So they have been buying the old buildings and updating them to state of the art infrastructure, like smart elevators, gigabyte internet, data centers and co-locations.

Add weather related events and lower elevation areas (Gulf Coast states) where frequent flooding is an issue, and there is simply no way I'd ever invest in areas like Florida or New Orleans.

These homes were then resold at auction to developers who had to either demolish them and rebuild elevated homes, or actually LIFT the houses on a new foundation.

There is this worry that many tenants if able will start turning to the single family market to avoid excessive contact with others via sharing elevators or other common ares they can't avoid with apartments.

@Justin OwensI use to think the elevation was the front door sill.  

I've worked for builders who were the first boots on the ground in a new development, but I've never worked on the development side of the business.FWIW, I'm not looking to bid the job based on rules of thumb; I'm looking for 50,000-foot numbers for use in an elevator pitch - the purpose of which is to get invited back to go into greater detail.

If you get up high enough in elevation you can avoid the 3" sized roaches and termites, so someone told me.

Contractors are hard to come by at the moment and all prices are elevated. 

In WA, at such elevated prices, if you decide to take a mortgage and have a property manager it would be difficult for most locations to cashflow positive.

Is there any smokeless cigarette smell nastier than when a smoker comes in from a smoke break and gets in the elevator you are already on?