Women Are The Future Of Real Estate

Not too long ago, I received an email for an upcoming conference, Limitless Expo. This event had quite an impressive line-up of speakers. From Robert Kiyosake, to Gammon and even Christopher Voss it's an annual event you definitely should not miss. What was so interesting about the email, though, was the fact that it did not mention any of those speakers. Instead, it highlighted all of the women speakers who were going to be at the conference. Full disclosure, I was one of those speakers, but the other female speakers included Kathy Fettke, Lisa Song Sutton, Susan Wilcox Wilcox, and Kristen Salcito Sandquist. So why would an event decide to highlight all of the women speakers?

Because, Women are the Future of Real Estate.

When I started investing in real estate in 2009, I was definitely “The Only Woman in the Room.” Whenever I told anyone that I was a real estate investor, they automatically assumed I said real estate realtor regardless of how much emphasis I put on the word “investor”. When I attended real estate meet-ups I sat in many rooms with only men. In fact, it was the catalyst for my book, The Only Woman in the Room, Knowledge and Inspiration from 20 Women Real Estate Investors. Now, however, I am finding more and more women entering the real estate investing space. When I attend real estate meet-ups I am seeing a minimum of 20% of female attendees. I am also noticing more and more women real estate communities forming, for example The Real Estate InvestHER and WREN. Why? Because, Women are the Future of Real Estate.

There are multiple reasons why women are becoming real estate investors. For starters, according to a 2022 National Association of REALTORS® report 66% of realtors are women. This positions women perfectly to make the transition from a realtor to investor, as women already possess a very good baseline knowledge of the asset class. Another aspect of women realtors is the fact that they were initially drawn to the career due to the flexible work schedule. Real estate investing provides this same benefit and even has the potential to provide even greater flexibility through passive investments. 

The next reason women are drawn to investing is because they are finding success. Multiple studies have even shown that women continue to outperform men when it comes to investing. One recent study, conducted by Fidelity, found that women outperformed men by .4%. While this number may seem inconsequential, overtime can yield quite a significant difference especially if one were to compound (reinvest) their returns. 

The final reason I will highlight is the fact that the cat is out of the bag. A 2019 Harvard Business Review study found that successful women tend to be successful due to the close knit inner circle of female friends they have. This inner circle not only provides support, but also intel on how to be successful. To put this in perspective, according to The Motley Fool, in 2018 only 44% of women invested outside of their retirement account, whereas in 2021 that number grew to 67%! What is even more interesting is when the data is broken down by generation. Specifically, 62% of Boomers, 67% of Xers and a whopping 71% of millennial women invest outside of their retirement accounts. When looking at real estate specific investments, the same trends emerge. Zippia reported that 31.6% of real estate investors were women in 2021, up from 28.02% in 2020. I think you know why, but just so we keep the theme going: Because, Women are the Future of Real Estate.

So, if Women are the Future of Real Estate what does that really mean? Like any new perspective entering a tried and true space, get ready for change. Real estate investing has occurred for centuries and while we have witnessed some forms of innovation, the industry is still very archaic. Personally, I believe over the next decade we are going to see innovation in construction, real estate purpose, technology, business conduct and legislation that will catapult the industry forward. From a leadership perspective, I believe we will start to see more women emerge as dominant real estate industry leading experts in all real estate asset classes. Finally, from a wealth perspective, I believe we will have more women in control of their (and their family’s) financial situation than any previous year in history. 

As I reflect on the Limitless Expo email, I am reminded that these types of expos looked very different just a few years ago. I distinctly remember attending multiple conferences with not a single female speaker, which makes me wonder if…the future is already here.