Should You Start Investing In Industrial Real Estate?
November 19, 2018 by Staff
Filed under Money/Business, Weekly Columns
(Akiit.com) There are always things going on in the financial world that dictate where all the money lies. These things are generally affected by political happenings, business trends – and anything else that has an impact on what people are spending money on.
Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about industrial real estate. Many people are wondering whether or not this is where all the money lies right now. Does it represent a very smart money-making opportunity, or should you actually avoid it at all costs?
What is industrial real estate?
Industrial real estate is almost like a branch of commercial real estate in that they both cater to the same audience; businesses. The difference is that industrial real estate tends to be things like 
warehouses, factories, and so on. On the other hand, commercial real estate is more to do with offices, retail stores, and restaurants.
Is it time to start investing in industrial real estate?
The reason this article has been written is that there’s so much talk about this type of real estate right now. It’s definitely a sector that’s dividing opinion as many experts are split on whether or not you should invest in it to make money. Primarily, it comes down to two factors; Donald Trump and the online business model.
So, what does Trump have to do with this? Well, it revolves around some of the contentious political decisions he’s made since he gained power. Mainly, people are worried about Trump tariffs impact on industrial real estate. We won’t go into the full details here, as there’s just too much to unpack and analyze. But, the gist is that these tariffs are reducing the demand for warehouse space as fewer imports are coming in from China. Therefore, experts are worried that money will dry up as the demand decreasing will mean rental prices drop, which can make it hard to generate a profit from a warehouse you own.
However, the counterpoint to this is that the online business model is booming. In fact, up until these tariffs, the industrial real estate sector was doing extremely well. This all came down to the sheer number of online companies that now require warehouse space. Individuals are starting ecommerce businesses from home, which means they need places to store all their goods and get them shipped out to customers. The best solution is industrial real estate! As such, some people argue that – as long as the ecommerce trend continues – there will always be money in this particular market.
You can now see why this is such a hotly debated topic! Two sides see things in different ways, but what is the right conclusion? The industrial market has dropped slightly because of Trump’s stubborn policies. It will probably fall even more as these tariffs continue to be in place. However, if ecommerce businesses continue to pop up and grow bigger, then demand will inevitably rise back up. Current trends suggest that this is probably the case as the online business model is only just getting started. So, this could actually be a great time to invest in industrial real estate while there’s a slight dip, meaning you can get a warehouse for much cheaper than usual. Then, as time goes by, you should still make money.
Staff Writer; Peter Shaw