Erik wrote an exclusive article for Forbes discussing why Location Is Everything In Real Estate, Especially Opportunity Zones. Erik explains why investors should consider a region’s past, present, and potential when deciding which Opportunity Zone Fund to invest in.
“‘Location, location, location’ isn't just a mantra. It should be every OZ investor's rallying cry. (These) are the three most important indicators of value and profitability,” Erik writes.
With hundreds of OZ funds around the nation to choose from, Erik recommends for investors to do their due diligence and look for the following:
- Independent analyses – Look for third-party validation, including reports about which cities are best poised to recover quickly in a post-pandemic economy. Moody's and Bloomberg recently published such findings, both of which put San Jose at the top, by the way.
- Population Growth and Housing Needs – Is the OZ in a region where people need or want to live? For instance, in Silicon Valley, rapid job creation since 2008 has created a jobs-housing mismatch of nearly five to one. The job engine isn’t slowing down here in downtown San Jose as Google and Adobe have big plans to expand their office space.
- Transit Infrastructure - Robust transit is a critical indicator of an area's economic vitality. San Jose’s transit strengths, for example, include Caltrain, a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) expansion, and a busy international airport.
- Developer-Friendly Local Government – Local buy-in is crucial to the Opportunity Zones’ success. Urban Catalyst is thankful for the City of San Jose’s Planning Department for working to keep our projects moving quickly through the application process!
Read his full article here.
