How Bright Green Bikes In Trees Are Changing The Real Estate Market
If you have not seen them yet, you will soon. Green, yellow, orange and all manner of brightly colored abandoned bikes are appearing all over town.
Contrary to first appearances, these bikes are not lost or abandoned – they belong to one of several new dockless “Bike Share” companies starting up nationwide.
The bike share concept has been around for years, but the new twist is that these bikes have no docking station and can be parked anywhere. This allows for an enormous amount of convenience, but it has the potential for chaos as well. Some users have gotten pretty “creative” with where they park their bike when finished!
I have personally taken a ride or two and have loved the experience, but my interest in bike sharing has much more to do with what it says about the future of real estate.
Bikes are just the latest consumer good added to the growing list of items we can all share. You can share your car ride (Uber), or if you don’t like the idea of being a driver all day, you can just share your car (Turo). And then, of course, you can even share your house (Airbnb).
Home sharing is here and it’s just beginning. My personal approach has been to start buying and renting out Airbnb homes, and I recommend you do the same. You have the chance to be on the front end of a trend that is just beginning. In ten years, the world will look at you and wish they would have acted early like you did.
The Death Of Suburbia
In the 1940’s and 50’s the landscape of America began to drastically shift from a country full of city dwellers to an ever- expanding move towards suburbs. Everyone wanted their own; their own house, their own cars, their own commute, and their own fenced-in yard.
Fast forward 70 years and enter the millennials and Generation Z. These young people have seen what a huge pain it is to manage all of that crap. Yards to mow, oil to change, big houses to clean – why not just cut down on the need we all have for stuff, as well as the space for that stuff?
In a world of ride sharing and autonomous vehicles, the decreased need for parking alone will allow for massive amounts of redevelopment, turning huge parking lots into affordable and convenient city housing.
In addition, think of the space freed up as our working world becomes increasingly virtual, allowing people to work from home. The Gluch Group now has 22 team members, and only half of us actually work from an office. Office spaces and suburban mansions will probably forever be a part of American culture, but I’m convinced lots of the wasted resources we have will steadily be repurposed into the shared economy.
Basically, any resource you can think of that sits abandoned, vacant, or unused for large amounts of time (cars, bikes, offices, churches, homes, parking lots, restaurants) is fair game for this new and more sustainable way of living.
How To Be On The Right Side Of This Change
In light of all of this, we are anticipating an enormous amount of growth and redevelopment in the downtown districts all across Phoenix. Basically any place that is friendly to bikers and walkers will be affected by this land grab.
Our recommendation is that all prudent investors at least consider entering this market by investing in an Airbnb property. Don’t know where to start? We JUST put the finishing touches on a resource we call the Zip Code Maximizer. This amazing tool is the product of thousands of hours of research and allows us to sit down with potential investors and, based on their specific goals, create a laser focused plan to get started. Give us a call to get started or check out ZipCodeMaximizer.com to get a free demo!
