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The Starlink arbitrage may be the greatest real estate repricing of all time. Details matter, and prices may be propped up by bailouts, so a long-only strategy is probably best. But conceptually: short NY/SF/LA/etc, long rural areas & well-run cities around the world.

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Austin Schlessinger

@austinschless

· Jan 17, 2021

Replying to @balajis

It’s going to be quiet interesting to see how this plays out... Where do you think would be the best place to invest in real estate rn? My thought is either: 1. Places where most essential workers work 2. Places that trademark themselves as “remote work” places

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Balaji Srinivasan

@balajis

Jan 17, 2021

Note: I'm not a real estate investor and this is an intellectual exercise at this point. But would be interested in thoughts from people on how to operationalize this trade, if only for the prove-them-wrong aspect. How to bet on decentralization...a custom REIT?

Balaji Srinivasan

@balajis

Jan 17, 2021

Why call it the "Starlink arbitrage"? Because huge areas of the map just became much more habitable thanks to Starlink satellite internet, *just* as remote went vertical *and* poorly run cities became a health hazard.

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Balaji Srinivasan

@balajis

· Apr 26, 2020

Starlink and technologies like it may mean internet everywhere. And remote work is about to progress 10 years in the next few months. The combination increases the value proposition of rural areas relative to cities. twitter.com/Teslarati/stat…

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Jesse Powell

@jespow

Replying to

@balajis

One thing that worries me about rural living is the absence of scale in medical and police services. In more populated areas, you get economies of scale, wider coverage, responsiveness, expertise and a level of sophistication generally not economically viable for a smaller town.

8:09 PM · Jan 17, 2021Twitter Web App

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I agree. Access to great healthcare services is probably the biggest challenge for the more remote areas.

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It's a trade-off, you may give up economic opportunities and refinements the larger populations can offer, but self-reliance can also be gratifying.

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And from experience it’s kinda boring. Mid sized towns OTOH, I get.

BCHABC/BCHSV-are-scams

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That's only one part of it. Imvesting in real estate in rural area is not a good idea unless you wanna become a farmer.

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Well you can always be heavily armed and maybe that would an effective replacement for police. And 99% of medical issues can be resolved with zoom. But those rare surgical emergencies, yeah you are screwed

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well, there's *less* crime in rural areas to start with, so I'm pretty sure it must even out

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There are rural areas with decent proximity to a regional medical hub. Significant migrations of people to rural areas will probably spur the migration of doctors and clinics who also like the idea of living there.