What kind of investments will be better in 2021 than other investment types?

Description:  A discussion of what asset classes in 2021 are poised to do better than others

2021 is a year of transition… a year of change… and change is, of course, frequently uncomfortable.  In this kind of environment, what’s more valuable than just about anything else is predictability.  Not in the sense of knowing exactly what return you’re going to make, but in the sense of investing in assets where the volatility tends to be low and even the “worst-case scenario” isn’t terrible.

To me, the best match for that description is real estate in general and multifamily real estate particularly.  Multifamily just tends to be very reliable and tends to be an extraordinary hedge against inflation, which nearly every astute economist is predicting for our near future.

As for other types of real estate investments, I’m less thrilled about office and retail space.  There certainly are opportunities there, and all of our retail projects have done very well, even though covid. But that’s only because our projects were quite purposefully located in very strategic markets with a very bright outlook.  Overall though, I‘d say, that office and retail space tends to be more volatile than multifamily properties without significantly higher returns.

But if you are looking for higher returns, a great place to get it in 2021 could by investing in well-selected ground-up development projects.  You’ve got to be very careful, of course, as these projects can be far riskier than typical multifamily projects.  But the reward can be truly impressive as well… so this may be a great option for those looking for investments to “juice” their overall returns.