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Hoping to profit from the housing bust and rising demand for rentals, investors are betting on Memphis suburbs.
Out-of-town money has poured into the suburbs because of issues in the city related to value, schools and crime, local experts said.
And theres plenty of housing to buy. Builders who put up hundreds of homes in suburbs such as Bartlett, Collierville, Cordova, Millington and Southaven during the housing boom left half-finished subdivisions filled with new and recently built homes. Many houses were vacated when the housing market and economy collapsed.
Now outside investors are attracted by the strong inventory of affordable housing stock in good physical condition that can easily be rented out, said John Gnuschke, a University of Memphis economist.
Large numbers of investors increase the value of rental properties and put upward...