Real Estate Investing With Demographic Reports
Demographics and population trends influence almost every decision in modern life, from business planning to healthcare provisions, from education needs to fashion and style. Age, ethnicity, gender, income, mobility, employment, geography and other demographic factors determine the shape of our society.
Real estate is no less affected by the ebbs and flows of demographic trends, particularly income, aging, family situations and employment. Consider a real estate broker, whose livelihood depends on people changing homes. Economic mobility is a key determinant in the future of his business, as is the economic health of the region.
“I look to see how fast the economy is growing, and how many jobs are likely to be created as a result, to determine the resources my business will need over the next five years,” says Terry Denoux, a Bend, Oregon, real estate broker.
Development planning relies even more on demographic data to determine priorities. The average age of the population is a major factor in the type of housing that will be required over the next couple decades.
“A young population in an area will require more single family homes with multiple bedrooms and plenty of space for children to run,” explains Wendy Cobrda of Catosphere, a demographic data reporting company. “On the other hand, an aging population will need more hospitals, more medical clinics, more housing that requires minimal maintenance.”
For investors, the stakes are just as high. Investing in commercial real estate, for example requires the ability to forecast where there will be a growing population, and/or where the population’s average income will be increasing.
In fact, commercial property investment requires a deeper understanding of demographic data; it is not just the population trends that need to be considered, but the demographics of the competition. And even those cannot follow a set formula.
For instance, an entrepreneur looking to set up a new car dealership needs to consider where established dealerships are located and set up shop nearby. Car buyers wanting to compare similar models need to visit several dealerships, so they need to be close to one another.
On the other hand, an entrepreneur looking to set up a
1000
new hardware store, should look for an area underserved by the competition or where new residential developments will be opening up. Hardware shoppers can compare brands of similar tools within the same store, so ease of access takes on a greater importance.
On the topic of ease-of-access, road traffic patterns can also make or break an investment, especially near busy intersections in competitive markets. The demographics of traffic can add to the complexity of making a commercial real estate investment.
Understanding where to invest in retail properties is one of the main reasons that demographic mapping is such a popular service, Wendy Cobrda explains. “To visually see the movement of people and their spending dollars helps businesses ‘see’ where they should open their next store.”
Demographic data plays a role in vacation rental real estate, too. “Do you buy vacation rental properties, or do you sell the ones you have now?” asks Steve Curtis, owner of FabVillas, a website listing vacation rental properties in Florida. “Well, that depends on how much disposable income people have for vacations and, more importantly, on the age of the population. A younger person is more likely to backpack through Europe, and stay at a hostel. An older person in more interested in comfort and privacy, which is what vacation rental properties offer.”
It also depends on where populations are growing more, as well as where the affluence is growing. If an economic boom is happening in England and France, but not in the USA and Canada, a vacation rental in Spain might prove more useful than on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
“Business planning is just a shot in the dark without solid market data,” explains Ms. Cobrda. “Demographic data reports and maps help businesses project market activity into the future, helping to avoid such catastrophes as building stores with no customers or storing a few million dollars of inventory that nobody wants.”
Given the high stakes of real estate investment, whether in residential, commercial or vacation rental properties, demographic data reports and market segmentation data are even more important.
By: amabaie
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
David Leonhardt is a freelance writer. He wrote this article for Catosphere demographics data reports and Bend Oregon real estate broker Terry Denoux.
Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Real Estate Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From – Home | Finance | Real Estate
Comparing Mortgage Offers With APR
Pros and Cons of Dubai Villas for Rent
Save Thousands With A Flat Fee MLS Listing Service
What is involved in Property Management
Tongue Piercing To Top It Off
Hawaii commercial real estate loans vary greatly
Hawaii Shopping Center sells for near 10% return
Beautiful Villas in Gurgaon
Amazing Villas in Noida – Epitome of Luxury and Comfort
Foreclosure Listings: Get best deal ever
What You Need to Know About Owner Financed Homes
Why Rent to Own Homes Programs May Be a Good Option For You
How Buying No Credit Check Homes Can Actually Improve Your Credit Standing
Understanding the Benefits of Hiring Real Estate Agents
Marylebone office space: know your area!
Diversity Training: The Worst Possible Reasons To Request Executive Funding
by: Tim Dawes
You’re on your organization’s diversity committee. You have the best of intentions.
And that’s the problem.
It leads you to appeal for funding for all the wrong reasons.
Take healthcare for example.
The US foreign-born population comprises a larger segment than at any time in the past five decades. And this trend is expected to continue(1). People of diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural heritage suffer disproportionately from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and every form of cancer. In addition, their infant mortality rates are generally higher(2). Minorities receive measurably poorer care and they suffer for it.
Great reasons for diversity training. Disastrous reasons to ask for executive funding for your diversity program.
If you doubt me, just look at your budget. Chances are you’re getting sincere encouragement from the boardroom but not budget codes that represent significant financial resources.
Here’s the nut of the problem.
If you’re at or near the front lines–the medical floor if you’re in healthcare, or sales or service if you’re in a corporation–the discussions you’re having about diversity training are not the discussions your executives are having.
In healthcare, for example, when physicians, nurses, and their department heads discuss diversity training, they talk about the increased needs they experience in serving minority populations.
That conversation centers on health disparities among ethnic and cultural minorities, how they might be overcome, the new treatments that are called for, and new techniques and perspectives staff need to be educated in.
That discussion is all good. All well-intentioned. And every part it increases the expense side of the income statement.
Your executives are having a discussion of their own.
What they want to know is how diversity training impacts the business of whatever business you’re in. In healthcare, that means increasing your appeal to minority patients, competing for private purchaser business, responding to public purchaser demands, and improving cost effectiveness.
In other words, while frontline staff are talking about diversity training in a way that increases costs, executives are looking for strategies to decrease costs and increase income. As long as the frontline and boardroom talk past each other, programs like diversity training will fail to receive the recognition and funding they deserve.
But you don’t need to wait for a more enlightened day. In fact, you can turn a few switches on yourself.
If you’re a real advocate of diversity training, I recommend you start assembling a “business impact model”, the sharp dark line that connects performance on the front line with your organization’s ultimate business goals. There are some very good books where you can learn about this quickly. “The Success Case Method” by Robert Brinkerhoff and “Performance Consulting” by Robinson and Robinson are good places to start.
Here’s the short course.
Instead of asking for money for diversity training, start from the top down. Look at your unit’s business needs. In healthcare, this shows up as patient satisfaction scores, days in treatment, staffing levels, number of adverse events and law suits, and such.
Next, recognize that when your organization fails to work effectively with minority consumers, it’s not only the consumers who suffer. You need to point out how your organization is missing its numbers, how improved performance on the frontline will help your unit meet it’s goals, and how diversity training will create the improved performance you need.
Let me give you an example. Here’s how diversity training translates to lower liability costs in hospitals.
Hospitals administrators have a significant incentive to reduce medical malpractice claims. If you do a little digging, you’ll find out that four of five patients who sue haven’t suffered medical negligence(3). Patients sue because they feel devalued, deserted, misunderstood, and misinformed(4).
Combine that with the knowledge that minority patients are less satisfied–in fact African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans are 10-15 times more likely than whites to believe they would receive better health care if they were a different race(5)–and you have a recipe for trouble.
It will cost your hospital $25,000 to mount a defense for each claim, even if you win. And your hospital has scores of claims, possibly hundreds.
Put an argument like this together and see the mileage you get.
The discussion starts like this: “We have a problem with medical malpractice that we all want to solve. Each claim costs us $25,000 to defend. And X number of them have come from our staff’s difficulty in engaging minorities effectively. How many cases do you think we could head off if we trained this group of staff to perform more effectively in their interactions with minority patients?”
Now you’re talking about saving money and meeting organization goals.
And that’s a welcome reason to commit funding.
Whatever cultural issues your organization is facing, they have business impacts. You just need to point them out, and make your proposal part of the solution.
1. National Center for Cultural Competence, Why is There a Compelling Need for Cultural Competence?
2. Cohen E, Goode TD. Policy Brief 1: Rationale for Cultural Competence in Primary Health Care. Washington, DC: National Center for Cultural Competence; Winter 1999.
3. Focus June 4, 2004, How Doctors Might Curb Malpractice Claims, News from Harvard Medical, Dental, & Public Health Schools
4. Beckman HB, Markakis KM, Suchman AL, Frankel RM. The doctor-patient relationship and malpractice: lessons from plaintiff depositions. Arch Intern Med. 1994;154:1365-1370
5. Center on an Aging Society Georgetown University, Issue Brief Number 5, February 2004, Cultural Competence in Health Care: Is it important for people with chronic conditions?
About The Author
Tim Dawes, founder of Interplay, Inc., specializes in helping health care organizations exceed their strategic goals by demonstrating unexpected empathy to patients. Sign up for free monthly “how to” articles at http://www.interplaygroup.com
How about these right… I think you’ll find the following nuggets of wisdom particularly insightful. Leave your comments below. Check out the second one in particular…
Houses for sale gresham oregon
Real Estate – Search Gresham, OR real estate listings and houses for sale , find home values, housing market information, Oregon mortgage rates …</p><p>Customize your search by linking or view listings of Gresham homes for sale below. …
Events for June 10-17 | OregonLive.com
SUMMER PLANT SALE AND "TASTE IN THE GARDEN" FESTIVAL: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. plant sale; 4-9 p.m. food and wine festival featuring tastings and live music. The Oregon Garden, 879 W. Main St., Silverton; free admission for plant sale, $15 entrance fee … Al's Garden Center, 7505 S.E. Hogan Road, Gresham; www.conserveh2o.org. TERRIFIC TURF WITHOUT TOXICS: 10-11:30 a.m. Learn the latest techniques for safely and effectively controlling weeds, preventing pests and watering wisely. …
Homes For Sale Gresham Oregon With Koi Ponds Walk In Closet, Homes …
Koi designs★, Oregon In For With Oregon For Sale In Gresham Pond★, Ponds With ★ With ★ For Ponds★, Sale Oregon Homes Gresham ★ Sale ceilings★, With Sale Koi For With Homes Gresham ★ Sale Homes Sale Homes In Oregon Oregon Oregon …
Hope you enjoy the read as much as I did and please if you have something to say, use the comments form below to let everyone know your thoughts.
Have a great day!
Tags: Gresham Oregon Homes for Sale, Gresham Oregon Properties, Oregon Real Estate
