Recent Trends and Cycles in YOUR Market

[Stetson Miller]

I just finished listening to episode 52 of the BP podcast with Ken McElroy, and towards the end of the show, he discusses how his investment company was focusing mainly on expansion of their large multi-family/apartment portfolio. To give some context, if you haven't listened to it, the episode was published in January of 2014. Ken predicted that the apartment investment market was going to peak in 2-3 years, or roughly early 2016 to early 2017. He then goes on to mention that the next cyclical investment for his company will be either mobile home parks or self storage. My questions to you are:

1. Would you agree that the peak for apartment style and large multi-family investments has already been reached in your current market?

2. What cycles or recent trends in real estate are you seeing in your markets that are coming off of a peak or will see a peak in the coming years?

To answer my own questions, I don't feel that I've been following the market long enough to be able to notice a peak in apartment investments in the Fort Myers, FL market, but it certainly appears that the self storage market is now over-saturated. @Brandon Turner has shared a lot about his recent mobile home park investments, and this seems to be a hot market in this area as well.

Thoughts?

[Michael Haas]

I second @Aaron K. 's concerns about self storage - I'm 28 and don't feel confident investing in that asset unless the value-in-land is significant. Digitization of goods and records, combined with my generation's enchantment with minimalism suggest that that industry may have a shakeout coming in the next 10-20 years. I'd want to see the zoning and location of the land allowing me to pivot in the next 10-20 years to be confident in buying self storage.