My Thoughts on Biloxi Mississippi

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MY THOUGHTS ON BILOXI:

It's been a year since my two trips to Biloxi Mississippi.

My First Trip in November 2005: http://iggyigette.blogspot.com/

My Second Trip in January 2006: http://www.katrina2006.blogspot.com/

These previous trips my goal was to provide BASIC MEDICAL CARE to those in need of medical care.

Today I thought further about Biloxi...

I am now thinking it is time to provide BASIC HOUSING to those in need of housing.

Based on the pics shown on my blogsites, 90% of the Biloxi Coast was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Thousands of homes were damaged irreversibly. People lived in FEMA trailors, tents, and shelters.

Waterfront properties were destroyed. The 12 Operating Casinos along the Coast were heavily damaged.

Then the unfortunate events that follow: Homeowner Insurance Policies did not cover "Flood" and refused to pay for Flood Damage that resulted from the Hurricane - homeowners literally lost their homes as a result.

When I was last there, the only Reconstruction going on in January 2006 were the Casinos - I assume they can afford to rebuild.

Not only did the Casinos rebuild, they expanded - Casinos bought additional large areas of land from adjacent residential neighborhoods from homeowners whose homes were destroyed and whose Hazard Insurance refused to cover "Flood Insurance." It wasn't a difficult difficult choice to sell your destroyed uninhabitable unrebuildable home to a Casino paying cash.

Hurricane Katrina has changed the economic landscape of Biloxi Mississippi - Blue Collar Neighborhoods long established in the area are diminishing - with these land now becoming Casino Land...Bigger Casinos, less blue collar residential neighborhoods...

As a result of Katrina, we are seeing the largest infrastructure re-development in the history of the Gulf Coast. 3 Billion dollars of FEMA money is currently at work, and 30-40 Billion dollars in re-development pledged for the next 3-5 years.

As of today, nine of the original 12 operating casinos are Open for Business. By the end of the year, the tenth casino will open.

There is a 5 year proposal to have a total of 22 casinos in the Biloxi Market.

Donald Trump is breaking ground on his new 1 Billion Dollar Casino in the area in the next few months.

The Biloxi Airport, a little piece of "#!$#@" I flew into several times, is undergoing a $50 million dollar expansion project so that it will hopefully look more "International".

OK....what does all this have to do with real estate investing?

EACH Casino that opens for business requires 1,000-2,000 employees (MORE JOBS)... Approximately 60-70% of Casino Employees (and their families) Rent.

EACH Casino that opens for business will attract more tourism, which in turn attracts Businesses to cater to the tourists (MORE JOBS).

EACH time a CASINO opens for business : MORE JOBS, MORE PEOPLE = MORE DEMAND for Real Estate.

But, with 90% of the Coast damaged/destroyed by Katrina, there is a shortage of available inventory for rent or sale.

DEMAND for rental homes > SUPPLY of rental homes = Increase RE Value and rental rates over time.

MY THOUGHT is that Biloxi Mississippi is a local market that is on the ground floor to find Real Estate Investment opportunities in an area of mismatched real estate supply/demand in an environment of positive economic development over the long term.

Your Thought?

Iggyigette