Real Estate Investing

America’s most polluted cities have been named by the American Lung Association, according to Cnn.com.  If you live in Los Angeles, Bakersfield, or Visalia, California, it’s the ozone that could be your biggest problem.  However if particulates are your concern, look out for Bakersfield, Pittsburgh, and Visalia.  Sounds like either way, you might want to be leery about visiting the two California towns if you have asthma.

Six of every 10 Americans - 186 million people - live in places where their lives are endangered by the air they breathe, according to Stephen Nolan, the American Lung Association National Board Chairman.

“Air pollution is a major threat to human health,” he said in a prepared statement. “When 60% of Americans are left breathing air dirty enough to send people to the emergency room, to shape how kids’ lungs develop and to kill, air pollution remains a serious problem.”

Not all the news is bad, however.  Billings (Mont.), Fargo (No. Dak.), and Carson City (Nev.) had almost nonexistent ozone levels.  In addition, Cheyanne (Wyo.), Santa Fe, (NM), Honolulu, (Hawaii), and Great Falls (Mont.) had the lowest long-term particle average.

As you consider a move to another part of the country (or another part of your state), checking out the health risks associated with specific towns should be a key factor when making your decision.

Photo taken in southern Indiana, part of the great Midwest where you are at
lower risk of encountering bad air pollution problems.

Chicago Tribune editors must read this blog! Just kidding, their article about investing in student housing actually ran one day before my recent post on the topic.

In the news article, readers learn how Illinois-based Prime Properties increased revenues eightfold over three years and landed on the Inc. 500 list of America’s fastest-growing privately held companies. All this success came after the company broadened its spectrum to include student housing.

Indeed, money hasn’t been the problem for Prime Properties. After all, the company has 1,544 beds in 56 buildings worth $60 million and plenty of investors waiting in the wings at the ready. Instead, one of Prime Properties’ true challenges has been keeping apartments full despite the turnover each fall, the article states.

Chicago-based Scion Group was having such success in the student housing market that it recently teamed with ASB Capital Management. The joint venture agreement tripled the size of Scion’s workforce and bolstered its buying power. Scion’s main challenge: time.

“We are limited far more by time than anything,” says Scion founder and CEO Rob Bronstein. “A building with 500 students is a complicated business. Literally every day, decisions need to be made by the manager and owner.”

Scion’s strategy: Plan multi-million dollar capital improvements like eco-friendly upgrades, pool tables and plasma screen televisions, with cost spread out over at least about five years. Don’t overlook community colleges and junior colleges. These schools are also interested in having student housing within close proximity, a niche that helped Scion get its start. Above all, remember that money alone does not ensure success. Experts recommend doing the research, knowing the “lay of the land,” carefully selecting tenants and studying up on management skills.