Why Amazon Matters for You

Credit: Sounder Bruce CC BY-SA 4.0

If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you’ve probably heard that Amazon is shopping for HQ2 - the home of their second headquarters.

They put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) to North American Cities searching for:

• A metro with more than 1 million people
• A stable and business-friendly environment
• Urban or suburban locations attractive to technical talent
• An international airport within 45 minutes with direct flights to key cities
• Close to freeways
• High capacity connectivity (fiber optic and cellular)
• Access to large, educated labor force
• Attractive community and quality of life for employees
• Access to mass transit to the new site
• "Scale and creativity" in real estate options.

They received more than 100 proposals from cities vying to become Amazon’s second corporate home. The phenomenal interest is not surprising.

It’s a HUGE prize - Amazon is projecting 50,000 jobs with an average annual salary of $100,000. To do the math, that’s $5 BILLION per year new income. PLUS they plan on investing another $5 billion in capital investment. That’s a game-changing boon to any city.

As a real estate investor, why should you care?

The number one rule of Real Estate Investing is "Location! Location! Location!" 

Whether or not your property will make money has almost everything to do with its location. You have to pick the right property market to invest in.

One trick I learned from my mentors, The Real Estate Guys, Robert Helms and Russell Gray, is to see what the big companies like Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, and McDonalds are doing. When they move into a residential real estate market, it’s because they’ve been watching the numbers and expect growth.

They have the budgets to hire analysts that study migration trends, demographic shifts, infrastructure plans, etc. They check and see if there are major employers coming and if there are freeways, airports, and other key pieces of infrastructure to support a growing population.

When the signs look good these big companies move in to get ahead of growth. So, if you’re seeing those types of companies moving into a residential market, it’s a good bet that it’s safe for you too.

With Amazon’s move, it’s like a new Costco or Home Depot times 1000. Not only must the basics already be there in that market, BUT Amazon itself will be creating demographic shifts, infrastructure growth, new jobs, and population growth.

And it’s not just what Amazon itself will do… there will be all sorts of secondary and tertiary businesses that will blossom to support this gigantic new corporate citizen - creating even more jobs and economic opportunity in the market.

These secondary and tertiary businesses will include the real estate businesses that house all the new employees and other businesses that support Amazon. In other words, commercial and residential real estate will be in high demand.

So pay attention to what Amazon decides to do. Whatever market is lucky enough to land this huge prize, will provide amazing real estate investing opportunities for investors like us. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Monick Halm is host of the Real Estate Investor Goddesses Podcast, and bestselling author of "The Real Estate Investor Goddess Handbook." She has over 12 years of residential real estate investing experience in single family, multi-family, mobile home parks, and flipping, and owns over 1100 rental doors. She delights in adding value for her investors and tenants through improved management and the targeted remodeling and rehabbing of properties.

Visit: www.RealEstateInvestorGoddesses.com to connect with Monick, and obtain your free ebook: "The Real Estate Success Blueprint: The 7 Crucial Steps Every Woman Must Take to Be a Successful Real Estate Investor."