If you have ever considered moving to a big city, then you have probably turned up your nose at high rents and over saturated schools, job markets, and housing markets. It can be absolutely discouraging to think of moving somewhere when your current housing costs are a mere fraction of what they will be when you relocate. In our current economy and the tech-driven world, the way that we do business is also changing. More and more it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a traditional job where you aren’t working remotely and you aren’t required to have the newest education in tech or electronics. Nearly 4 million Americans are working remotely, and over 50% of all jobs posted on job sites, such as Monster.com, require at least some remote work, if not entirely. Because of these incredibly rapid changes to the way that our society functions, many investors are moving out of what is considered the hottest real estate markets and they are beginning to look to the outskirts of town. This includes all kinds of real estate; single-family dwellings, multi-family units, office space, medical space, etc. As we stand at the crossroads of affordability and demand, there are many things to consider.
Diversity
Investing in diverse markets helps to even out your portfolio and give you a much more broad idea of when and where to invest next. And while concentrating assets in a few select markets are wise, it’s also important to maintain an array of properties in different locations. Fortunately, thanks to the climbing economy, most cities and regions are expanding. We are very specifically looking at multifamily properties with the risk and reward principle and the value adds upside potential. We are interested in properties that have approximately 200 units and that fall into the B and C property categories.
From a financing standpoint, lenders need to be assured that your properties will maintain high occupancy levels. And this can be easily achieved when you are looking to invest near booming employment hubs, where they are building new hospitals, and where tech companies are just beginning to put down roots. Studying the trends of large companies such as Amazon and Google can also give you a good indication of what is coming to a certain geographical area. Because as the industry grows, the need for housing will too.
Secondary Markets
When you are looking at investing in places like Phoenix, San Francisco, or New York City, the sticker shock of properties is enough to knock you out of the game entirely. They are booming with business and appeal, but they may be a little outside of your comfort zone and price range. But moving just a short distance away from the city center can offer you the comfort of an investment that you feel good about. Places like Brooklyn and Oakland can offer real estate costs that are up to 38% lower, energy costs are 22% lower, and the cost of doing business can be up to 16% lower in these secondary markets.
A little close to home for us, we are talking about the outskirts of Charlotte, which include but are definitely not limited to Monroe, Gastonia, and Rock Hill. In Raleigh, we would be interested in looking at secondary markets like Garner, Cary, Morrisville, Archdale, and Lexington. Cities such as Jacksonville and Tallahassee are cities centered around universities and will therefore only continue to grow like education and technology continue to be leading values in our society.
If you are interested in multi-family real estate investing in primary and secondary markets, we would love to chat with you! Our goal at Magnolia Design Properties is to bring your viable, lucrative, real estate investments that you can be confident will add value to your portfolio. We work to add value properties, with a group of stable, reliable investors and we would love to have you join us! Check out our contact page and leave your information so that we can chat about how you can start investing today!
