Roofstock is coming to Memphis

[Elizabeth Wilson]

Memphis investors:

Thoughts on this:  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/memphis-real-estate-...

Just read the article and wondering how y'all see this affecting the market or not?

[Alex Craig]

I am always very pessimistic about individuals/outfits who can evaluate a market from a computer program, especially in a place like Memphis where you can be standing in a $650 rental home, walk out the front yard, tee up a golf ball and with your 3 Iron, hit a $500,000 home. Perfect example is a house we manage at 2885 Walker that rents for $1,095 a month. With my 3 iron, I can hit a house that rents for $595 to the South and to the North, hit a house that recently sold for $227,500. The main problem I see here is I have a wicked hook. With that 3 iron shot, if my normal hook comes into play, I could easily hit another house that rents for $650 that would sell for $50,000. However, if I drink a couple of beers and relax, I normally don't hook it, but tend to get ahead of myself and push the ball right.  If I do that, the irony is, that my golf ball may land the on golf course of the Memphis Country Club, possibly even land in the hole. Sounds good right?, Well wrong, they would not let me on the property because even if I did want to drop $50,000 a year to be a member, they would not let me in because I am not part of the Memphis "elite socialite" families.

Point is, that is just one example of a really nice home (2885 Walker) surrounded by very different neighborhoods all within a very (a street or 2) distance.  I can't see how a computer program can account for that, especially if there are not a lot of recent sales to pick up on the variation within the area.