I’ve learned I live in one of the best areas in the nation for real estate investment. I attend the DC-REIA meetings (http://www.dcreia.com), where leader Sherman Ragland does an excellent job of updating us on markets and projected changes. He focuses on a circle within a ninety-mile radius of the White House, an area that holds 7.9 million people. The federal government is going to grow, what with the current financial crisis and the military base realignment process that is bringing 100,000 new jobs to the area by 2011. In addition, 2/3 of the federal workforce is now eligible for retirement, and half of those employees will stay here when they retire and their jobs are filled by new people.

Anirban Busu, an economist with the Baltimore Sage Policy Group, explained at a recent meeting how Washington DC has replaced New York City as the financial capital of North America. Last year’s market events crippled Wall Street, and when people can’t look to their bankers for help, they turn to the federal government. He said the world’s twelve top stock markets fell in 2008, ranging from a 68% drop in Shanghai to 33% for the Swiss market, with the USA markets in the lower range. This new financial role will bring more jobs and people to this area, and especially to Prince George’s County.

Don Peebles, Washington DC native and real estate developer, whose current book is The Peebles Path to Real Estate Wealth: How to Make Money in Any Market, told us the best place to invest in the USA is the DC area, and the best place within that area is Prince George’s County–my current home. That’s because this county has the most Metro stations, the largest concentration of government employees, an influential Congressman, the least federal leased office space, and an affluent population. Whereas the previous administration focused on home ownership and road improvements, the new focus is expected to be on public transportation and affordable rentals. So I’m here in Upper Marlboro, and http://buymyemptyhouse.com is a spot to list houses for sale.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Real estate investment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.