Investors big and small are quickly realizing that there are seven main types of real estate, including residential, office, warehouse, industrial, hotel, retail, agricultural, and others, generally in the “special” category.

Evolving to meet human needs and desires, these distinct types of properties have arisen largely through market forces, although in the modern era, government regulation and zoning often affect the actual location and extent of real estate.

Urban scientists know that some patterns of housing development have reappeared over and over throughout history, such as the concentration of housing and services near urban centers, which inevitably pushes manufacturing and agriculture out of urban perimeters. In fact, visitors to the surviving ruins of Pompeii around 79 AD C., you’ll recognize fast food stalls along city streets, vendors serving hot pot stews, and pottery fields and factories located outside the city’s denser slums.

The general layout of major metropolitan areas has also remained largely constant over the centuries. Even in the jet age, large urban areas are almost always located on the coast of the ocean or large rivers, dotted with ports and transportation hubs.

For the citizen and investor, property is timeless, and while some great cities have declined or disappeared, most great cities have existed for thousands of years. Even in the New World, big cities have deep roots; for example, New York and then New Amsterdam were founded in 1642, while the Roman occupiers founded London in AD 42, exactly 1600 years earlier.

Thus, well-chosen properties benefited both owners and residents, and will almost certainly continue to benefit even after the current owners and even their descendants are alive.

Why invest in real estate?

For investors looking for security, income and valuation, there is little that can compete with a well-chosen property. Of course, in every venture, in every business, and in every real estate investment, there is risk.

For those who are completely risk averse in search of income, there are sovereign bonds from large nations such as Germany or the United States, although the yields are often low or even below the rate of inflation.

Lower-grade bonds, such as corporate bonds rated by a ratings agency, may offer higher returns, but also higher risks.

And for those looking for big, fast growth, the Wall Street or private equity markets offer many opportunities with many perceived reward profiles, but also risks, risks that include total loss (or even negative returns, for those who tend to gamble). certain options). markets or other derivative markets).

Therefore, for investors looking for the best true combination of security, valuation and profitability, there are several asset classes that can compete with the right real estate assets.

Recently, seven types of properties have been opened up to investors of all ranks through convenient and low-cost platforms, such as real estate investment trusts (REITs), publicly traded real estate companies, or syndicated and crowdfunded private investments. real estate offers. The individual investor is no longer limited to a single-family home, small apartment building, or ranch.

There’s another good reason to invest in real estate: While true geniuses like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk rarely build a tech empire, many great real estate fortunes have been created through the diligent and consistent efforts of dedicated and dedicated investors.

Therefore, investors should know a little more about each property class.

Office markets

Historically, office districts are a relatively new phenomenon, having been used in agriculture, industry, retail, and the residential sector, for example.

Today, of course, the high-rise downtown central business districts are a symbol of modern commerce in the US and around the world. Real estate investors, especially institutional investors, have snapped up high-rises, which can attract coveted solvent blue chips and other high-end tenants.

Interestingly, the concept of the modern office district arose after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 leveled much of the city. New, better, taller, and more precise buildings were built, and one tower gave rise to another, and soon the office district was born.

There are many ways to subdivide each real estate sector, but in general, modern office buildings are viewed in terms of the central business district and suburbs, and then class A, B, or C as well.

In recent years, subcategories such as “mixed use” have emerged, which typically include ground-floor retail as well as “creative” and “general” office types.

Creative office buildings are often converted to warehouses or other older structures, and shared-space office buildings often include a broader set of “monitored” retail and service tenants in an attempt to create a living environment. most desirable for all tenants.

In terms of class, unsurprisingly, Class A refers to prime office properties in prime locations, with the highest quality of construction, finishes and finishing standards, the best technology, and landscaping. Institutional investors often buy such large structures as part of their “core” portfolios.

Class B offices are generally located outside of major central business districts or may be older facilities. For investors, Class B properties can be attractively priced, and because some older buildings have architectural charm, and with modernization and beautification, they can regain access to Class A layers and higher rents. associated with them.

Residential market

Possibly the second oldest type of property after agriculture, residential is still primarily a market for owner-users or small investors, although in recent decades even single-family homes and, of course, apartment buildings or the residential sector they have become increasingly popular. . among institutional investors.

As with office buildings, investors have divided the multi-family or apartment building sector into three broad categories called high-rise, mid-rise, and garden.

In apartment buildings, high-rises refer to structures of 10 stories or more, which are often high-end bastions from the start due to the cost of construction. Once buildings grow above five stories, steel construction instead of wood becomes the norm, along with other associated higher built-in costs such as elevators and grand staircases, and even large underground garages.

Mid-rise apartments are typically five to nine stories high and have elevators, but still often resort to car parking if built in the suburbs.

And garden apartments are the workhorses of the industry, typically two- and three-story walk-up buildings, found in both suburban and urban areas.

As with the office markets, the apartment building market has become more volatile in recent years, and the conversion of warehouses or even old office buildings into residential spaces has become common. The clever conversion of an inexpensive dilapidated office or warehouse building into a residential building has proven to be cost-effective if managed well.

More cities are encouraging “mixed-use” ownership, which typically includes ground-floor retail space with upstairs housing, though mid-level offices or hotel rooms are sometimes included.

Also, in recent years, many shopping malls have been considered for conversion, at least partially, into housing.

As for institutional investment, one of the big changes in recent years has been the strong influx of large buyers into the detached single-family home market.

Institutional investors such as Tricon Residential, American Homes 4 Rent and Brookfield Asset Management have moved to buy thousands of individual single-family homes for income and possible appreciation in value.

The granddaddy and biggest player in the single-family home market is Invitation Homes, a Big Board-listed real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns more than 80,000 homes and adds to its portfolio on a quarterly basis.

The emergence of colossal buyers in the single-family home markets in the new millennium has raised some concerns, but for individual investors or those involved in crowdfunding or home syndication, there is some degree of confirmation that large institutional investors are in, too. In the spotlight. a game.

If Wall Street, with its great tribe of analysts and speculators, thinks housing is a smart investment, it’s probably as good a bet as any.

Of course, even before single-family homes were built, Wall Street, unions, and institutional investors were investing heavily in apartment buildings. Large multi-family investors, such as the public REIT and MAA in Tennessee, can own more than 100,000 units and also accumulate real estate in the portfolio each year.

There are other subcategories of housing, including condominiums and their premiums, cooperatives and planned communities (especially for seniors), and even manufactured homes.

In the US, the common story with housing is that due to property zoning and other restrictions, new supply has long since declined, especially since the 2008 global financial crisis.

This housing shortage trend is global in nature and appears to be the inevitable result of increasing urbanization and the attendant nature of homeowners and other groups seeking greater control over neighborhood development and, more importantly, limit new competition.

Under such conditions, even industrial housing estates, once considered somewhat declassified, became an attractive investment option in the 2000s. The quality of manufactured homes has increased in recent decades, and furthermore, while the industrial inhabitants

Class C offices are generally useful, but designed for day-to-day operations outside of the best central business districts or suburban submarkets, and are often occupied by small accounting or law firms, public relations shops, and the like.

Agriculture

Farmland and ranch land is the oldest type of real estate, and because people never stopped eating, this kind of investment never went out of style.

There are more than 900 million agricultural bloodlines in the US, about three-fifths to owner-operators and the rest to tenants who typically lease fields.

The prospect of owning land for rent may be invited to a reception who does not have the desire or time to be owner-operators.

Other investors are finding farmers’ crowdfunders and syndicators to tap into a market that’s been around for centuries.

There is a long track record of US farmland that has come about with property values growing annually at about 6% in recent years while still generating income.

While there are ups and downs in every industry, in general, farmland increases stable value due to the steady demand for products. In terms of income and safety, agricultural enterprises are hard to beat.

Special types of properties

Typically, investors group other types of properties into criteria, including theater, parking, religious, recreational, and medical properties.

Sometimes commerce or human habits give rise to a new type of property that is not quite found in the broad category commonly used, and the same thing happens with data centers.

Not quite warehouses, not quite manufacturing, but not quite offices, data centers have become destinations, in particular for private calls and some REITS.

The ubiquity of the Internet requires increasingly powerful customer processing equipment, and the world’s computing infrastructure, which has moved from unnoticed processors to mining data centers and virtual networks, is serving hundreds via the cloud.

There are other specialty real estate investments, such as telecom towers, and there will no doubt be more in the future as business develops.

Conclusion

As you know, the ownership of property, real estate and management of objects is one of the oldest objects of human enterprises, dating back to antiquity and the founding of the first cities. Broad property types such as agricultural, residential, retail, or warehouse development as metropolitan areas are acquired, and commerce requires specific property types.

Many industries will come and go, and many businesses will end up floundering in the path of Polaroid cameras, typewriters, or phone booths.

But wherever business flourishes and people gather, there will be a demand for real estate. Well-chosen real estate investments have proven time and time again that they last while generating returns.