Strategies to Finding a Growth Market

[Rachelle Malkoff]

My husband and I are excited to finally be purchasing our first multifamily REI property and feel pretty confident financially but are undecided on which market location to start our journey. We are most interested in finding growth in equity as soon as possible and less concerned with location. We live in and love the city of Boston but property values are already so high and growth rates seem to be much lower than other places in the country.

A few places we’re considering;

1. Memphis, TN - seems like property values are pretty low and have great potential to increase, but will Memphis blossom like Nashville has? Seems risky.

2. Nashville, TN - the city has been booming for a decade and the market has grown significantly, is it reasonable to bet on this market to continue its meteoric rise?

3. Apex, NC - simply listed as one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S.

What has been your strategy to identify markets with the best growth opportunities?

[Michael Sargent]

Hi Rachelle,

I'm not familiar with Apex but your gut is leading you in the right direction within Tennessee. If you're looking strictly for cash flow, Memphis is a great market and I'd recommend finding a well qualified/trustworthy agent and property management company to find the right neighborhoods. On the other hand, you'll get a great blend of both cash flow and appreciation in Nashville. PWC's "Emerging Trends in Real Estate" Annual report goes into detail about how and why Nashville's growth is rapid, organic and sustainable, and how that creates one of the best real estate markets in the country. The Greater Nashville area appreciated about 26% last year, with some counties being well over 30%. Therefore, in my opinion, if you're looking to build equity, there's very few places in the US where there's similar low market risk and growth this rapid.