faint heart and with a lame endeavor. How many of you know people coming to your mind as we’re speaking of this? Half of a mind, a faint heart and a lame endeavor. Do you think of them accomplishing anything? Changing any of them? Being the catalyst for change? Passionate commitment is an absolute foundation for every great movement. You’ve never found a movement begin, an organization begin, without it.

So number two, I would say passionate commitment is the making also of every great leader. That’s why we must possess it. That’s why we have to nurture it and find ways like we’re speaking of today of how we can get it. How are you going to get it in 2021, after going through 2020? When 2020 tried to beat it out of you? What I’m trying to say is that this is the ingredient of making a great man, a great woman, a great organization, a great industry, a great movement. You don’t create organizations with apathy. You do not build a great people with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. Passionate commitment, you see in it the lives of every great leader.

What does passionate commitment do for you? It’s very simple. When you have it inside you and you face a problem, the first emotion, thought, reality you feel about, is how can I fix it? Passionate commitment you see it in the lives of every great leader. What does passionate commitment do for you? What does it do inside of you? It’s very simple. When you have it inside of you and you have a problem you face, you ask yourself how can I fix it? When you don’t have it and you face a problem. You’re asking, how can I get out of it?

Jimmy Carrion:

That’s good. And you know, I must confess to the audience and Tod, we’ve talked very openly about this. We did not have this passion when we were younger. We bummed around, hung out with our friends, went to parties.

Tod Petty:

Yeah. And still got good grades. You’re right, we didn’t have passionate commitment. But we’ve talked about this and not sure where it happened, but somewhere down the line, we went through a process internally in our growth process and a realization that we need to change. If I’m going to be successful. If I want to grow. If I want to make a difference in other people’s lives. I want to bring value to them. I want to be a good husband, a good leader for my team. I want to go where other people are not going. I want to change up an industry stuck in ancient cultures. And I came to a place that we knew, both of us, at some point we had to make passionate commitment part of our lives. So today that passion fills us with fire. It fills our minds with resolve, commitment, and we’re going to make a difference in people’s lives. We’re going to serve them. And we’re going to lead this industry out from the past. Many cases stuck in ancient cultures.

Jimmy Carrion:

Absolutely. And I think once I started to immerse myself and started reading books about great leaders, podcasts, articles, and I saw this quality. I just realized I needed passionate commitment in my life and I was just cured.

Tod Petty:

Yes. And that’s why we want to help people. We want to stay cured and we want to help people get for cured. I’m not trying to be mystical about this, but the bottom line is, whatever you want to call this, what we’re identifying as passion and commitment. When this quality gets in your life, it begins to get in the lives of others. It’s contagious. It rubs off on them. So I know there’s some listeners in this podcast might be saying, well, you know, I’m just easy going. I’m not really engaged about anything in life. And yes, we’re trying to get you cured. I want you to know you can get cured too. The happiest person in life they love what they’re doing. And they love it so much and keep doing it, that it becomes their passion. The happiest person in life is the one who believes in what they’re doing and they keep doing it until it becomes a commitment in their life. And then that commitment of passion and commitment over spills to others and leads them to great places they would otherwise have not gone.

Jimmy Carrion:

Man, Tod, Senior Housing Unfiltered is on fire.

Tod Petty:

Listen, the message we want to get out to all of our friends and fans and partners and team members and future clients is that it’s not 2020 that is defining us. It’s not the current conditions in senior housing or in the real estate industry. It’s none of that. What conditions us is the future conditions, because what we commit ourselves to determines who we are. What we think about, we will become, more than anything that has ever happened to us yesterday or the day before or the past. It is what we commit to in the future that changes us. Not the past.

I want to ask a simple question to myself, to Jimmy, and to those that are listening to us. What are your commitments? Where are you going in 2021? What are you going to be? You show me somebody who has not decided yet and I’ll show you someone who has no identity, no personality and no direction. Jimmy, Lloyd Jones, you and I are committed to going. We are passionate about bringing value to other people and making a difference in their lives. And we’re committed to growing in new areas of opportunity in 2021.

Jimmy Carrion:

Thank you everyone for joining us today. Next month, we have a very special guest. I can’t tell you who it is, but you will thoroughly enjoy it. And Tod, can you tell us a little bit about what we have coming up?

Tod Petty:

We’re going to talk about, we’re launching, what we’re calling Successful Aging. This is luxury healthcare that really I haven’t seen before. We believe it’s time for healthcare to take its preeminent spot in the future of senior housing. It’s been marginalized. It’s been commoditized. It’s taken a second place and we reaped the consequences of it in senior housing, not being prepared to take care of residents in the middle of a pandemic.

So there’s components to this that we’re launching here with all of our partners. And we’re going to have a guest on that is doing some remarkable things that I would say is one of the architects of this Successful Aging module we’re going to introduce. And of course, Chris Finlay gets great credit for it. I’ve been working with our chairman for a year, he’s been thinking about this, dreaming about it, and being passionate about it and is committed to it. In spite of everything, committed to it, over the last two years. So we’ll let you know next on LinkedIn, who it’s going to be, and we look forward to hearing you next time on Senior Housing Unfiltered. Thank you. God speed.

Although the divorce rate in the U.S. is on the decline, among those 50 and older, the rate has doubled since 1990, based on data from the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green University.[i] This study revealed that one of out of every four people going through a divorce is 50 or older, and more than half of these divorces are couples that have been married for more than 20 years.[ii]  Gray divorce is the term used to refer to the these later-in-life divorces.

While divorce can be difficult at any age, it’s especially challenging for people over 50, with emotional, financial and health implications, especially for women.

Norma Perez, PhD, is a psychologist in Lakeway, a suburb of Austin, TX, whose practice includes divorce support for seniors. She attributes the rise in divorce rate among seniors to both the shift in the attitudes toward divorce as well as the rise in women’s empowerment. “There’s no longer the stigma attached to divorce, and women are recognizing that they have a voice,” said Perez. “They are more confident of their ability to live independently and design a life that’s better for them.”[iii]

Finding a new life at senior living communities

“Post-divorce, it’s both a matter of grieving the loss of the life they had, and how to rebuild a new life,” said Perez. “Women are afraid of losing their friends as a result of the divorce.” But, she says, senior living communities offer a solution.  “One of the aspects I most like about senior living communities is that they provide an instant social network of peers with generationally similar life experiences. There’s also the opportunity to diversify your interests. Active adult communities make it easier to broaden your horizons, and meet new people through organized activities, and groups for tennis, cards or crafting.”

Choosing a rental community can be a smart financial decision for a gray divorcee. By selling her home, she can free up the equity, giving her more financial freedom, and making it easier to control expenses. Mortgage payments, property taxes, and homeowners insurance are all eliminated, along with the expense of maintaining of a larger home.

Senior rental housing also gives her the flexibility to move closer to adult children, or to try out a different city to begin this new phase of life.

From an emotional standpoint, leaving behind the family home to begin anew can be very freeing.  “It’s an opportunity for a fresh start in a vibrant, engaging community designed for successful aging in place,” said Tod Petty, executive vice president of Lloyd Jones Senior Living. “Our AVIVA-branded rental communities offer a built-in network of friends, social activities and wellness services.”

Seniors who divorce often find themselves without the support system they had counted on: a spouse to care for them in their old age, and a circle of friends that they had as a married couple. One of the biggest health concerns of gray divorce is isolation, which many studies have linked to a greater risk for higher levels of depression, higher blood pressure, weight gain and chronic diseases.[iv]

So, a very important benefit of senior-living rental communities is the camaraderie of peers, and a fun, active social environment with planned activities—helping to avoid the isolation that often comes with gray divorce.

Petty adds, “We’ve designed our AVIVA communities to encourage engagement. The clubhouse is the social hub of the community, which includes a resort-style pool, fitness center, bistro, multipurpose rooms for activities, and social lounges. Plus, healthcare services are available if they are ever needed.”

For those going through a divorce later in life, creating a strong foundation and clear expectations about the future is the first step to reinventing oneself, and active adult communities can be just the place to begin anew.

To learn more about AVIVA senior living rental communities, visit

https://www.ljasl.wpengine.com/divisions/aviva-55-by-lloyd-jones/

_____

[i]     https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/allred-gray-divorce-rate-geo-var-2017-fp-19-20.html

[ii]    https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/spangler-brown-lin-hammersmith-wright-divorce-fp-15-09.html

[iii]   https://mindbodylifeconnection.com/

[iv]   https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/personal-finance/2019/07/22/personal-finance-divorce-fifty-devastating/39705307/

Most people envision living out retirement years in a home with a paid off mortgage, or downsizing to buy a smaller home. In fact, close to 80 percent of people 65 and older own their own homes. However, a growing number of retirees are reimagining the traditional retirement model. Renter households over 60 have increased considerably—growing 43 percent over the past decade, outpacing owner households and growing faster than other age groups, according to RentCafe. For those retirees who decide they no longer need the space or the upkeep that comes with a large home, renting makes sense from both a financial and lifestyle perspective.

For retirees who decide to sell their home and move into an active adult or independent-living rental community, there are myriad financial benefits. Mortgage payments, property taxes, and ever-rising homeowners insurance rates are all eliminated, along with the sometimes unpredictable repair expenses that come with a larger home. By selling their home, seniors can use the equity to better manage their retirement financially, freeing up funds for investment, travel and future healthcare expenses.

Moving into a rental home or apartment also means fewer estate headaches. Children often disagree over what do with a parent’s house after their death: one might want to move in, while another may want to sell. And selling the family home can be an emotional and complicated process for heirs. The move to a rental community gives retirees an incentive to downsize, declutter and give away family heirlooms and other cherished possessions now, leaving fewer decisions for children and grandchildren to make later on.

Renting can also be a less costly, more convenient lifestyle, giving retirees the freedom to try out new towns, and move closer to children or grandchildren. With a rental home, all the maintenance chores—from lawn care to raking leaves to exterior painting—are now handled by the property management team. And of course, there are the amenities that many active-adult and independent-living complexes offer—from resort-style clubhouses and swimming pools to fitness centers, walking trails, and a full calendar of social events.

Retirees should think long-term when deciding to rent or own in retirement, and talk with their financial advisor to determine the best strategy. Weighing factors like the impact on retirement savings and spending, investment returns, and home appreciation will help determine the best course of action.

10,000 baby boomers are retiring daily. Similar to the previous generation, baby boomers will be downsizing and seeking a new style of living, but their preferences will be extraordinarily different than that of their predecessors.

4 key areas will shape the way in which baby boomers will retire:

1. Technology: contrary to the generations before, baby boomers have access to modern technology that will influence how they spend their retirement. Wearables, home devices like Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s Echo, and  tablets are helping seniors stay connected while improving their lives.

2. Well-being: fitness regimes and nutritious lifestyles are growing trends that are desired by seniors. Facilities that incorporate classes and offer a means to stay fit and healthy will help slow down aging and be more sought after as a result.

3. Personalized care: another way in which the baby boomers will be differentiated from the generations before will be the ways in which they are cared for. The boomers will expect personalized care and concierge style services to meet their needs, and they will not tolerate the condescending way in which many have been treated in senior living facilities.

4. Community: According to the Pew Research Center, the number of adults living alone has been steadily declining since 1990.  PRC also states that older adults who live alone are less likely to be financially comfortable, have contact with friends or family, and spend time on hobbies (see sample chart below). Given these statistics, it is more important than ever that senior living offer a community-based lifestyle to keep older adults vibrant, happy, and engaged.

Throughout recent history, a mark of American status was the spacious home with the plush yard and picket fence. Young couples and growing families strove for this style of living to exemplify their status and enjoy what may be perceived as the American dream.Today, the home with the picket fence is no longer a goal for many. Most millenials and the new era of young families are opting for flexibility, mobility, maintenance-free lifestyle which can be found in multifamily. As mentioned in last week’s blog, We are living in a rental economy, 82% of renters affirmed that renting is the affordable option, and this trend is only growing.

Earlier this year, the WSJ confirmed in their article A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses that “Large, high-end homes across the Sunbelt are sitting on the market, enduring deep price cuts to sell.” The same homes that were once sought after as a status symbol are no longer regarded as such. The article goes on to state that “Now, many boomers are discovering that these large, high-maintenance houses no longer fit their needs as they grow older, but younger people aren’t buying them.”

According to Fannie Mae’s report, The Coming Exodus of Older Homeowners, boomers’ homeownership is projected to decrease by nearly 30 million over the next couple of decades (see chart below). Across all demographics, we are witnessing a shift toward more practical living, multifamily. 

The senior housing industry is in the midst of a big disruption.  Occupancy in assisted living hit a record low in the first quarter of 2018 – and continues to fall. There could be numerous reasons for this, including a bad flu season, but I think there’s something bigger going on.

At a recent conference I attended, one of the speakers addressed this subject.   He suggested that two major influencers are driving the disruption.

1. Labor shortage. A labor shortage is anticipated for high-intensity facilities such as assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing facilities. The average wage for a CNA (certified nursing assistant) is currently $11 per hour.  Soon, the speaker projects,  it will be $15. This will cause an 8% drop in NOI which translates to a 27% decline in asset value!  Or, more likely, rents will rise, and such facilities will become even less affordable.
2. Technology. And this is where it gets cool! Technology is focusing on aging-in-place, allowing seniors to avoid institutional facilities longer. The speaker shared that aging-in-place technology will become a $7 trillion economy. Venture capital is investing 10:1 on technology versus operational improvements.

So how does this affect you and me?
It means we can age in place almost anywhere.  The secret is in choosing the place. If we live long enough, each of us will need assistance at some point, (although most of us refuse to admit it).  But technology will allow us to live wherever we choose with on-demand assistance as necessary.

Even today, technology is available to get us what we need, when we need it: a voice activated communications system connected with family or emergency-response team;  a sensor to monitor activities and detect irregularities;  a wrist band connected to an AI platform that alerts the doctor if anything is out of kilter;  apps to remind us to take our pills; apps to call a ride; apps to order meals; apps to request assistance with dressing or bathing; apps for help hanging pictures or rearranging furniture.

And that’s today.  Just wait until that $7 trillion investment is realized!
I project the future of senior housing will be focused on the independent-living model with limited services – which will be offered a-la-carte.  Technology will replace the need for personal assistance. We will not need (nor can most of us afford) the full staff that comes with assisted-living facilities. With this exciting new technology, we will remain independent much longer as we age in place.

But aging-in-place doesn’t mean staying in your four-bedroom colonial with stairs, narrow doorways, and slippery bathtubs.  Forward-thinking baby boomers are eschewing their large family homesteads that require constant up-keep and high taxes for luxury apartment living.  Here, they can age in place, but in a place with more amenities, more fitness activities, more social involvement, and more companionship.  And that socialization is very important.  Studies show that social isolation increases the risk of death by 30%;  some show it as high as 60%!

Assisted living and memory care facilities, of course, will still be needed, but they will have a much higher cost and be even less affordable to the average senior.  That said, senior housing still ranks as the most attractive property class for investment according to a recent survey of commercial real estate owners, managers, developers, and lenders.

So, we will age, in place, independently, and wherever we want. And I suspect most of us will choose an independent-living community surrounded by like-minded, active, involved friends – and cool technology!

Christopher Finlay  is Chairman/CEO of Lloyd Jones, a real estate investment firm that specializes in the multifamily and senior housing sectors. Based in Miami, the firm acquires, develops, improves, and operates multifamily and senior housing communities in growth markets throughout Texas, Florida, and the Southeast.  The firm’s investment partners include institutions, family offices, and individual accredited investors.

In reviewing 2015, I am reminded of the issues that dominated multifamily investment discussion.

Let’s start with the funds. Blackstone Group LP, the world’s biggest alternative-asset manager, has collected $15.8 billion for its global real estate fund. As of June, 2015, it was overseeing $93 billion in real estate assets. Goldman Sachs is oversubscribed for its $5.3 billion real estate fund. (bloomberg.com/news.)

What does this mean? These are smart people – and they have chosen real estate as their investment class. We all know that real estate provides a stable diversification to the volatility of the equity markets, and it has outperformed those markets for many, many years. But the enormity of these funds is concrete affirmation of its global favor.

Then consider the Millennials: 25 million classic apartment renters are still living at home. And it will be a while before they can afford—or want –to purchase a home: student debt; flexibility to move for job opportunities; later marriages and children, etc. And recently FHA has ruled that potential home buyers who carry student debt will have to include that debt (even deferred) in their debt-to-income calculations. So it will be even harder to qualify for a mortgage. They (25 million) will need rental housing. That’s a lot of apartments.

And the Baby Boomers (born between mid-40s and mid-60s) are also looking to rent. There will be 76 million baby boomers retiring en masse in coming years. Some reports anticipate that in the next fifteen years, renters 65 and older will grow in number to 12.2 million. (Gloria Stilwell, Bloomberg News) Other reports suggest that Boomers may be slower to downsize as the housing bubble peaks, but add that this situation is temporary. Boomers currently occupy 32 million homes, but as circumstances inevitably change, “their actions will reverberate through the housing market.” (Kenneth Harney, Washington Report to Miami Herald. 12/6/15.) That’s even more demand for rental apartments.

That brings us to the housing bubble. With the rise in housing prices, the “US housing market across the board is moving toward rent territory,” Ken Johnson, Ph.D. Especially in Dallas, Houston, and Denver, in terms of wealth creation, data suggest renting as opposed to buying.

Finally – senior housing: It’s not your grandma’s “old folks” home. No more rocking chairs; no more flowered wallpaper, antique credenzas and calico curtains; no reference to “retirees.” By federal law, 55 is the minimum age for “senior housing,” but who at 55 wants to be considered “senior”? (My wife has refused senior discounts because “It sounds so old.”)

Our Baby Boomer renters want a continuation of their active and social lifestyles –but without the headaches. They want modern, show-house furnishings, designer finishes. They want a carefree, luxury lifestyle. They want rental apartments.

Put these all together, and the future of multifamily investment is very exciting. We are going to be busy. The problem is that everybody is jumping on the bandwagon, and there are some crazy deals going down. Good investments are out there, but they are really hard to find. That’s why Lloyd Jones Capital has “boots on the ground” in each of our markets. Not just any boots, but highly experienced VPs, teamed with regional property managers. They scout the area for off-market opportunities.

For 2016, multifamily will continue as the darling of the real estate investment industry. But we must be careful. I predict a cap rate compression unlike anything we have seen before. And that will create other issues. (But I’ll discuss those in another message.)

In the meantime, we aggressively look for solid B and C properties in B and B+ neighborhoods, properties with steady cash flow that show opportunity for improvement. It takes hours and hours of looking and a lot of hard work, but we at Lloyd Jones Capital are very proud of our work ethic and the success it brought us in 2015. And we expect 2016 to be even better.

Christopher Finlay is Chairman/CEO of Lloyd Jones Capital, a private-equity real-estate firm that specializes in the multifamily sector. With 35 years of experience in the real estate industry, the firm acquires, manages and improves multifamily real estate on behalf of its institutional partners, private investors and its own principals. Headquartered in Miami, the firm has operations throughout Texas, Florida and the Southeast. For more information visit: lloydjones.wpengine.com.