South Florida’s economic appeal attracts real estate investors | Opinion

As the country continues to emerge from the effects of the pandemic, there’s no question that remnants of this healthcare crisis will remain with us for quite some time.

There are also issues impacting the population’s enthusiasm to travel, get back to the office, and simply mingle — face-to-face — at restaurants, concerts and classes.

We saw these dynamics in play at a recent real estate investment we hosted in South Florida. There were about 50 students hailing from Georgia, Texas, New Jersey, Missouri, Michigan, New York, Illinois, Alabama, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Germany.

While we did sense a restlessness among our students and a desire to travel, there appeared to be other factors influencing their interest in our real estate investment workshop.

Perhaps the most compelling issue is that people from out-of-state (and country) are intrigued by the business and social environment in the Sunshine State, and specifically in South Florida. As you know, after a shaky start when the pandemic hit, we have rebounded quite nicely due to vaccinations and people taking proper steps to avoid infection.

Our students frequently mentioned other factors, most notably a thriving economy and an extremely robust real estate investment environment. In short, they wanted to see this area firsthand and implement the various strategies we taught in a three-day workshop.

The desire to engage personally and interest in South Florida clearly emerged as students enthusiastically asked during the pandemic when we would be resuming in-person classes.

We heard the following during registration and at the class in regard to South Florida as a place to live and do business:

There are still those who prefer using Zoom technology due to its convenience and as a way to avoid possible infection. We are actually considering having “hybrid” formats for our classes that allow in-person and virtual attendance. This will likely be the case for many businesses as they consider less travel and more liberal practices for working at home.

Numbers reflect that business and airline travel is gradually increasing in response to statements from the CDC that it is safe with certain protocols in place.

Regardless of these increases in travel and in-person meetings, it is likely that safety protocols will be in place for the foreseeable future. At our workshops, we encouraged wearing masks and we enforced social distancing as did the hotel which hosted our event.

The good news is that the numbers of those stricken by COVID-19 continue to decline, creating a somewhat safe environment for travel and social interaction. South Florida appears to be ahead of most areas as tourism, employment and business operations are improving.

This is especially true of South Florida’s real estate investment climate, which attracts buyers from all over the world. Our real estate sector has always been resilient. It has emerged from the pandemic strong and healthy. This trend will continue as people target the area as a place to invest in and to live.