To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?
 -Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1

To be a contrarian multifamily investor, or not to be; that is one of the questions facing the multifamily investor today. 

For the emerging market or recovering market multifamily investor, there are a plethora of market options out there that deserve a look, though to discern the markets of greatest opportunity these days may require a different set of rules than operative even just a few years ago. 

A couple of issues have prompted this blog series starting today.  We’ve taken a fair amount of heat (most of it very rational, polite, and professional) over the past several months for our recommendations to follow several markets around the country.  The most commented markets have been several of the of the Florida markets (Orlando and Jacksonville), as well as Phoenix, and at one time Portland, though market conditions have changed in Portland quite a bit over the past 6 months and they’ve fallen down impressively in our ranking scores. 

Some markets are much easier to analyze and evaluate.  In some growth regions such as Texas many markets have gotten stronger given their vibrant economic base, though when you drill down market by market some of the Texas markets you’ve been hearing about for years are starting to tire a bit.  There are several secondary Texas markets that are offering up some incredible values and very, very solid market fundamentals right now, and some that portend great potential but aren’t quite there yet.  The same can be said for pockets around the country, some of which you very likely haven’t considered in years past.

There are lots of other markets out there that have been hit much harder by the single family housing kafuffle and the economic slow down than others, pulling other asset classes into the single family bloodbath, and casting a pall of doom and gloom across the market as you read and hear of escalating foreclosures, plunging values, and blossoming single family inventories breeding a whole host of additional woes for the area.   

We’ve enjoyed reading of late a blog called The BawldGuy Talking – written by Jeff Brown of Brown and Brown in San Diego.  Jeff posted a thoughtful and insightful post last week about why people should be thinking about the hardest hit markets around the country.  Without putting words in his mouth, I think based on his post and subsequent discussion that he agrees there are some lessons to be learned and some potential pearls of great value to be gleaned from some of the most troubled markets around the country. 

We’re going to spend most of this week looking at what (and why) the contrarian multifamily investor should in our humble opinion be considering these days, and we’re going to ponder the search to find those pearls of great value. 

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