Everything I've learned about construction and real estate
Since May, I’ve been soaking up all the information I can about construction and real estate, and I’d love to share what I’m learning! Some topics I plan to cover:
Future of cities: What will New York, San Francisco, and Austin look like as we emerge from COVID-19? Will people return to cities, or re-make their lives in the suburbs?
Housing for baby boomers: By 2035, one in three Americans will be over the age of 65. Less than 10% of baby boomers are interested in senior living - what kind of spaces will they be living in?
The next wave of housing innovation: The last few years have brought new startups in pre-fab homes (Cover, Mighty Buildings, Node), robotic / moveable furniture (Ori, Bumblebee Spaces), and factory-built mid-rise buildings (e.g., Prescient, Katerra). Will they succeed, and what comes next?
I’ll also explain how parts of the industry work - for example, I’ve learned about the incentives and policies that lead developers to blanket cities with 5-story “luxury” apartment buildings that all look kind of similar (subscribe to learn more about this one!)
Finally, I’ll give you a front row seat as I research and validate business ideas in this sector. Some of the ideas that we’ll take a look at:
Labor marketplace for construction workers: There is a severe shortage of skilled construction workers. Many of these workers are hired through word of mouth and through temp staffing agencies; however, quality is a persistent issue. Is there space for a more efficient digital labor platform?
Group procurement platform for construction materials: Development and construction are both highly fragmented industries; individual companies often do not have scale. A few general contractors (GCs) mentioned the idea of teaming up to procure windows and fixtures to improve pricing; could this be expanded into a buyer aggregation platform?
Accessory dwelling unit (ADU) financing: ADUs, or backyard cottages, have recently been legalized in California, Oregon, and parts of Washington to address the severe housing shortage. However, financing is not currently available from mainstream lenders for ADU construction. Could a niche lender emerge that provides ADU loans? Is it possible to provide interest rates that are low enough to be attractive to borrowers?
Urban infill development on formerly retail spaces: Retail closures were high before COVID, and it’s now hard to see how many retail spaces like strip malls and big box stores survive. Could you re-position these spaces into mixed-use real estate, combining food / grocery with medium density housing like townhomes?
I am not pursuing any of the above business ideas, but I’d love to share with you what I learned from investigating them. I will also bring you along the journey as I hunt for the Next Big Idea!
Thanks for reading! Also, we are running a survey to understand housing preferences for US residents over the age of 50. If you know anybody that fits this description, please share our survey, which will take about 10 minutes to complete!