There is still such undersupply in affordable housing for the so-called “missing middle.” This is firefighters, nurses and so on that have fixed salaries and have about 30% of their income going toward their housing budget and rental. The supply for these workers just doesn’t exist in many urban/suburban communities. Think primary, secondary and sometimes tertiary real estate markets where you won’t have a boom-bust cycle, so places like Montgomery, Alabama and Denver, Colorado that are growing fast and need the support of housing.

In part, we’re interested because of cash flow — we want cash flow coming from a majority of the properties, although when there is development involved there is obviously a lag. Unlike with traditional real estate funds, our investors get the benefit of depreciation. There’s also the opportunity for a future 1031 exchange if clients wish. [Investors that sell an investment property can avoid capital gains taxes if they reinvest the money in a similarly valued property or properties within a short period of time.]

How to play it with ETFs: While there is no pure-play multifamily REIT ETF, the Hoya Capital Housing ETF (HOMZ) is composed of 100 companies that represent the performance of the U.S. residential housing industry, and includes some multi-family REITs, said Balchunas. It also holds homebuilders and retail stocks, however, so it isn’t just a REIT ETF. HOMZ, with $59 million in assets, has an expense ratio of 0.45%.

Another way to play from Fruzzetti: I like abstract art, particularly paintings. You have to really love a piece of art rather than simply look at it as an investment, though. I own works by Audrey Flack, a beautiful, accomplished artist. A documentary about her came out last year, called Queen of Hearts: Audrey Flack. When she was younger, her works were in the abstract expressionist movement. Elizabeth Cooper is another artist whose works I own and enjoy — she is abstract contemporary. All of the artists I’m collecting are living.