Milwaukee Single-Family Market

[Benjamin Davis]

As I'm sure many are, we have been taking a long, hard look at our investment plan in the midst of this crisis.  Certainly, one thing has not changed, as the Warren Buffett adage goes: The best investment timeline is forever.  

So, bearing in mind that we are in this for the truly long haul, what are folks seeing or foreseeing in the Milwaukee market in the small residential buy and hold realm?  Do you anticipate there being a large distinction in the impact this crisis has on single vs. multi-family markets?  Or will this be negligible?

  I have long been focused on the small multi-fmaily market; however, I am increasingly trepidatious about the volatility of this market versus SF in the relatively short-term--say the next 2-5 years.  While this volatility is NOT particularly frightening taking a long view, it does have me thinking about the kinds of challenges I want to negotiate as a newbie.  Obviously you have the advantages of exit strategy with single-family but the inherent disadvantage of 'competing' with emotional non-investor home buyers when purchasing--this being what has traditionally turned me off from single family homes.  Thanks for any insights you all can provide, looking forward to hopefully meeting some of you in person when we get to the other side!

[Pete Woelfel]

I'm optimistic. We closed on a duplex exactly one month ago and will start looking for another SFR or duplex soon.

I'm sure I'm missing something, but I'm a little surprised that during this there haven't been people who are being scared into smaller properties - maybe from a high rise to a 4 plex or a duplex to a SFR. I would have thought there would be at least some people who wanted to isolate more but I haven't heard anything like that. Regardless, I was investing in smaller properties before this and this doesn't change my mindset on that at all. People still need a place to live, there will always be people that want a yard/their own space, and you can't build anything anywhere in Milwaukee for anywhere close to what the existing homes cost.

I'd recommend following @Marcus Auerbach to keep tabs on the Milwaukee market, especially for SFR and small multi. He knows his stuff and is active here.