It’s been a wild week on Wall Street. Again.
If you’ve logged into your portfolio lately and felt that sinking feeling in your gut, you’re likely not alone. Whether you’ve been investing for years or just started building wealth, this kind of volatility can feel exhausting, even disorienting. And the truth is, many passive investors are starting to ask: Isn’t there a better way to grow wealth, without all the chaos?
As someone who’s been both an investor and a sponsor, and who’s weathered plenty of market cycles, both in the stock market and in real estate, I’ve noticed a consistent theme: when markets get noisy, passive investors begin to crave three very specific things.
Let’s talk about what those are, and why the stock markets usually can’t deliver them.
1. Stability
More than anything, passive investors want a sense of stability. Not perfection. Not guaranteed returns. Just something that doesn’t swing wildly with every headline or earnings report.
That’s one of the key reasons many investors move toward multifamily real estate. Rent checks don’t rise and fall based on Fed rumors. People always need a place to live, and while no asset class is immune from economic pressure, multifamily, when done thoughtfully, offers a level of predictability that feels almost radical in comparison to the public markets.
Back in 2019, my husband and I made a decision that surprised a few people: we pulled out of the stock market entirely. Not because we thought the market would crash (although it did, briefly, in 2020), but because we were tired of feeling reactive. We didn’t want to build our future on something we couldn’t influence or even anticipate. We wanted stability, and for us, that meant investing in real estate.
To be clear, the multifamily industry hasn’t been without its own challenges. Like many sponsors, we’ve faced headwinds: rising interest rates, shifting valuations, and operational complexity. At Blue Lake Capital, we’ve had to double down on communication, strategy, and hands-on execution. But even in difficult markets, real estate has remained a tangible, income-generating asset with long-term value.
2. Income
That’s why many family offices, who have the flexibility to allocate capital where it best serves their goals, have consistently preferred real estate over the stock market. The reason is simple: cash flow.
Multifamily investments, in particular, are structured to generate ongoing, predictable income through rent collection. Preferred returns, regular distributions, and well-underwritten business plans provide a level of visibility and reliability that stock portfolios simply can’t replicate, especially in volatile market conditions.
Family offices tend to look for assets that can both preserve capital and produce income to fund philanthropic work, next-generation initiatives, or simply to support a quiet but comfortable lifestyle. Real estate delivers on that in a way few other asset classes can.
Of course, distributions can fluctuate, especially in today’s high interest rate environment, but the structure and intent of these deals are fundamentally designed to generate income, not just chase appreciation. And when one property experiences a dip, we have the benefit of managing a larger, diversified portfolio, which allowing us to adjust and rebalance strategically while keeping our investors informed and engaged.
