What if you knew those Wireless Resort profiles that attracted you?
For example, cappuccino shops and hip cafes give a different signal than a Wal-Mart or McDonalds.
An excerpt from Book Five in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams in the Sierra Mountain resorts.
Part Three in a 4-Part Series.
Part Two: Taking Calculated Risks
What if you used Nielsen’s MyBestSegments and plugged in any of the Wireless Resorter lifestyle profiles, could you find you dream neighborhoods?
You couldn’t except by trial and error.
- Find the zip code for the town on your short list.
- Plug it into Nielsen’s MyBestSegments online database and find out if it was.
- Or in the majority of cases – not.
What if you knew those Wireless Resort profiles that attracted you.
- Or those higher status and income profiles?
- Or those age and life stage profiles?
- You couldn’t simply plug them in and find the town or your dreams.
But, being a “What If” guy I reverse engineered the process.
And lived to write a book about it.
Following Harry Dent’s logic – the more affluent people always seek the best areas and the number of these areas is limited.
Therefore, such areas will see the most money chasing the fewest properties.
In the simple math of supply and demand, that adds up to the best real estate appreciation and, for some people, to the highest quality of life.
Luckily, he included a list of Western resort towns that fit his criteria to begin with.
- Each one included a mix of lifestyles.
- I painstakingly plugged zip codes of potential towns on my bucket list and compared them to Dent’s originals.
- Over time patterns emerged.
And with enough patience a workable knowledge bank provided what I wanted.
An easy way to search on 09M1T1 and identify a subset of all the Western towns and a way to group them into geographical travel itineraries for vacations.
- Get out and smell the wildflowers.
- Become entranced with waterfalls
- Feel the cool breeze blowing through the golden aspen leaves.
- And take note about the bucket list town’s amenities.
- Whether or not it’s making substantial investments in its public facilities.
More specifically Dent offers a short list
Is it expanding the airport, improving public transportation, and building sports complexes, schools, cultural facilities, convention and meeting centers?
What kinds of tourist attractions and family entertainment facilities is the city building or improving, and what do you think of them?
How about the community’s attitude towards an influx of new people?
If it is creating an environment to attract more, this is another sure sign that the town is expanding and planning for more expansion.
Remember the online feud over chickens as pets in Bishop?
“It is obvious that you are a young, smart-a– who probably moved from LA to Mammoth, couldn’t afford to live there and ended up here.”
“I was born here. You’re obviously a hypocrite.”
“Go back to Metropolis, where superman protects you from all the big, scary and stinky farm animals.
Bishop will be ok without one more flatlander type.”
A quick rule of thumb isn’t one universally appreciated by the locals, either.
- Franchises are moving in.
- Franchises such as Starbuck’s Coffee, McDonalds and Wal-Mart.
These companies do extensive demographic and lifestyle analysis before moving to an area and they don’t make such an investment unless they are convinced that there is strong growth potential.
An important side note.
You’ll recall as a ‘Preneur, after weighing the pros and cons of buying a business or a franchise, investing in a franchise may also provide you with a proven business system and an established local customer base.
Growth by itself, however, is not the only factor to evaluate for keeping your bucket list town on the shortlist, and later when you set up shop.
Dent says to …
Consider what types of businesses are moving in, what kinds are already present, and determine whether or not they reflect and support the kind of lifestyle you’re seeking.
Maybe just as important, you’ll get a feel for what types of people you can expect to move into the area in the near and longterm future.
For example, cappuccino shops and hip cafes give a different signal than a Wal-Mart or McDonalds.
The high-end businesses suggest you may be walking down Main Street of the next Aspen, whereas a Wal-Mart probably indicates another low-cost business town or an exurb that eventually will look more like an extended suburb.
In reality, you’ll find both in your bucket list town.
Steps:
(8) Sit down with your spouse, partner or friends and write-up your bucket list of places.
(21) Spend the time to find the best places to live and invest. It will be worth your while. The great thing about living where others spend their vacation is the year round quality-of-life.