The Party is Over: Net Lease & the Future of Commercial Real Estate

In a very interesting article by Globe St’s Amy Wolff Sorter, the typical real estate investor of the future is predicted to be quite different from the one of our near past. Due to real estates most unfortunate bubble, the new investor will be squarely focused on pragmatic investments for the future, rather than “Real Estate Riches in 14 Days”. If true, it sounds like this “future investor” would be very interested net leases.

Specifically the article states:

“Experts tell GlobeSt.com that, in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis, the real estate owner of the future will undergo a seismic shift from the buy-and-flip investor to one that is knowledgeable about real estate and will stay with an asset for the long haul.”

This description perfectly fits that of a net lease investor. Net leases are primarily characterized by long term leases with stable tenants of investment grade credit. As such, net lease properties are generally considered to be low risk, dependable investments. For a marketplace suffering the effects of a hangover fueled by a lost weekend of high risk binging, net leases could represent that cool cup of tea and handful of Advil in the morning.