The real estate market is one of the most volatile on the planet. One month it can be in total freefall. While another it can skyrocket to insane prices. But occasionally a new trend appears in the market that has experts and the general public alike scratching their heads. And recently we have seen just such a trend appear.
Lately, a lot of residential properties are being bought up by businesses, rather than by individuals. And the surprising thing is not all of these properties are being bought by real-estate agencies or landlords. Some are being bought by shop owners or businesses that have little to nothing to do with real estate. So why are more businesses buying residential homes?
Why Residential Property Is So Valuable
Before we look at why businesses are buying residential property, we need to understand what makes the residential property so valuable, to begin with. Firstly, and most obviously, people need somewhere to live. Secondly, residential property is often the most versatile in terms of decoration, construction, and selling power. Selling a business property or industrial takes a lot of time and effort as opposed to selling a home.
The combination of these factors makes the residential property very appealing to investors and buyers. But why exactly are businesses buying the property?
Re-Sale Value Brings in Extra Income
The most obvious reason a non-real-estate company might look into buying residential property is to make a bit of extra cash. As we said before there is a lot of room for development within residential properties and, as such, companies can buy a home, renovate it and flip it for a massive profit with relative ease. As a side note, if you’re looking to sell your home then a great way to sell your house for cash quickly is to find a business looking to add to their portfolio of properties. Now is a good time to sell as the market is quite strong.
Or they can rent the property out to bring in a passive income, which can help subsidize a lot of their expenditures for their normal business.
Some Businesses Use the Properties as a Base
Not all companies operate out of business properties. These days a lot of companies are based entirely online. Shipping products directly to the client. And, as such, they might not need to spend all the money renting an office. So smaller independent companies have started buying residential properties to use as a base of operations for their business.
These companies will convert the rooms into storage facilities or filming studios or craft rooms. And as long as they don’t actually invite customers into the property or conduct business transactions there, it is all legal.
Businesses Are Using the Properties as Bunkhomes for Staff
There are a lot of companies out there that strive to give people a second chance. To help people get off the streets and back into normal life. And some have taken this idea even further. In recent years some larger companies have been buying houses and turning them into bunkhouses. These are offered to new staff who don’t have anywhere to live. A temporary solution until they can get themselves a new place.
These schemes have seen a lot of praise, especially for their impact in reducing the number of homeless people. Some governments are even considering offering tax breaks for companies who follow this bunkhouse scheme.