Aaron Gorin of Cedar Grove Partners, LLC
Aaron Gorin is a real estate expert and the founder of Cedar Grove Partners, LLC. He operates out of New York and has been there since birth. Although his area of expertise revolves around property transactions, Mr. Gorin originally pursued a career in the fields of economics and health. This is why he majored in these two areas during his time at Cornell University.
After spending some time in his early career in other areas, however, Aaron Gorin slowly transitioned into finance and venture capital. It was here that he discovered his passion for sole proprietorships. Expectedly, he decided to create his own organization, Cedar Grove Partners, LLC, and begun building a brand from scratch.
If you could select a field of business other than real estate, what would be your primary choice?
Something that relates to finance and investing. I am a huge proponent of passive income and I think that it would be very hard for me to learn how to navigate another industry right now. This is why I originally switched to real estate and never looked back.
Therefore, another area that comes to mind is trading securities as it is a great way to make passive gains from the comfort of one’s own home. Moreover, I could probably start a venture where my business would look for clients who want to build their portfolio but lack the necessary skills to do so.
Do you think property owners should eliminate affordable housing from their offering?
Absolutely not. I do not see a reason that is good enough to justify someone completely eliminating affordable housing from their offering. The reason why is the fact that doing something so radical cuts down the market that they can advertise to. More importantly, not having these types of properties means that the landlord has to upgrade to luxurious units and such projects are not cheap. In fact, upgrading the class of one’s properties is so prohibitive that it almost never takes place.
What are some reasons why a lot of entrepreneurs are slowly shifting away from affordable housing?
I believe that they have lost their trust in the government-based assistance programs that many of the individuals who live in affordable housing rely on. When you analyze this trend from the perspective of a property owner, you have to think about some of their costs. Most of them are paying for constant improvements that have to be added to their property.
Well, the capital used to fund those improvements comes from rental income that the residents are supposed to supply the landlord with every month. If their payments are late, however, the property owner may be late to pay the company that worked on their property. Thus, there is a snowball effect taking place where one entity failing to pay means that a plethora of other individuals will also suffer.
Do you believe more government-based involvement would help the matter?
I think that fixing the current level of government-based involvement would be a more reasonable approach. Although I understand that having a few more programs for people who need affordable housing would be beneficial, it is important to address the issues with the existing ones. It is almost like purchasing properties. If your latest few purchases went terribly wrong and you lost money, you should not just continue buying assets. Instead, you should analyze the reasons why things are not working out to derive a new business strategy. Well, the same should apply to the government.
What are some of the most important benefits of people having the option to pay less for their housing?
It leaves them with more disposable income to support their family. If everyone in the community had to pay premium rates for housing, there would be people who would suffer due to an inability to pay for much else. So, it is important to take into account those who may not be earning enough to cover the increased rent costs that a lot of landlords are slowly implementing.
Is it possible to have a combination of both affordable and luxurious housing?
It depends. Although it is technically possible, a lot of landlords are hesitant to mix these two categories because the prospective clients will be a lot different from one another. So, building a friendly environment within the community may be difficult.
