REI INK

Preparing for Rain While the Skies are Blue

Now is the Time to Take Control By Rebecca Smith After a long run upwards, the real estate market seems to have reached an inflection point. Interest rate increases have certainly had a dampening effect, but it remains to be seen whether the inexorable rise in asset values is temporarily paused or if we are now on a downward trajectory just as steep as the way up. The market may be a roller coaster ride for the next year, so should we be preparing for another buying frenzy or bracing for a stream of defaults and foreclosures? The real estate owned (REO) market has been relatively dry over the last two years, but changing conditions could leave lenders, servicers and agents unprepared for a flash flood. Let’s explore the forecast for the REO market and how to prepare for what may be coming. Clouds on the Horizon Today, there are indications that the real estate market which has enjoyed an enormous run-up in the COVID era is now headed toward a correction, the severity of which is unknown. Recent data shows that the record rates of appreciation during the pandemic appear to be waning quickly. August price appreciation slowed to 12%, compared to 15.4% in July according to the homegenius Home Price Index from homegenius Real Estate. The slowing market is a natural result of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive action to combat inflation. Over the course of 2022, the Fed raised interest rates 3.25%. As a result, mortgage interest rates have skyrocketed to their highest in 15 years. In response, the sentiment of homebuilders and homebuyers has turned sharply pessimistic. The Wells Fargo Housing Market Index which measures the outlook of homebuilders has plummeted in recent months from 76% positive in April of this year to just 43% in October. The Chief Economist at the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) is sounding the alarm declaring that the nation has fallen into a “housing recession.” This is confirmed by the value of the nation’s largest home building companies. According to the S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index, which includes home-manufacturing giants such as Masco and Owens Corning, shares have fallen more than 30% this year while the broader S&P 500 has fallen 24%. But No Downpour. . . Yet In the midst of all this gloom, homeowner defaults are ticking up slightly. However, most are pre-COVID or COVID-related defaults, which were paused during the pandemic, finally coming through the pipeline. As of yet there has been no indication of a major storm on the horizon. In fact, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported mortgage delinquencies dropped to the lowest rate ever recorded in the second quarter 2022. Unlike the fallout of the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, most homeowners are not under water on their mortgages. According to ATTOM data from the second quarter 2022, because of the appreciation in home values, 91% of homeowners facing foreclosure now have positive equity in their homes. If they get into trouble, they could still sell and avoid foreclosure. Dark clouds but no storm means we are in a “wait and see” phase. Servicers, banks, owner/operators, vendors, and agents are trying to determine how best to prepare for what is to come. Analysts do not believe we’ll see pre-pandemic REO volumes until possibly the latter part of 2023 with defaults trickling in from now until then at a steady pace. But it’s important to remember that borrowers who find themselves in trouble, perhaps because of a job loss or other life changing event, usually take about 12-18 months before they exhaust all other options (savings, friends and family assistance, etc.) and face a foreclosure sale. Prepare Now and Take Control The last time the real estate market was hit with a wave of defaults and foreclosures was during the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. Back then, few servicers were ready to handle the enormous volume, leading to the emergence of a small industry of outsourcers to take up the slack. As the market gradually stabilized and REO properties were disposed of over time, most of those outsourcers moved on, consolidated or exited the business. Normalized volumes allowed servicers to handle the flow of REOs on their own and many took this function back in-house. So far so good. But if the volume increases again, will they still be able to process REOs with the current staffing, or will they find themselves overwhelmed? This is a good time to ask the question. Servicers are already seeing an influx of homeowners requiring loss mitigation assistance and, as a result, have their hands full carefully navigating legal and regulatory requirements as set forth by regulatory agencies. In such an uncertain time for the market, it would be prudent to make a plan now to handle higher volumes of REOs. That could mean reviewing and streamlining your current in-house capabilities or talking now with an experienced outsourcer. Only a few nationwide outsourcers remain in the market, and they’ve demonstrated enough strength and knowledge to survive when the market was lean and can be expected to have the resources to quickly ramp up capacity. For example, the homegenius family of companies, including its affiliate Radian Real Estate Management LLC, maintains a nationwide network of over 40,000 vendors including contractors, property managers, and real estate agents that can help investors acquire, rehabilitate, and market investment properties. In addition, RREM provides full-service asset management capabilities that can help servicers get the best execution on their properties and potentially mitigate losses after a foreclosure sale. Many things could change in the coming months and beyond. As persistent inflation continues to resist the Fed’s containment efforts, we will likely see interest rates increase further. This will directly impact mortgage rates and contribute to the reality among homebuyers and sellers that we are nearing a peak in house prices. In such a market, residential real estate will continue to offer challenges for investors and servicers who can deploy professional asset management capabilities and skilled experience

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The State of Real Estate Insurance

Investors Need to be Pro-Active Entering 2023 By Shawn Woedl If I could sum up the property insurance market in one word, it would be chaos. If you have been an investor for the last couple of years, you have undoubtedly had a challenging property renewal for your portfolio. You may have dealt with required increases to insurance value or experiencedpremium increases (or both) regardless of your loss history or account profitability. The last couple of years have been challenging, and it does not look like the next 12 to 24 months will be any better. Before Hurricane Ian hit, Florida homeowners were already paying the highest premiums in the country — nearly three times the national average. The state is increasingly difficult and expensive to insure and claims from the recent hurricane will only continue this trend. The aftermath of COVID is still being felt in the United States: rising interest rates, rising inflation, rising material costs, and almost every industry is experiencing labor shortages. These higher material costs and labor shortages are affecting claims payouts for carriers. This may lead to rate increases and even canceled policies or carrier insolvency. Additionally, longer repair periods leave investors missing out on potential rental income. Climate Catastrophes Hurricanes Contrary to popular belief, hurricanes and tornadoes are not occurring more frequently. They are, however, more severe. NASA reports that global warming has caused seas to rise, leading to a higher storm surge and resulting in more intense rainfall and an increase in coastal floods. Tornadoes Even though the total number of tornadoes per year has remained relatively stable, recent years have shown changes in their patterns. Tornado events are becoming more clustered, and evidence suggests that tornado patterns have shifted geographically. The number of tornadoes in the states that make up Tornado Alley continue to fall, although tornado events are on the rise in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky. Wildfires Wildfires have been occurring in new territories as well. These fire events are largely taking place in areas of the country that, historically, have been lower for insurers, and therefore were afforded lower insurance costs. Property rates in western states are a fraction of what they are in the Midwest or Southeast. Unfortunately, just one extreme event can drastically affect a carrier or program’s profitability, causing them to halt business in these areas. Catastrophes Drive Up Property Rates According to National Centers for Environmental Information, there were 20 individual billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. What stands out is the diversity of disasters: a winter storm across the deep South and Texas, a wildfire event impacting seven states, flood events in California and Louisiana, tornado outbreaks, etc. And let’s not forget Hurricane Ida, the most expensive hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana since Katrina in 2005. 2022 did not provide any relief for these property markets. The same triggers were seen across the globe again this year. And just when we thought we would make it through the hurricane season without significant landfall in the United States, Hurricane Ian hit Florida. Damage estimations range from $42 to $258 billion. The insurance trend we have seen in Florida over the last few years will continue as claims arise from the hurricane. Climate catastrophes have driven up property rates for everyone, regardless of geographic location or individual loss history. Why are we seeing this trend? Reinsurance carriers are increasing their reinsurance rates for primary insurers. Unfortunately, primary insurers (yourcarriers) then pass that cost on to the end buyer, which is all of us. Looking Forward  The aforementioned factors all contribute to what is shaping up to be a chaotic 2023 property market. Although situations will differ, initial numbers for 2023 renewals show a 30-35% increase in property insurance costs on clean risks. “Clean” means your portfolio has had no property losses and is not located in a region prone to catastrophes such as wildfire, hurricane, or convective storm areas.  If you have had losses and/or your property is in a catastrophe-prone area, you could potentially see a 60-70% increase on your property this upcoming term. We are experiencing a hard property market, and in times like these, you should always shop annually for your insurance. You will get much more out of shopping for benefits, policy structure, and included coverages than you will for price. There is not that much fluctuation between property carriers. The most you can save is pennies on the dollar. Insurance agents that are selling on cost alone are struggling right now. Those that can find benefits and comprehensive coverage for the same cost are of more value to you. A good insurance agent will work with you to find ways to keep your costs stable. If you are comfortable taking on a little bit of additional risk, you and your agent can look at increasing your property deductible, changing your policy form from Special to Basic, and switching to actual cash value coverage instead of replacement cost coverage. Remember, if any of your properties have a lender, you will be required to stay within their insurance lending guidelines. You must check with your lender and insurance agent before you make or request these changes and understand any added risk. Your insurance agent should be an expert and be able to guide you in the right direction while providing you with the positive and negative implications of any changes to your property policy. I also stress the importance of being as proactive as possible with your renewal. Do not wait until the last minute to aggressively shop your coverages and costs, as markets will be limited. Your agent should certainly be ahead of this, but if not, you need to make sure they start shopping your renewal 60 days out. Lenders start requesting renewal proof of coverage from your agent around this time as well.  As an investor, you want the best terms, applicable benefits, and the broadest coverage form. In a hard market, this will be to

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Ogden, Utah

The “Junction City” Market Leads the Way as the Market Shifts By Carole VanSickle Ellis Ogden, Utah, boasts a “wild” city motto: Still Untamed. That motto, adopted in 2016, refers to the area’s unconventional roots. As Roger Brooks, whose company rebranded Ogden six years ago, explained to a bemused audience at the time, “While we replaced bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling with skiing, kayaking, and mountain biking, Ogden’s soul will always remain untamed.” Since that time, the Ogden real estate market adopted the motto as well. Average home prices in June 2016 hovered just over $250,000; in June 2022, that number was just shy of $450,000. Then, things began to change, and Ogden’s untamed market geared up for another round of wild, post-pandemic swings. By September 2022, Ogden home prices were falling as the national housing market began to soften in response to the Federal Reserve’s rate-hiking policies. Median list prices hovered just over $370,000, a 17% decline in home values that stands out compared to the reaction of other markets around the country where demand has softened but prices have yet to decline. In Ogden, the city’s massive, pandemic-fueled boom is starting to wind down, with Realtor.com reporting more than a quarter of all listings posted at least one price reduction during Q2 2022 and ranking Ogden sixth on its “10 Cities Where Sellers are Slashing Home Prices the Most.” “With buyers pulling back, homes linger for a longer time on the market and more homeowners have to slice prices to get a deal done,” said George Ratiu, senior economist for Realtor.com. He added, “Price cuts are hitting hardest in markets which have been on a hot streak during the pandemic – cities which saw an influx of buyers looking for quality of life, more space, and affordability.” Ratiu also cited Ogden’s “fast ramp-up in prices due to the inadequate supply of housing” as a source of the price-slashing now and noted that the city experienced higher appreciation during the COVID-19pandemic through June 2022 than the national 26.6% increase over the same period. In September, Moody’s Analytics appeared to concur; it ranked the Ogden-Clearfield metro area as the “most overvalued market in the state” with overvaluations in excess of 50%. “Soaring prices were largely due to out-of-town homebuyers moving in during the pandemic, competing with locals for a limited supply of homes,” observed Redfin analysts in a report published in July of this year. At peak, prices in Ogden reached $500,000, 57.2% higher than they were in May 2020. Now, the trend is starting to reverse. In response to that reversal, savvy sellers are suddenly willing to be flexible on their pricing, said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. He observed, “There are two kinds of sellers in today’s market: Those who already know the market has cooled, and those learning about the cooling market as they go through the selling process.” For real estate investors in Ogden, both types of sellers may be more willing to make a deal in order to sell quickly if they are beginning to be concerned about the market shifting downward. Not Just a “Zoomtown” Although the Ogden market certainly benefited from pandemic-induced buying over the past two years, the area itself appears poised to weather the post-pandemic softening with a fair amount of resilience. Prior to 2020, Ogden had already been experiencing migration into the city from nearby Salt Lake City and Provo, with more than 8,600 people moving to Ogden from SLC between 2014 and 2018. Because Ogden, SLC, and Provo are all connected by commuter trains, light rail lines, and interstates, movement between the cities is relatively smooth and painless, making it less likely that calls for employees to return to local offices will result in high-volume departures. The city has also dedicated resources to developing its own “Silicon Slopes,” bringing in tech growth during the pandemic as tech startups looking for access to the outdoors and relatively affordable (compared to Silicon Valley) space in which to grow began considering Ogden when putting down roots. Although the nomenclature “Silicon Slopes” typically refers to the Provo/Salt Lake City/Park City area, Silicon Slopes Ogden is the city’s deliberate effort to expand the area and be included in the region. In 2020, The Brookings Institution named Ogden one of its “lifestyle cities [likely] to see accelerated tech growth in 2020,” and this prediction was borne out over the following two years. Sara Mees, one of the city’s business development managers, said at the time in response to the Brookings research, “We have seen two trends. One of them is from smaller software companies that have been founded and grown here in Ogden…. A number of them have been pretty successful at scaling growth here, [and] the other is related to shifts at Hill Air Force Base.” She continued, “A lot of new programs [at the base] have a significant software development component.” The result was that many software companies and aerospace defense contractors began seriously considering expanding to Utah, and Ogden experienced a 7% growth in tech-related jobs between 2019 and 2020. Between 2020 and 2022, that growth continued, with the city’s tech incubator, Catalyst Campus, facilitating connections between local startups and other tech businesses and the Air Force. Catalyst Campus is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and opened its Ogden branch in 2021. In 2022, it partnered with local Weber State University and the city to secure $20 million from the state of Utah to build a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) to store sensitive work from external surveillance. An additional $65 million in private investments and $30 million in “local funding” will contribute to the effort as well. The facility will improve security for companies in the incubator hoping to work with the Air Force and makes them more attractive as contractors. “We wanted to remove the barrier of having to go on base, so all these small businesses who don’t have classified environments to work in now do,” explained Catalyst Campus

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Assistance Animals

Legal Obligations When Managing Rental Housing By Victoria Cowart In operations, we all feel pressured to have a certain depth of knowledge on critical topics. This pressure rises to another level when the subject touches the work of our on-site, centralized, supervisory, and corporate team members. That pressure increases to a whole new level when it touches the lives of our applicants, residents, and possibly even our guests with disabilities. And if that was not enough, this particular topic makes up approximately 60% of HUD complaints. With that, the pressure for operational knowledge and excellence rises fourfold. I am speaking of the rights of our disabled applicants and residents, and yes, those disabled guests “associated” with our residents, to request reasonable accommodations. These rights are afforded to the disabled by the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA). But let’s stop there for just a moment. What is a reasonable accommodation? An accommodation is defined as a change, exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, or practice in your rental housing—but “reasonable.” That is a more subjective point of consideration. So, what is our obligation when managing rental housing while considering the FHA and the FHAA? Let’s start at the beginning. We are legally required to consider all requests for reasonable accommodation, and the requests do not have to come in a particular format or contain specific language. So far, this sounds straightforward. But how do we begin to understand what to do with these requests? In 2020, HUD released its first Notice regarding this topic in seven years. It is the HUD 2020–01 Assistance Animals Notice. It offers the industry excellent guidance, language, and opportunities to improve our work in this subject area. The new Notice did offer the industry clarity on the common language. The over-arching language to use in this topic is “assistance animals.” There are two types of assistance animals: service animals and support animals. Each of these two types of assistance animals requires a different approach when we process the requests. You can think of them as different paths we will travel based upon the type of assistance animal requested. Let’s travel along the first path, that of the service animal. The definition of a service animal is an animal trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of the disabled. Throughout the country, except in California, a service animal is simply three things: a dog, trained for a task, for the disabled. In California, other animals can be service animals. Support vs. Service Let’s dig further into the specifics of the processes. For a service animal, we are permitted to ask two questions. Those two questions are: is the animal necessary for a person with a disability, and what work or task has the animal been trained to perform? We can then evaluate those answers to see if they indicate an actual service animal. Occasionally, the answer will lead you to engage further in the interactive process. HUD defines an interactive process as a good-faith dialogue between you and the requester. This dialogue may reveal a possible support animal. This could be the case when a requester says yes to the disability question. Still, their answer to the task question makes it evident that the animal has not had any training to ameliorate one or more of the symptoms associated with the disability. Remember, though, it is impermissible to require any documentation supporting a service animal request. You are not to obtain, or to even ask for, training certificate(s) or documentation from healthcare providers. That said, if the first answer is “yes”; and the second answer is, “Yes my service animal has been trained to wake me during night terrors,” you have a service animal. Conversely, if the first answer is “yes”; and the second answer is, “Yes my service animal sits in my lap and comforts me during intermittent explosive outbursts,” you likely have a support animal. That leads us to our second type of assistance animal, the support animal. Support animals may be animals that perform a task. But because they are not a dog (in states other than California), by definition, they become a support animal. Support animals can also be animals who provide therapeutic emotional support, hence the ESA that we hear about most frequently. On this path, we are permitted to seek documentation from the requester — unlike in the service animal process. We are permitted to look for five things in that documentation. HUD says we have a right to reliable documentation, from a healthcare provider, with an indication of personal knowledge and *confirmation of disability and disability-related need for the requested support animal. Let’s stop for a moment and visit the confirmation of disability. You have a right to require this documentation to include confirmation of the disability only when the disability cannot be visually confirmed or when the individual is not on record or regarded as disabled. So, what does that mean in practice? It means your frontline team members should let you know if they were able to visually confirm that the requester is disabled. If that is the case, you are not looking to confirm the disability in the documentation. Likewise, if the individual is receiving disability benefits or income, as noted in their application, they are considered to be on record or regarded as disabled. Again, if that is the case, you are not looking to confirm the disability in the documentation. Responding to the Request So, with a request for a support animal, you can request documentation. You can look for the items noted above, including the specificity of whether or not to confirm the disability and the documentation in accordance with HUD’s Assistance Animals Notice. If you find the documentation is missing one or more of the items you are allowed to have, you should consider continuing the interactive process and requesting the information in accordance with HUD’s Notice. Please be prompt in your

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Guardian Asset Management

The First Line of Defense in Property Preservation By Carole VanSickle Ellis When Jerry Mavellia and Dan Leader, CEO and COO for Guardian Asset Management, respectively, formed their company in 2007, they did so with the knowledge that there was going to be an increase in foreclosures and defaults that would necessitate their services. “There was a real need for repairing and restoring properties as well as preserving and preparing them for resale,” said Mavellia, who had founded his first asset management company specializing in property preservation in 1995. After selling that company, Mavellia and Leader teamed up to create Guardian Asset Management in order to provide the housing industry with what they describe as “a forward thinking, client-centric national inspection, maintenance, and repair company.” “Property preservation is not easy,” Leader noted. “You do not get to pick and choose property location, and we function as ‘first responders’ when distressed assets come into inventory.” With a cumulative experience in excess of 50 years, Leader and Mavellia were perfectly suited to the challenge. In 2007 alone, lenders started foreclosure proceedings on 1.3 million properties, and another 2.3 million entered the pipeline in 2008. When a property enters foreclosure, asset preservation specialists are entrusted with the care of the outside and, in some cases, inside of the property — even if it is occupied in some cases. In the mid-2000s, not many companies were equipped to handle the volume and severity of the onslaught of foreclosures that hit lenders’ books all at once. Guardian Asset emerged in time to work closely with government agencies, servicers, large and small banks. The company set as its “true mission” the development of client-centric partnerships. “This mission is both rewarding and, at times, challenging,” Leader acknowledged. “We have taken over some areas that our predecessors had found to be tough markets, and we were proud to help make those communities better places to live,” he said. “We are not just serving our clients; we are serving and restoring communities by helping preserve properties for resale and improving the overall value of local real estate.” Treating Clients as Partners in the Process One of the benefits of being in the business of property preservation for decades is a clearer view of the real estate and lending industries that newer entrants to the sector cannot leverage. Leader explained that at Guardian Asset, all employees prioritize the relationships between company and client. “We do not look at ourselves as vendors,” he said. “It is a true partnership.” This partnership element means that Guardian Asset incorporates a dedicated client service team and client performance metrics into its own evaluative processes when dealing with daily operations. “We play an integral part in the success of our clients’ operations, so we prioritize hitting deliverables, helping them achieving favorable ratings on servicing scorecards, and assist clients navigate the evolution of requirements from federal agencies, banks, and other lenders,” Mavellia said. “We are so much more than just being the vendor that cuts the grass and takes out the trash.” Asset preservation, when applied to the concept of real estate, is certainly far more than boarding up a few windows or changing the locks on an abandoned property. It can also involve performing inspections on a property, winterizing it or protecting it from severe weather, estimating and managing repairs, and ongoing maintenance work. Lenders and others holding real estate as collateral rely on property preservation specialists to help them keep assets in good condition so that they retain or rise in value and may ultimately be marketed and sold in order to redeem the money lost on the nonperforming loan. “It requires a certain mindset from everyone in the company,” Leader said. “Our workforce needs to have the mindset that we are going to step in and take action to make the properties safe and secure so they can be marketed to the general public all while adhering to regulations put forth by government agencies and local municipalities.” This mindset also requires serious attention to detail, as banking regulations and the expectations of lenders have become much tougher since the housing and mortgage crises. “Quality reporting and documenting the work we perform has certainly become a focus in the industry,” he said. Part of treating clients like partners in the preservation process involves sending out only the best and most reliable service providers to those clients’ properties. Unlike most property preservation service providers, Guardian Asset maintains its own field crews of W-2 employees in key positions within the United States. Mavellia and Leader view the move as a demonstration of their commitment to clients and quality control, calling it “an insurance policy for our clients” because they are committed to having staff in “high-touch areas” and high-volume areas. “We are not just passing orders down to other contractors or vendors,” Mavellia explained. “We know who is at a property and what services they are providing. Having our W-2 guys in the marketplace is another layer of risk mitigation and protection.” Combining Service, Experience & Technology With an eye toward risk mitigation and reliability, Guardian Asset has incorporated innovative technology into its processes. The company uses a full-service property management platform with both client and vendor portals to optimize transparency and create a smooth management environment in the process. “We have a dashboard reporting module that enables our clients to view real-time reporting and progress of services ordered, and that platform integrates with other industry platforms like Black Knight and Yardi seamlessly,” Mavellia said. He noted that the company also offers mobile solutions and encourages vendors to use these tools to “route their days” to optimize completion of preservation and inspection orders. “Our platform leverages technology like GEO-tagging to create a ‘fingerprint’ to prevent mistakes when it comes to which properties are entered, inspected, or preserved,” Leader explained. “The photos taken through our mobile applications are automatically stamped with date, time, and GPS location data that is tamperproof.” Since property preservation sometimes involves entering

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The Now and the Future of Asset Management

The Times are Changing and so Should Asset Management Companies By Justin Askew Strategy is everything when it comes to comprehensive asset management. Outside of traditional buying, renovating, maintaining, and selling, it takes a forward-thinking approach to develop and execute an effective strategy based on current real estate market conditions. Pressures from rising interest rates and inflation are likely to be more evident in the coming months, which creates the need for proactive, data driven recommendations for property disposition. Factors for investors have changed in short order. Investors have benefited from low interest rates and a sellers’ market that resulted in appreciating values in most parts of the country from 20% to 35%. Current factors of supply chain slowdowns, cost of materials, rising labor costs and interest rate increases have challenged the potential rate of returns for investors. Investors should understand that times are changing, and the asset management approach needs to adjust accordingly. The decision to rehab, sell as is, or lease the property depends on the type of asset, location, and the condition of both the asset and the strength of the local housing market. An effective approach is having the asset management company coordinate the collection of information from renovation companies, maintenance providers and local real estate agents to provide local knowledge of the asset location. Once the collection of data has been completed, the asset management firm should analyze all the data to develop retail values of the property to ensure the best execution for the asset and to optimize the ROI. Most parts of the country still have a shortage on supply of rental properties and affordable homes to purchase. This has continued the flow of investors acquiring and renovating assets with property values remaining at their current levels. As market conditions adjust, the cost of financing and renovation must be considered. Investors that intend on holding properties for rental should understand the rising costs of ongoing maintenance and property management and its’ potential to continue in the future. A comprehensive asset management process should be a major consideration for the investor. This includes partnering with a vendor that has a deep understanding of each investor’s short- and long-term goals and ensure that the advisor aggregates and analyzes all data to recommend the most effective solution. When this occurs, the upside is always going to probable. Despite record rises in building materials, labor costs and a global pandemic, fix and flip investors averaged 32% returns on investment over the last few years. Investment returns can be sustained with the right asset management. A weakening economy and housing market will impact labor and material costs as supply increases and demand decreases due to inflationary forces. Renovation contractors have started feeling the slowdown from homeowner direct contracts resulting in contractors reconnecting with asset management companies for potential business opportunities. Our vendor management team has reported an increase in new contractors boarding for repairs, inspections, maintenance, and renovation by over 70% from just six months ago. This trend is positive for management companies. Due to our footprint in all 50 states, the recruiting and retention of boots on the ground is key to our success on multiple fronts. Dotting I’s and Crossing T’s with Rehabs or Renovations The approach to a successful renovation for investment assets is to ensure costs are contained. Our team executes this by deploying the specialized contractors needed by the service line for the assets. We utilize boots on the ground estimating to help prevent unforeseen issues and forecast accordingly. By collecting this data upfront and underwriting the estimates to account for actual material and labor costs, we provide real data to our clients to help them factor in overall renovation costs. By combining this with a thorough evaluation of real estate market conditions by reviewing both the sales of retail properties in the given market and the competition from neighboring properties, a comprehensive best execution strategy recommendation can be prepared. The Role of Technology We utilize multiple sources of technology to provide the most efficient and informed asset management solutions. Our proprietary software provides distribution of orders for estimating and project management. This application is used to send and receive data throughout the life cycle of the renovation project. This software also keeps the investor engaged by providing full transparency of the status, to include project progress and expenses throughout the project. We use state of the art fraud prevention analytics and controls and embedded quality assurance and data integrity. We also monitor our contractors in the field and rank them based on performance to track efficiency and quality. We provide a mobile app that affords our contractors with the ability to communicate in real time. This allows for a faster, more accurate means of providing estimates and appeals to contractors by allowing them to save time by submitting bids from the field. This technology is vital to a necessary part of the overall management of the asset as it affords us the ability to receive bids quicker and provide them to the investor for quick decisioning. Valuations and the Importance in a Changing Market Valuation tools and software are instrumental in providing insight on ROI to investors. Advancements in technology, such as the use of artificial intelligence, are being implemented daily to improve the accuracy of valuations. This technology helps determine asset features and, in some cases, the immediate or short term needs for the property. Identifiers like the age of a water heater, roof, windows, siding, and other features enhance the ability to analyze the asset and prepare the best strategy for each property more accurately. The Future The extent that inflation and rising interest rates will have on real estate markets and foreclosures in the near future is unclear. Many within the mortgage servicing industry predict significant increases to levels equal to if not higher than pre-pandemic. Recent trends of REO assets selling quickly have the potential to change as knowledge of individual markets and the factors impacting pricing

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