REI INK

Savannah, Georgia

The “Hostess City” is Primed for Growth, Perfect for Investors by Carole VanSickle Ellis In March 2020, the outlook seemed uncertain for the Savannah, Georgia, economy. Analysts looked at the city that is host to the largest and fastest-growing container terminal in America, the Port of Savannah, the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts USA, and home to the famous Savannah Victorian Historic District and wondered exactly what the emerging global pandemic would do to the city. At the time, the outlook was somewhat grim. Analysts at BestNeighborhood.org predicted severe economic damage both in terms of unemployment (a projected 9.9% loss of jobs, possibly permanently) and in loss of business, also potentially permanent. The port’s activity was also in question; although many port jobs were classified as essential, there was some concern that the flow of goods into the city and outward across the country might diminish permanently. “With production in the Chinese factories shut down or, at least, inhibited, then the goods and services just don’t flow,” warned Georgia Southern University economics professor Michael Toma at the time. Naturally, economists feared the worst for the local hospitality industry as well. Just over a year later, however, Savannah has proved itself once again among the most innovative, resilient, and recession-proof mid-size markets in the country. For starters, the city’s unemployment has hovered around 5%—lower than the state of Georgia’s average and the national average. With Roofstock.com calling Savannah a “market to watch” and home values projected to rise at more than 10% in 2021, the city appears to be coming out of a tough 2020 with flags flying. “Savannah was a good market before COVID, which is why we were embedded in the city long before the pandemic,” observed Charles Sells, CEO of Platinum Investment Properties (PIP) Group. Sells, whose boutique investment firm has been helping clients acquire properties in Savannah for decades, said this spring has been rife with stories of buyers missing out on Savannah properties simply because as soon as they are listed, they sell. PIP Group itself is buying “as fast as possible,” he added. “When COVID-19 hit, I felt like I had to put my money where my mouth was,” Sells explained. “I have always pushed Savannah as a recession-proof market thanks to the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), the Port of Savannah, the local army bases, tourism, and a lot of local employers that do not tend to be directly impacted by economic swings. The hardest thing right now is acquiring properties and then getting the work done on them to flip or rent.” The average wait time on permitting in the city at present is several months, and most contractors are booked at least nine months out. Because inspections must be completed after each phase of construction, investors must also factor in about a month delay after every completion of work, meaning that once the electrical work is completed, plumbing work cannot begin until the electrical changes have been inspected or approved—quite possibly a full month later. “We are so fortunate to have been established here already,” Sells said. “Other firms in the area are doing five or six deals a year right now. We are doing 80 and that is with really low inventory on the market.” He noted that currently most investors, including those with his firm, are paying close to retail prices for properties just to remain competitive in the market. However, investors must buy properties with room to force appreciation in order to make this tactic work; buying a freshly renovated property at market value leaves no room for the acceleration of equity. Incentives for Investment & Support for Success Savannah has long been dedicated to the success of local businesses and the growth of the surrounding community, and this mindset is also modeled by Georgia policymakers. “The State of Georgia as well as cities and counties within the state offer incentives to new companies and established businesses,” the World Trade Center Savannah describes the position on its website. “Therefore, even after established, you can still take advantage of incentives designed to help your company grow.” At present, the WTC Savannah identifies 23 distinct financial incentives and tax advantages available to businesses and, in many cases, investors in Savannah. “The Savannah metropolitan statistical area (MSA)…is an economic star…which includes tourist attractions, a major airbase, an aerospace manufacturing center, a modern deepwater port, and a regional hub for health and educational services,” writes GeorgiaTrend contributor Jeffrey Humphries. “[This combination] provides the foundation for Savannah’s continuing success.” While the aforementioned incentives are not new ones, Savannah did debut a timely new program in honor of the many changes going on throughout the nation as the pandemic continued to spread. The program, established by the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA), was dubbed the Savannah Technology Workforce Incentive. SEDA made no bones about the goals of the incentive: The program reimbursed moving costs for tech workers leaving other markets in order to create a new home base in Savannah up to $2,000. “The incentive is a great way for technology workers that can work remotely to think about relocating to Savannah as a permanent location,” said SEDA president and CEO Trip Tollison. “We know once these technology workers arrive, Savannah—and its diverse offerings and high quality of life—will sell itself.” Savannah was named SmartAsset’s top “City for Creatives” in 2019 and combined a tech-friendly location with low cost-of-living metrics and a made-to-order workforce for tech entrepreneurs thanks to SCAD, where students are already working on a variety of business solutions with companies and associations like Uber, Google, Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola, and NASA, to name a few. SEDA also offers $12,000 toward office rental for technology firms creating a minimum of 10 new positions, and the High Wage Job Creation Grant offers $20,000 in cash grants for every five high-tech jobs a company creates and retains for a full year. SEDA also notes the substantial presence

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Delivering the Best in Information & Inventory

RealtyTrac is Ready to Optimize Established Strengths & New Ones by Carole VanSickle Ellis RealtyTrac, one of the oldest and most established names in the web-based real estate space, is putting “the pedal to the metal,” as parent company ATTOM Data Solutions’ CEO Rob Barber puts it—and, as is typical for the company, the timing is perfect. “When we first started thinking about a re-launch of the RealtyTrac.com platform, we were aiming for springtime in 2021. When COVID-19 emerged on the scene, that goal became more imperative because of the many forbearance programs that are likely, based on current policies, to expire in the fall of this year,” explained Barber, who was integrally involved in hiring entrepreneurial real estate veteran Ohan Antebian to help lead the buildout of the new product. Antebian is general manager of ATTOM’s RealtyTrac segment. Antebian is, in his own words, “data-minded,” and within the real estate data industry he is known for fiercely championing the concept of data transparency long before others in the sector were particularly concerned with the idea. Antebian began his career at Realtor.com. “Back in the early 2000s, the idea of data transparency in real estate meant publishing [information about] for-sale homes online,” Antebian explained. “I also believed it was so important to make expansive content available on properties so that an investor could get a comprehensive insight on the asset—to the point where one company I worked with hired professional writers from the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune to help build out the context around the homes published on the site.” That venture ended with the 2009 sale of that business to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) where it was reborn as a REALTOR® access-only productivity tool. RPR (the reborn name of the project) was the ideal preparation for Antebian’s role with RealtyTrac. “Imagine viewing a single graph that elegantly summarizes all events on a property, such as deed transfer, notice of default, sale, etc., to enable the user to assess the property.” he said. “The effort behind that elegant, simplified presentation is monumental. At RealtyTrac, our ambition is to take on those monumental efforts for the benefit of the individual investor. These data-driven yet simplified insights are needed to make obvious and objective decisions.” Antebian, himself a veteran in real estate, joined RealtyTrac in October 2019. He was already an ATTOM customer and had a clear vision of how RealtyTrac.com should serve existing investors and new ones. “RealtyTrac has a core loyal following of longstanding customers,” he said. “We closely examined this distilled population of users to uncover the value they are deriving from using the website.” The value, Antebian and his team realized, was the comprehensiveness of the data. The discovery served as a blueprint in the architecture of the new platform. “RealtyTrac has a population of long-term ‘power users’ who have been with the company for years and years,” Barber added. “The new product delivers and builds on the promises of the old product but with a modernized tech stack and user interface.” A Roadmap Based on Real Needs of Active Investors The appeal of RealtyTrac for real estate investors has always hinged on the company’s access to large amounts of timely, relevant data and the platform’s ability to aggregate that data in meaningful ways. When the RealtyTrac team set out to invest in “modernizing” the website that became familiar to many in 2007 as the housing crash and subsequent global financial meltdown rocked United States homeowners and real estate investors, it was imperative to sustain the legacy and integrity of the data that the company had built over the previoustwo decades. “We knew how important it would be for investors to be able to search for certain types of properties in clearly delineated areas and to find as much information as possible about specific addresses,” Barber said. “Then, we homed in on how to provide and present a comprehensive view of a property and the surrounding community to our subscribers.” This aggregation and compilation of data is “Phase I” of RealtyTrac’s ongoing relaunch, which Barber refers to as the “search-and-discovery phase”. The next phase (Phase II) will expand the value of that information using Antebian’s concept of elegant transparency, tying in analysis and decision-making features designed to help individual investors make highly customized decisions based on the latest information available about a property. Naturally, this will involve software development and the assembly of a toolbox on a scale to match the company’s existing scale of real estate data. “We want to deliver a data analytics roadmap to our customers that includes all the information RealtyTrac can access about a given address that is not in the public domain,” Barber said. “Our goal is to always help our customers make better-informed real estate decisions.” That toolbox will include automated valuation models, a variety of lending and leverage models, and even theoretical equity models that will enable investors to compare and contrast potential strategies for different properties in the same area. “We have access to so much information,” Antebian said proudly. “It is really exciting to see how this data can be made available to empower the individual investor. That is where we want to continue to succeed and continue to double down.” Eventually, the company roadmap will not only include access to data and the most modern analytical tools in the industry but also the ability to complete transactions on the RealtyTrac platform. “Phase III brings all the parties who already use and benefit from RealtyTrac together, allowing buyers and sellers to initiate and then complete the sale of a home,” Barber said proudly. Empowering Investors Through Expansion of Inventory & Insight When Barber and Antebian talk about empowering investors, their vision is clear and the goals tangible: A larger volume of available inventory A higher-quality and higher volume of time-sensitive data The information, insight, and tools necessary for investors to leverage the advantages that come with the first two points. Empowering the

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Prospecting Is Getting Harder in the SFR Gold Rush

Use Smart Technology to Strike Gold by Tim Reilly A confluence of forces has turned the market for single-family rental (SFR) properties into something resembling a gold rush. As buyers, speculators and institutional investors lean into the market in search for real estate value, the odds of finding an overlooked nugget in the gold mine are decreasing. Timing is the key, and smart buyers who are prepared to act quickly are using the latest tools to find and analyze new properties as soon as they hit the market.    Soaring Home Values Create Opportunity for SFR Investors Despite the global pandemic and the economic dislocation it triggered, the national real estate market is showing unprecedented strength due, in large part, to a continued supply and demand imbalance. According to a recent Freddie Mac housing analysis, the housing stock is about 4 million single-family homes short to meet the national demand. And, as a direct result of the imbalance, home prices nationally appreciated at an annualized rate of 9.3% in the second half of 2020, according to the Radian Home Price Index. Across the country, states set records in nearly all transactional categories, including 47 states reporting the highest average sales price on record, and 31 states reporting historically low days on market to sale. Although a housing stock shortage is the linchpin underlying the lack of supply, a host of pandemic-related factors have been fueling the housing demand. Historically low interest rates, shifting preferences for suburban housing, and COVID-related household consolidation have acted like gasoline on a lit fire. As the pandemic forced millions of Americans to lock down and work remotely, demand surged for bigger houses away from crowded urban areas.  And, as more people were priced out or frightened away from the competitive purchase market, the demand for single-family rentals exploded. According to the Census Bureau, occupancy rates across single-family rentals averaged over 95% in the second half of 2020—the highest in nearly 40 years. The surge in demand also translated to gains in rental rates. Morningstar reported annualized rent growth on vacant-to-occupied properties rose to a high of 7.5% in October 2020. These trends indicate strong, stable investment for SFR owners who are able to get their hands on properties. A Gold Rush for SFR Properties SFR homes make up only 11.7% of total national housing stock, according to John Burns Consulting, representing about 16.4 million properties out of a much larger 150 million plus single-family home universe. Most of the rental properties are owned by individuals, known as “mom and pop” landlords, who own a handful of properties each. And further, institutional SFR owners, both large and small, make up just a fraction of the overall SFR market representing about 220,000 properties. Therefore, the larger US housing market is ripe to be “mined” and aggregated by SFR investors.   Meanwhile, as commercial property investments have taken a negative turn due to pandemic pressures, there is a huge amount of money sitting on the sidelines looking for an attractive real estate investment. The Wall Street Journal reported late last year that there is more than $150 billion of private-equity real estate cash looking for a stable investment haven. With traditional hotel and office holdings in limbo, those firms are now looking closely at SFR properties. Perfect market conditions—supply constriction, low rates, rising home prices and rising rents coupled with smart money looking for strong returns—are creating a single-family housing gold rush comparable to the fervor of California in 1849. The challenge for the property prospectors is finding the perfect nugget with increased competition from other investors and homebuyers all looking for the same hidden treasure. Using Technology to Intelligently Mine Leads Investors who leverage smart technology coupled with analytics have a better chance of striking gold before the competition. Those investors still relying on manual searches and outdated technology might as well be panning by hand in the rushing stream. SFR investors need to deploy cutting edge technology and nimble strategy to find their nuggets of gold.  Some of the tips and techniques to help the SFR investor community include: Customize your buy box filters to identify your ideal investment criteria. Fuel your analytics with market data and related inputs to estimate rental market health and home price appreciation. Trigger real time alerts when properties that fit your investment profile hit the market so you can act immediately. Use interactive, geo-fenced automated valuation tools to assist you with nimble, accurate, and quick decisioning. Make informed decisions through a customized workflow that allows you to change your requirements as the market fluctuates by deploying and utilizing a property management/buy platform. Leverage an automated pricing engine and incorporate trending analytics to help you estimate sales prices or rental values. If you have not yet optimized your tech stack for property acquisition, you may be losing out on opportunity to build your rental portfolio. Finding the right technology partner will maximize your chances of success in the red hot SFR housing market. Combining better analytics and management tools with a unified technology-driven acquisition platform will augment your buying strategy and increase your ability to strike gold.

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Security Deposit Replacement Insurance

A New Sought-After Amenity by Adam Meshekow Everyone remembers their first time renting an apartment and having to put up a security deposit. I certainly remember. After finishing college, I moved to New York City and, after an exhausting search, found my dream studio apartment in Greenwich Village. Only when reviewing the lease terms did it become clear to me that the security deposit would wipe out all the savings I had earned during the past four summers of college. Security deposits have been used for generations to limit the amount of risk that a landlord takes when renting out an asset. In most jurisdictions, landlords are required to follow strict rules and regulations governing how much they can demand, how to hold security deposits, and to what they can be applied against. The process of administering, accounting for, and returning security deposits represent a cost center for landlords across the country, costing $35-$60 per door to manage. As rents have steadily risen over the past decade, so too has the average size of cash security deposits. Prospective residents need to come up with a substantial amount of cash to move into a new home. In a city like Boston or New York, where it is customary to put up a one-month security deposit, move-in costs can easily exceed $5,000. It should be clear to all by now that cash deposits are a poor form of self-insurance for the landlord and an inefficient use of capital for all parties. When they are applied in the case of a default, they rarely cover the total losses incurred. An Alternative to Security Deposits Pandemic-driven headwinds, pro-tenant legislation and innovative new products are quickly changing the landscape for security deposits. Today, cash deposits are being replaced by smarter alternatives—soft capital solutions to replace hard cash deposits. These new security deposit alternatives free up critical tenant liquidity which is important in today’s declining credit environment. For example, let us say that a landlord’s average security deposit is $1,000. With security-deposit replacement insurance, the renter would instead pay about $10 a month, and the landlord would receive the same $1,000 in rent and damage protection. In July 2019, the State of New York passed sweeping rent reform law. In part, the bill limited the amount that landlords can require as a security deposit to one month. Soon after, several states followed suit. In recent months, certain cities have passed legislation that goes even further. For example, the city of Atlanta began requiring landlords to provide tenants with installment plans for security deposits or to offer security deposit replacement insurance. Today, there are a dozen states in varying stages of considering legislation that, if passed, will require landlords to offer similar alternatives to traditional security deposits. The next generation of renter is the “subscription model generation”. Generation Z are used to paying monthly fees (think Netflix, Spotify) and using new financing tools (Affirm, Klarna) in lieu of putting cash up front. Generation Z moves frequently and demands flexibility. Market data shows that when a security deposit alternative is offered, roughly 90% of Gen Z choose to keep their cash and go with the alternative. In the near future, this new apartment generation will consider a small monthly payment for security deposit replacement insurance as an amenity. Those who do not offer a choice to tenants will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

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Covid-19 SFR Eviction Tsunami?

What You Need to Know Before They Go! by Kerry Medel and Alyssa Mountain The federal ban on evictions is putting pressure on investors and landlords who are unable to directly access Covid-19 rental relief funds. Many impacted tenants would be surprised to find that the application process for relief must originate with themselves. However, if you are not in a jurisdiction that allows you as the property owner, to file the application(s) on behalf of your renters in an effort to get funds into their hands, you may be, or have already begun, the process of liquidating some of your properties to recoup losses or considering eviction. Robert Pinnegar, president and CEO of the National Apartment Association says, “If you’re in jurisdictions that have taken an approach that is not so customer service friendly, then it’s going to take a lot longer,” and you may find yourself diverging onto the unfortunate road to eviction. What you need to know as an investor/landlord Know the Laws in Your AreaThe federal moratorium is set to end June 30, 2021. This moratorium protects renters from being evicted due to nonpayment of rent if they have been impacted by Covid-19. When considering the impacts of the CARES Act on rental properties, the first thing any investor or landlord (or even tenant) should know is that everything related to the eviction moratorium is state- and in many cases, city-specific as well. Investors/landlords and tenants should first start with knowing what rights and available protections are applicable and available in their area. To Whom Does the Moratorium ApplyThere are many types of protected tenants, but that list has broadened significantly after March of 2020. Visiting sites like nlihc.org/federal-moratoriums can help your renters determine how they are protected, but it is also helpful for investors and landlords before initiating eviction proceedings. In late 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported on the impacts that protections in the stimulus law would have on credit scores, credit reports and debt delinquency, and the challenges around determining who is truly credit worthy. It may eventually be harder to become a tenant in a rental property as investors/landlords are forced to be more exclusive about who they put in their homes. Investors/landlords may not only make it less affordable to become a renter, but also harder to qualify as a renter under more rigorous future criterion. Pitfalls/StrategiesA large majority of cities and states do not have programs that will forgive your tenants their rental debt, however most will allow (and encourage) them time to pay the rent arrears. Nonpayment of back rent is grounds for eviction. However, landlords may not be allowed to charge late fees or other penalties, depending on the local laws. Investors/landlords should keep current with the ever-changing allowances and forgiveness plans for their city and state, as new protections and amendments are proposed daily, and implemented weekly, since March of 2020. Eviction TimelinesWhen it comes to evictions, the most important word is “timeline”. Many cities and states require the tenants to communicate to their landlord the loss of wages, wage reduction, loss of employment, or even contracting Covid-19 to ‘qualify’ for protection under the Act. Timely notification has been cited as one of the leading preventative actions to stop or even slow most evictions during the pandemic. However, notification from your renter does not mean that you are prohibited from rent releases, posting eviction notices, or sending letters of intent to evict to your renters, or that you cannot force the renters to vacate the property. Review timelines related to notices for termination (with and without cause) like Pay Rent or Quit Notices, Cure or Quit Notices or Unconditional Quit Notices. Filing the eviction with your local AHJ and court will also happen on a very specific timeline that is not generally designed to protect your interests as the landlord. Unintended ConsequencesTenants and investors/landlords equally do not want to be in this position. Landlords do not want to turn renters out any more than tenants want to be homeless. It is a difficult time for investors/landlords who still need to provide maintenance on units to ensure habitability while rent is not being paid. Consult with a state certified eviction attorney to ensure you are entirely protected and prepared and know how to take legal action with cause that will not lead to deeper financial or legal burden by not following local jurisdictional rules. An unfortunate by-product of investors/landlords being forced to evict tenants and sell their properties, is the reduction in affordable rental property inventory. With Covid-19 driving suburban migration, these homes will likely become owner-occupied thus reducing the stock of desperately needed rental housing. This puts a strain on the middle-, lower-middle- and working-class who historically rely on rental housing. Courts are incredibly backlogged which will cause significant delays in the eviction process and timeline. It can be anticipated that courts will not be siding as heavily with investors/landlords as in the past. An enormous humanitarian aspect has been thrust into the equation that will not be quickly discounted in future tenant/landlord cases. Knowledge is Key KNOW YOUR CITY AND STATE REGULATIONS! Landlords MUST know the complicated eviction laws inside and out, and if not, hire someone who does! They MUST not only understand the legal process but the entire eviction process. You will also need a valid (and lawful) reason to proceed with the eviction, and you will want to take all the new Covid-19 protections into account before proceeding. Ask yourself, have you tried mediating with your renters? Do I have the funds to cover the seemingly endless (and occasionally unpredictable) legal fees all while not receiving rent! Would it be less costly to pay them to vacate? If you win your case, be prepared for how you will then remove the tenants. Again, there is a set timeline in the court decision for the tenants to vacate, but you should be prepared for the need to coordinate with your local sheriff’s office

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SFR: Disruption, Impact, Innovation

Three Key Disruptions in the SFR Asset Class  by Stephanie Casper In his highly acclaimed book, “Innovator’s Dilemma,” Clayton Christensen details how established companies focusing on incremental improvements or innovations to address their biggest customers’ evolving needs often miss the true innovation occurring around them. The disruption caused by the upstart innovators ultimately spells the demise of countless companies in Christensen’s book. Since its publishing, disruptors continue to impact incumbent companies and industries. Think Uber, iPhone and NetFlix. However, in real estate, particularly the single-family residential space, I would argue that disruptions are the drivers of innovation in the asset class. There have been three key disruptions in the last 20 years that have dramatically impacted real estate, and in particular the single-family residential asset class: internet usage, the Great Recession, and the global COVID-19 pandemic. Out of each of these disruptions, innovation has emerged dramatically changing the complexion of single-family real estate. Internet and Data Availability In early 2006, shopping for a new home or residential investment property often meant perusing the real estate section of the local newspaper or spending weekends driving through neighborhoods in search of “for sale signs” and open houses. And to get additional information on comparables, property details, and property history, buyers had to rely on realtors and brokers. This was the process my parents followed when shopping for a home 30 years prior. My mother, not one to leave things up to the realtor, would drive by the address prior to the showing so that she could modulate her reaction instead of being surprised. On one realtor led showing, a 2-year-old, me, already clearly interested in single family real estate, asked, “Mom, isn’t this a sh*t house?” To my mother’s horror I had repeated her often uttered property assessment to the agent. Zillow’s website launch in February 2006, complete with listings, aerial pictures and Zestimates, instantly democratized the property buying experience. Shoppers were now armed with information previously only accessible to realtors. Now, buyers could check out listings and neighborhoods from the comfort of their home computer, and finally in 2009 from their smart phones (thank you, Apple). Trulia, Redfin and Realtor.com soon followed. These sites have evolved such that virtually all information a buyer needs to make an assessment of a property, from pictures and price history, to tax information, to estimates of value and comparables, is available. The rise of widespread data availability via just a few keystrokes not only enabled buyers and investors to make more informed decisions, but lenders also benefited as well. Tech-enabled lenders have been able to leverage web-based databases of transaction, mortgage, and property details to build decisioning and underwriting models that quickly assess potential borrowers, the viability of proposed fix and flip projects, and the anticipated cash flows of rental properties. The Great Recession As we all know, largely due to some “innovation” in lending, the incentives for originators and the capital markets’ execution for mortgage-backed securities, a single-family real estate bubble grew and ultimately burst causing The Great Recession. In 2007 and 2008 more than 5.3 million homes were foreclosed in the US. Virtually overnight the inventory of residential homes outpaced the demand resulting in a plummeting of home prices. This massive disruption in the residential market spurred innovation from institutional investors, in both equity and debt. Historically, residential real estate investors were smaller individual owners, typically with ten or fewer properties. My grandfather, a retired firefighter in a small town in Massachusetts, was one. Anytime a house or lot in his immediate neighborhood came up for sale, he bought it all cash and rented it out. He even developed a duplex for rent on a lot adjacent to his home. This small town, small time execution in single family investment evolved due to the innovation brought about by The Great Recession. As more and more REO properties became available across the country, institutional equity investors took notice and seized the opportunity. They began acquiring foreclosed properties at courthouse auctions and via partnerships with local boots on the ground. The scattered site single family properties were renovated, leased up and added to growing portfolios of rentals being operated like contiguous multifamily complexes. Early on, this innovative approach to holding large numbers of detached properties as rentals was met with skepticism. Naysayers preached that the economies of scale afforded landlords in a traditional multifamily property would not be achieved with single family detached homes resulting in much lower returns. What started out as a small group that included Invitation Homes, American Homes for Rent and Colony Capital, the number of large players in the space has exploded with single family rental now a solid 6th real estate investment asset class. As it turns out, the management of SFR rentals has outperformed expectations with less tenant turnover and lower CapEx and maintenance needs. Seeing an opportunity to gain yield in a prolonged period of low interest rates and capitalize on the counter-cyclical nature residential rental properties offer in an investment portfolio, the interest and demand for single family residential rental properties continues to explode. Alongside the institutional equity players entering the space, institutional debt emerged to provide financing for those investing in the space. These lenders provided and continue to provide short and long-term financing for investors who are acquiring, renovating, and flipping, as well as “aggregators” who are buying and stabilizing rental properties, along with single and portfolio rental loans. Few investors in the space had access to debt financing prior to the Great Recession, and if they did, it regularly came in the form of hard money lenders or high net worth individual private lenders. Today’s lending scene is crowded. A recent white paper, “Housing Mania 2.0” published by John Burns Real Estate Consulting, lists more than 50 national lenders, with many more local and regional players not counted among them.  And, while institutional capital continues to pile into investing in single family rentals, mom and pops still own the vast majority of

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