WASHINGTON, DC—Opportunistic and value add properties are good assets to hideout in during a rising rate environment.Or possibly not, depending on one's perspective. Butas we close out this conversation it is worth examining whetherrising rates should be a reflectively feared.

Rising interest rates are, at their core, a reaction to anoverheating economy that is manifesting itself in the form ofinflation. If the economy is not seriously out of whack they arenot necessarily bad, Marc Shuster, resident inBerger Singerman's Miami office and partner andco-manager of the Business, Finance & Tax team, tellsGlobeSt.com. Property prices sometimes, or at least should,increase as a result, he says. "When the economy is growing, netoperating income generation occurs, even if interest ratesincrease."

It is a subtle, but significant, change to the prism throughwhich most people view interest rates. With that said, Shuster doesagree that value add and opportunistic properties are betterpositioned in this environment—because they tend to haveshorter-term leases.