When you invest in real estate, you’re not buying what it is today—you’re buying what it will become a few years from now. That’s especially true in multifamily, which, despite all the noise, remains one of the most compelling long-term plays out there. Unlike stocks, you don’t get a live ticker reminding you every five seconds what your property is “worth.” And that’s a good thing. Real estate moves slowly, and that patience rewards people who can see the story before it unfolds. The national headlines are confusing right now—depending on who you read, the sky is either falling or it’s never been brighter. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between. Mortgage rates are still above six percent, affordability is strained, and national price growth has flattened. But beneath the surface, there’s an entirely different story playing out—one that favors multifamily investors who understand that real estate is always, always, about location. Some markets are clearly soft. A few urban centers built too much too fast, and it’s showing up in higher vacancy and flattened rents. But other regions—think the Carolinas, Texas, parts of Florida—continue to thrive because people are still moving there in droves. Jobs, climate, taxes, and lifestyle continue to pull migration south and inland, and those people need somewhere to live. When you combine growing populations with a shrinking construction pipeline—new multifamily starts are down roughly 40% from their 2023 peak—you’re setting the stage for tightening supply and rent growth in the right markets over the next few years. That’s the part that separates pros from spectators. Anyone can read a national report and call it a trend. But the investors who win are the ones who know their markets intimately—who’s building what, where the jobs are moving, and how local policies are shaping demand. In that sense, real estate offers the only kind of “insider trading” that’s perfectly legal. The better you know the ground, the better your odds. For passive investors, that means something simple but crucial: partner with operators who live and breathe their markets. You want people who are plugged in at the street level, not just reading spreadsheets. Because in multifamily, the difference between a mediocre investment and a great one can be a single zip code. Real estate, especially multifamily, rewards patience, perspective, and proximity. You can’t control interest rates or the national narrative, but you can choose where—and with whom—you invest. And if history is any guide, those who make smart, localized bets while everyone else is sitting on the sidelines tend to be the ones who look like geniuses a few years down the road. This week on the Wealth Formula Podcast, I talk with a former professor and renowned real estate analyst who’s been studying these patterns for decades. We break down which markets are setting up for real opportunity, where caution is warranted, and what the next chapter of multifamily investing really looks like. Transcript Disclaimer: This transcript was generated by AI and may not be 100% accurate. If you notice any errors or corrections, please email us at [email protected].  In terms of multifamily, it, it's always a good long-term bet because in 70% of the markets we're not gonna over build. You just have to, you know, to, to know that. But they're gonna be a little bit harder to get into and, um, and they're gonna be steady cash flow and, and some of the other dynamics that are helping multifamily long term. Welcome, everybody. This is Buck Joffrey with the Wealth Formula Podcast. Coming to you from Montecito, California. Before we begin, I wanna begin with reminding you that there is a website associated with this podcast called wealth formula.com. Lots of things there for your, uh, viewing pleasure, including the, uh, opportunity to join the Accredited Investor Club, AKA Investor Club. That is where if you are a credit investor, which basically means you make $200,000 per year, $300,000 per year, if you're filing jointly or you have a net worth of a million dollars outside of your personal income, well congratulations. You are an accredited investor. You don't need to do anything else other than be your lovely self and sign up for investor club where you will get deal flow. Now that deal flow is, is. Coming to, uh, close to an end for the 2025 tax year. So if you're looking for tax advantage stuff, uh, that will help you, uh, reduce your tax bill for 2025, make sure you sign up sooner rather than later. Uh, and um, again, that's uh, wealth formula.com. So, uh, speaking of real estate, which we do a lot in the credit investor club, well. The thing about in, when you invest in real estate, um, you have to remember now this, you know, you're, you're not buying what it is today. You're buying what it will become a few years from now. Okay. That may seem obvious, but I don't think a lot of people think of it that way. Right. It's especially true in multifamily, uh, which despite all the noise, right, right now remains one of the most compelling long-term plays out there. I think you'll. Find experts across the board telling you that now unlike stocks, you don't get a live ticker reminding you every five seconds what your property is worth. And frankly, I think that's probably a pretty good thing. 'cause I, I could tell you the few things that I do have that are on tickers, I, I look at them too often. Real estate moves slowly and that patient rewards people who can see the story before it unfolds. No. What is that story? I mean, the national headlines are confusing. Uh, and it depends on, you know, who you read. It depends on, it depends on what market they're talking about. It depends on what class, because they're all moving in different directions. Right. We're talking about, you know, the froth and data centers. Meanwhile, we're talking about with multifamily being sort of on the floor right now, uh, waiting to be resuscitated right now. Of course you want to be on the side that's. Buying when something's being resuscitated. Not in the frothy space. But anyway, the truth in real estate as a whole, it's somewhere in between. Because of this, the reality is that mortgage rates are still above 6%. That really does affect real estate. Affordability, strain, national price growth has flattened. Um, but beneath the surface there is an entirely different story playing out and one that really favors multifamily investors who understand that. Real estate is always, always about location. Okay? So some markets are clearly gonna be soft, and boy, I'm glad I'm not a New York, uh, New York City, uh, real estate investor right now. Can you imagine with the Mayor Ani, um. You know, nothing personal there, but communism doesn't work. And uh, if I was a real estate, uh, investor in New York, I would be absolutely terrified right now. Right. Uh, but other regions, think about the Carolinas, you know. Florida, even Texas, continue to thrive because people are still moving there in droves because there's jobs there, because there's some affordability there. Jobs go, that's where people go, right? Jobs, climate, taxes, lifestyle. These are the things that are continuing to pull people south. They're moving inland. I mean, people moving away from California in droves. Why am I here? Well, because I am, I don't know. I guess I've got something wrong with me now. When you combine growing populations with a shrinking construction pipeline, you know, for example, new multifamily starts are down roughly 40% from their 2023 peak. So yeah, there's more supply out there, but the new starts, meaning starting construction, new stuff, they're way down. Right? You're setting the stage for tightening supply and rent growth in the right markets over the next few years. Now, knowing this kind of thing is what separates the pros from spectators, right? Anyone can read a national report, look at these big trend lines and all that, but the investors who are gonna win are the ones who know their markets very, very well. You know who's building what, where the jobs are moving, how the local policies are shaping demand. And in that sense, real estate offers something very interesting that is not available in the publicly traded equity markets, and that is insider trading. Insider trading in real estate is perfectly legal. Okay? Now, for passive investors, that means something simple but crucial. You may not be the one living in all these markets to know all the nooks and crannies, but you gotta partner with someone who does. You have to partner with operators who you know who are on the street, have other properties in the area are living and breathing it. You want people who are plugged in not just reading spreadsheets, because in multifamily, difference between a mediocre investment and a great one can be a single zip code, right? Real estate, especially multifamily. It rewards patients' perspective and proximity as much as we'd like to. We can't control interest rates, we can't control what's going on with the economy, although I think it's important to try to understand which way it's going. For example, again, rates are coming down. What does that do for real estate? Right? But aside from the macro stuff, you know, if history is any guide, those who make smart localized bets. While everyone else is sitting on the sidelines, tend to be the ones who look like geniuses a few years down the road. So this week on Wealth Formula Podcast, um, we're gonna try to put some of this together. Uh, I'm gonna talk with a former professor and renowned real estate analyst who's been studying these patterns for decades, and we're gonna break down some of these interesting ideas like markets and opportunities and all that.