Breaking the Cycle

When you look at the world we live, its hard to believe sometimes that we are still dealing with bias, racism, discrimination and hate in all forms. It can be easy to turn a blind eye to our current reality- especially if it doesn’t affect you. In order to make a change, you actually have to make changes- whether it be your behavior, actions, or words. Small steps can lead monumental movements.

I’ve thought a lot about this topic in recent years, not necessarily in the terms of racism but more in the unequal opportunity for all. We had a tenant whose family was involved in drugs and crime as she was growing up. She was raised this way and followed in their footsteps, until she wanted to change. She started working two jobs and putting herself through college. She had a young son and an older daughter. Her daughter was not living at the apartment but spent much of her time there watching her little brother while her mom worked.

We knew things weren’t right at the apartment just based on the amount of people coming in and out. We were doing work on the apartment next door and there was always a flow of people. We were in the process of getting grant money to complete more work on the property and had to take a city official through the apartment. He had smelled weed and seen drug paraphernalia. When we left he said if there was any suspicion of drug activity on his next visit, the apartment would not qualify for the program. I understood. I spoke to my tenant and explained that neither her daughter nor her daughter’s boyfriend can be at the apartment or on the property (the daughter and the boyfriend were never our tenants or on the lease).

A couple months later, I received a call at 6AM from my tenant next door worried because they were breaking the door down next door. A drug raid was happening. Long story short, the daughter and boyfriend were staying with her mom again. It was later published in the newspaper that the daughter’s boyfriend was the heroin ring leader in the area and the daughter was one of his runners. At this point we had to evict our tenant.

What has bothered me most about this situation is the kids involved and their futures. My tenant’s daughter, had a daughter- so it would be my tenants granddaughter. My tenant’s son and her granddaughter were both under six years of age and present for the raid. Once the daughter was taken into custody, her daughter (the granddaughter) was left with my tenant for months. I would go over occasionally prior to the eviction to check on things and see how they were doing. I remember the little girl asking for her mom, and the little boy hiding under the blanket because he didn’t know who was at the door.

In talking with my tenant, the situation was almost expected. She told me that her grandmother raised her and she was prepared to raise her granddaughter. She said when she was young she dated a man much like her daughter’s boyfriend. She got caught up in drugs and crime and that was all she knew for many years until she decided she wanted something better for her young son.

Witnessing the whole situation unfold was heartbreaking. I have a very hard time wrapping my brain around how people born and raised in these environments even have a fighting chance. I try to put myself in that position. I ask myself if I would be where I am today if I was dealt those cards- and the answer is no. Without my parent’s offering their support, education, and guidance- I think I would be foolish to think I would still be the same person I am today. So what role can we play in breaking the cycle?

I don’t think there is any quick answer to this.  Unfortunately, I believe it will take generational changes, but it must start somewhere. Morals and values are taught at home. What a child learns and believes to be true at a young age is often carried through with them throughout their life, unless something dramatic happens to change that perspective.

I am very passionate about real estate and the positive and negative affects it can have on lives. One thing I feel that can help break this cycle is providing a nice home. Sure there is more to it than just that, but it’s a start. Too often homes in lower income areas are not nice. If a home isn’t nice people don’t respect it, and if people don’t respect it they don’t take pride it in. I think the first step to breaking the cycle is giving people better access to quality, affordable homes to raise their families. This is especially true for people who want to start to build wealth. Purchasing a home is one of the first ways to create wealth. Many people don’t have the resources or guidance to help prepare them for ownership, or quality homes are just unaffordable to the lower middle class which prevents people from buying and forces them to rent.

People want something to be proud of and feel accomplished. Too often I see people who are renting crappy apartments spend all their money on material things to fill a void. So what if we were able to change that? Instead of people getting stuck renting for their entire lives, help educate them how to purchase a home. I’m not saying renting is bad in anyway, there are people who prefer to rent and don’t want the responsibility of ownership and that is fine too. This conversation is more geared towards people who want to buy, but can’t seem to get there.  If people have limited choices of apartments within their price range and they are in undesirable neighborhoods, they aren’t going to go out of their way to improve the property. But if someone had the opportunity to purchase a quality home, this changes things. I have seen it first hand. Even if the home isn’t in the best of neighborhoods, the fact that they own it, they want to take care of it. People in the neighborhood see that. It doesn’t happen overnight, but that is how you can start to create change. That home is something they have worked for and are proud of. There are too many people out there who would love to purchase and deserve that opportunity but lack the education, money, or resources to make it happen.

From here I feel like it’s a domino effect, if there were more quality affordable homes available, and people had the resources and guidance to purchase a home - they will then pass that knowledge and understanding on to their children. As we know, a lot of financial understanding and money managing is taught at home or people are forced to learn as they go. Schools don’t prepare you for that. So if parents have been limited to renting in undesirable areas due to the cost of living, the kids will grow up in that environment. What they see others do, will be acceptable. These kids most likely won’t be exposed to some of the knowledge and resources surrounding home ownership, responsibly and money management that other kids may gain from their parents. More often than not, people are a product of their environment. You don’t know, what you don’t know. And this is how the cycle perpetuates through the generations.

This is also a two fold issue, I believe the cities and investors have a part in this as well. As an investor, you want to buy cheap and sell high. If you are going to try to rebuild lower income areas, you can’t sell high. You can still make a healthy profit off a home, but if are trying to rebuild a community and be a part of the solution, you won’t be able to charge top dollar. It will then just force people to another area because they can no longer afford that neighborhood. That will perpetuate the problem and continue to keep a certain part of the population in undesirable neighborhoods.

Again, this is a very small aspect of the issue, but its an aspect Vince and I, as well as other landlords and investors can help change. The quality of your home can change your outlook on life. I think if everyone plays their role we can truly make huge strides towards breaking the cycle.