Investor demand for Charlotte multifamily properties isn't a flight to quality any more; it's a scramble for everything (like when dessert is ready at Thanksgiving dinner).

Demand is probably approaching, if not already at, an all-time high, Synco Properties CEO Tim Hose tells us. (They'll take any type of multifamily: Class-A, Class-B, beehives, bear caves, dollhouses, you name it.) "Charlotte seems to be on the acquisition A-list for all classes of apartment assets, from new luxury communities to 30- or 40-year-old properties suffering from deferred maintenance and very challenging resident profiles," he adds. As a result, sales prices remain high, which is rewarding developers and other sellers with strong returns.

Tim also notes that this year's uptick in interest rates hasn't seemed to put any downward pressure on prices: "If history repeats itself, developers will continue to construct new apartment units as long as debt and equity financing is available to them." (Give a developer an inch and he'll develop a yard.) It's a good time to grow multifamily property management portfolios, too. Recently Synco took on the management of the 200-unit Windsor Harbor Apartments in Charlotte (pictured), as well as 645 units in three properties in Greenville, NC.