Self storage returns to its usual seasonal patterns

Historically speaking, the performance of the self-storage sector has been highly correlated with population growth and household formation. When population growth decelerates, the self-storage vacancy rate tends to trend upward, while the reverse also is true. Consistent with these historic trends, the U.S. self-storage vacancy rate peaked in 2020 in response to the slowing population […]

International Investments: Japan

Japan is one of the richest, most financially flush countries on the planet, and Japanese investors have historically been some of the most shrewd and active players in international finance. But roughly two-and-a-half years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Land of the Rising Sun has found itself outdistanced as a cross-border funding source, at least […]

Bill Gates may be onto something with that potato farm

Mark Crawford is frequently nonplussed about the reactions he gets from some people when they contact him to discuss an investment in farmland. Crawford, a former hard-money lender specializing in apartment complexes in the Los Angeles area, decided to sell his apartment holdings. In 2017, he and his wife, Joanna, moved from Beverly Hills to […]