Quote from @Robert Ellis:
Quote from @Sandra Regnell:
@Justin Brin I just bought one in Memphis with Memphis Invest.
Anyone else here have experience with them? The sale was smooth but no renter yet.
Homes are very affordable there and Memphis Invest is turnkey with integrated property management.
I never understood the draw of negative population growth city investing. Houses are cheap because supply is more than demand. You see the same thing in Detroit where people also buy. I just came back from BP Con and spoke to a guy who lives in Detroit but would never invest there for that exact reason. Memphis more people are leaving than are coming / being born. Source below. Any insights I'd love to know what makes it attractive. In ohio turn key companies have some of the worst reputations of "lipstick on pig" type deals. houses 100 years old. one thing happens and all the cash flow is gone.
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/local/2018/07/05...
Great question, Robert!
I can't speak about other markets, but in my experience the 2 biggest parts people miss about Memphis is the growth in the MSA population and the MSA GDP.
While the City of Memphis itself has stayed relative stable in population over the past 50 years, the greater MSA has grown almost 50% during that time frame (see chart below).
Also, according to the St Louis Fed, the GDP of our MSA has almost doubled over the past 20 years from $45 billion in 2002 to $80 billion in 2021.
Memphis is the cultural, political, and economic center of the MSA, which is one of the reasons investors like myself have continued to do extremely well here and most likely will continue to do so.
| Memphis City | Memphis MSA |
| Census | Pop. | %± | Pop. | %± |
| 1970 | 623,988 | 25.4% | 911,123 | 12.3% |
| 1980 | 646,174 | 3.6% | 997,844 | 9.5% |
| 1990 | 610,337 | −5.5% | 1,067,263 | 7.0% |
| 2000 | 650,100 | 6.5% | 1,205,204 | 12.9% |
| 2010 | 646,889 | −0.5% | 1,316,100 | 9.2% |
| 2020 | 633,104 | −2.1% | 1,337,779 | 1.6% |
