The past few years, most of our cities and their inhabitants, have observed a sudden shift of change in development. It used to be that anyone could purchase a home and builders had them all built on speculation for the homes they would sell in the coming months. If you wanted a brand new home, chances are that the exact home you wanted with the exact interior finishes was available… somewhere.
It was too easy for a while. Then the cards fell and development was an obvious casualty. Today, most home builders are unable to construct homes on speculation. There are a few out there who can make it happen with private capital, but they are certainly much more cautious today.
Enter the new occupant of the Apartment into the market. Apartments and homes for rent were suddenly a commodity again. There were several reasons for this of course, but the following two stand out most to me.
- The market made it very difficult for many people to purchase
- A change in location often meant that the home purchased in another town must be rented out, forcing the rental of a home in the new town
The nature of people in Post World War II USA is to live the American Dream. For many people, this is a continuous cycle of moving up in their perceived socio-economic status. Moving up usually means to sell your largest asset, generally the home in which you live, and purchase an even bigger version of the one that you already own. For most people, it isn’t until they are old (or wise) enough to understand that having more of something means that there is more to take care of. Our wiser generations understand this and instead change their perceptions to wanting more quality over quantity. Again though, it is this need for wanting more, that urges people to move. So what do you do when can’t purchase a new home or are fearful of the prospect of purchasing a new home?
This is where apartment homes become a big part of the equation. Apartments are available in many types and sizes, they are not all simply a part of a large apartment complex.
At the end of March, I wrote an article for the EVstudio website, titled The Dynamic Changes of Apartments, where I outlined many varieties of apartments. There are an array of apartment homes available from the stereotypical apartment complex to the small accessory dwelling unit.
Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but if I were to have a “do-over,” I wouldn’t have purchased my home that I am currently in six years ago. However I would have rented it.