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Editor’s Note: Dennis Fassett is a former corporate finance executive turned real estate investing “Cash Flow Mercenary.” Dennis specializes in single-family and multi-family cash flow properties and thoroughly enjoys assisting his fellow investors with their own strategies, including how to buy your first apartment building.
As an ongoing contributor to Mogul’s “Market News Updates,” Mr. Fassett provides us with his own unique, lively, and thought-provoking commentary on the timely industry news and events of today that are impacting our industry. And be sure to check out his other super-helpful Market News Updates. For now, enjoy...
From Dennis Fassett, Cash Flow Mercenary...
I wrote a Market News piece a while back on the coming “Chinese Invasion” of the residential real estate market here because Trulia inked a deal to have real estate agents advertise over there.
That article has received the most feedback by far – with pretty much all of the emails asking me how they could get a piece of the action.
My advice was twofold:
1. Have inventory to sell.
2. Get found!
Pretty simple.
Memphis Ain’t Just About Elvis Anymore
I bring this up because I just saw an article about Memphis being a popular place for international investors to spend their money.
Memphis, seriously? Apparently so.
The article said that:
"With purchase prices relatively low compared to local rents and purchase prices very low in Memphis compared to other foreign markets, foreign investors have been pouring into Memphis from New Zealand to Italy to China since 2011…
"Today the market remains strong. Some investors buy to have a second home with the security that the Memphis market offers that can’t be found in foreign lands. Others prefer a turnkey rental in one of the best rental markets in the world. And still others are rehabbing and flipping houses…
"The Memphis real estate market offers opportunities for all investment models.”
I thought that this was pretty interesting.
And it was certainly news to me. I’ve been to Memphis a couple of times, and I had a pleasant visit both times. But I can honestly say that it has never once occurred to me to do any real estate investing there.
But the article went on to describe the town, and I have to say that the fundamentals certainly seem to make sense from an investing perspective.
It said:
"Memphis has one of the highest percentages of renters in the nation.”
And that:
"Memphis has more than its share of major corporations, including International Paper, FedEx, AutoZone, First Horizon, St. Jude Hospital, and others."
And also that:
“Memphis is also home to the University of Tennessee medical and dental schools. And in addition to being an air cargo hub for FedEx, Memphis is the third largest railroad hub in the country, which Warren Buffet recently saw fit to invest in. The Memphis River Port is the second largest inland port on the Mississippi River, connecting Memphis to 25,000 miles of interconnected inland waterways. Memphis is a mega distribution hub with eight federal highways, three interstate highways, and seven state highways making trucking to the rest of the country easy from the railroads, waterways, and air cargo hubs.”
Again, all pretty good stuff if you’re looking for a place to invest.
But the reason I brought this up is not to sell you on Memphis. Not at all.
It’s to show you how somebody is doing a pretty damn good job of getting found!
That’s right. I found this article when I searched google for real estate investing news. It came up reasonably high in the search results.
I’d call that a pretty big win for Memphis real estate investors who are trying to get found by international investors!
Wouldn’t you? Now, go figure out a way to get yourself found by international investors!
Holla at us
Are you investing in Memphis real estate? We wanna hear about it in the comments section below.
Dennis Fassett
earned a BS in Economics and followed that up with an MBA in finance. After working and corporate finance and banking for several years, he started buying single family houses, and quickly built a very nice portfolio of cash flowing rentals. When the credit markets started to dry up and he couldn’t get any additional single family mortgages he shifted his focus to apartment buildings. He now has over $3 million in rental real estate. He manages most of it his self and still has a day job. Dennis has even created his own Private Equity fund to buy apartment buildings.