New Associations Formed for Student Housing, Research Specialists
Jack Kern, managing director at Washington, D.C.-based Kern Investment Research LLC, and Dr. Sam Chandan, president and chief economist of Real Estate Econometrics, recently announced the launch of The National Student Housing Council (NSHC) to focus exclusively on the student housing sector. John Buttarazzi, owner of Varsity Capital Advisors, is the organization’s founding advisory board president.
Jack Kern, managing director at Washington, D.C.-based Kern Investment Research LLC, and Dr. Sam Chandan, president and chief economist of Real Estate Econometrics, recently announced the launch of The National Student Housing Council (NSHC) to focus exclusively on the student housing sector. John Buttarazzi, owner of Varsity Capital Advisors, is the organization’s founding advisory board president.
NSHC was formed after discussions with leaders in the student housing industry who said they wanted an association
that would be unique to challenges and opportunities they face. The Council is almost entirely research-driven, and programming has been developed to provide members of all properties with timely information they can use to make better-informed decisions.
Marketing to prospective members thus far has been through individual contacts and referrals, though the Council expects to grow through social networking and recruiting companies. Members will receive newsletters and other communications about the industry, as well as participate in research and have access to NSHC’s professional staff.
“The association will be helping our membership with research and data on property operations, investment trends, best practices and better access to capital in a wide variety of ways. We’re also planning training and certification programs,” explains Kern.
Kern recently also founded the Association of Real Estate Research Professionals (ARERP), to provide networking, access to advanced data and applications and a publishing platform for its membership. The association currently has 400 active firms.
“I thought it would make sense to have an organization that is really focused on real estate research exclusively, and to be able to meet and network with professionals from other property types,” Kern explains. “We’re the only national association founded explicitly to advance the career and knowledge of real estate research professionals.”
ARERP seeks to provide research professionals with a network and access to resources, forecasts and other data in an easy-to-use format. ARERP plans to publish a wide variety of data and hold meetings and events. The association’s first meeting took place January 20-21 in Dallas.