Amazon Announced its Top 20 Finalists for HQ2 and Why You Should Care

If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you’ve probably heard that Amazon is shopping for HQ2 - the home of their second headquarters.

In September they put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) to North American Cities searching for:

• A metro with more than 1 million people
• A stable and business-friendly environment
• Urban or suburban locations attractive to technical talent
• An international airport within 45 minutes with direct flights to key cities
• Close to freeways
• High capacity connectivity (fiber optic and cellular)
• Access to large, educated labor force
• Attractive community and quality of life for employees
• Access to mass transit to the new site
• "Scale and creativity" in real estate options.

They received 238 proposals from cities vying to become Amazon’s second corporate home.  The phenomenal interest was not surprising.

It’s a HUGE prize - Amazon is projecting 50,000 jobs with an average annual salary of $100,000.  To do the math, that’s $5 BILLION per year new income.  PLUS they plan on investing another $5 billion in capital investment.  That’s a game-changing boon to any city.

Today Amazon announced the top 20 Finalists:

1. Atlanta
2. Austin, Tex.
3. Boston
4. Chicago
5. Columbus, Ohio
6. Dallas
7. Denver
8. Indianapolis
9. Los Angeles
10. Miami
11. Montgomery County, Md.
12. Nashville
13. Newark
14. New York
15. Northern Virginia
16. Philadelphia
17. Pittsburgh
18. Raleigh, N.C.
19. Toronto
20. Washington, D.C.

As a real estate investor, why should you care?

The number one rule of Real Estate Investing is "Location! Location! Location!"  

Whether or not your property will make money has almost everything to do with its location.  You have to pick the right property market to invest in.

One trick I learned from my mentors, The Real Estate Guys, Robert Helms and Russell Gray, is to see what the big companies like Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, and McDonalds are doing.  When they move into a residential real estate market, it’s because they’ve been watching the numbers and expect growth.  

They have the budgets to hire analysts that study migration trends, demographic shifts, infrastructure plans, etc.  They check and see if there are major employers coming and if there are freeways, airports, and other key pieces of infrastructure to support a growing population.  

When the signs look good these big companies move in to get ahead of growth.  So, if you’re seeing those types of companies moving into a residential market, it’s a good bet that it’s safe for you too.

[That's one of the reasons we are investing in Lake Charles, Louisiana right now.  There are currently $117 BILLION in new construction projects currently underway or slated for the next 10 years in that market.  These new projects will bring in an estimated 25,000-35,000 highly-paid construction jobs plus an estimated 35,000+ permanent jobs into the area] 

With Amazon’s move, it’s like a new Costco or Home Depot times 1000.  Not only must the basics already be there in that market, BUT Amazon itself will be creating demographic shifts, infrastructure growth, new jobs, and population growth.  

And it’s not just what Amazon itself will do… there will be all sorts of secondary and tertiary businesses that will blossom to support this gigantic new corporate citizen - creating even more jobs and economic opportunities in the market. 

These secondary and tertiary businesses will include the real estate businesses that house all the new employees and other businesses that support Amazon.  In other words, commercial and residential real estate will be in high demand.

So pay attention to what Amazon decides to do.  Whatever market is lucky enough to land this huge prize, will provide amazing real estate investing opportunities for investors like us.  

****

Join our Private Real Estate Investor Goddesses Sisterhood – our group dedicated to helping women pleasurably build Real Estate wealth through: making a place/community better than we find it; creating only win-win situations; and uplifting and enriching everyone touched by a transaction.

Please take a few minutes by clicking the link below and answer a few questions, so we know more about you and how this group can serve and support you. Thanks!

Click Here to Join Our REIG Private Facebook Community