And with guys like Wiley and McKellar out of graduate school and now looking for work, there could even be more competition out of the market. McKellar says he’s started looking hard just very recently, sending out about 25 résumés. He’s had a couple of phone conversations but no in-person interviews. Wiley says he’s “ramped up” his search for a full-time job in the past couple of months.
“I have to be proactive and reach out and make an opportunity for myself that may not be published,” he says. “But, I’m still looking.”
Making Choices
Fortunately, in the development business, when times are good, they’re really good. Have a couple of projects that are home runs, and a developer can earn some cash to stock away for tough times. If they play their cards right, they don’t face the same dire economic stresses that, say, a factory worker living on a month-to-month paycheck would with employment loss. But there have most definitely been lifestyle changes.
Roblyer admits, compared with the millions of others who lost full-time employment during the Great Recession, that he’s had it pretty well. The things he’s had to give up—ski vacations and a new car every few years—wouldn’t draw sympathy from the average out-of-work American.
But that doesn’t mean the 70 percent pay cut he took doesn’t sting. “We have no discretionary spending ability,” he says. “But we have a nice house a block from the beach. We eat and have fairly decent clothing.”
Wiley has had similar experiences. “I’m fortunate that it hasn’t changed my lifestyle or my family’s lifestyle,” he says. “If anything, it made us tighten our belts more than we would have otherwise.”
For others less seasoned in the development business, the day-to-day problems resemble something you’d read about in the newspaper. “For some people, it has been three-plus years and it’s some version of surviving,” Oriente says. “They’re draining their 401(k)s and their retirement, they’re taking out of college funds, and they’re selling homes.”
McKellar, for instance, has a big deadline ahead. He really needs to find a job by November. “I have to start repaying my debt in November,” he says. “I was on the student health-care plan. I was able to extend that until November.”
When the D.C. developer who didn’t want to be identified for this story lost his job, he took a pay cut. He’s feeling the effects of that. He bought a big house because he felt safe. Then he lost his job.
“Once the big paycheck went away, the market crashed and I couldn’t get out of a big mortgage,” he says. “I thought it was a temporary stay in my employment and it would get better. Here it is four years later and it hasn’t gotten better.”
He says that so far he’s given up some of the luxuries, like traveling, buying new clothes, and eating out.
“Everything I earn goes to paying for the house,” he says. “The debate is, do I want to walk away from that house and leave behind a big chunk of change. I don’t have kids in college and don’t have to worry about those sorts of things. I can live a very modest life. In the next year, I need to decide if I get rid of the house and then start over. Then, all bets are off.”
Keeping the Faith
Yes, the last couple of years have been rough in multifamily, as they have throughout the economy. But that doesn’t mean guys like Cretal are ready to give up on finding a job in the apartment business.
