Rental Opportunities from an Investor’s Perspective

Apr 26, 2017

Original story: https://www.colonyamericanfinance.com/rental-properties-from-investors-perspective/

| | Real Estate Financing

a perspective from a real estate investor in the industry

When soldiers returned home after WWII, they took advantage of the G.I. Bill. They purchased small houses in the suburbs with low-interest rates and little or no down payment. They found jobs and often worked for the same company for 40 years, retiring with a pension and a gold watch.

Today, that version of the American Dream is quickly becoming a relic.

Homeownership is on the decline. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, homeownership reached 69.2 percent of households in 2004 but fell to 63.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Homeownership Drops Are Leading to Investing Opportunities

There are many causes for the drop in homeownership:

  • The cost of materials and land to build single-family houses are rising.
  • At the same time, real median income has dropped by nearly $2,000 from 1999 to 2015. What used to cost a family 25 percent to 30 percent of their income today costs 40 percent to 50 percent of their income.
  • People are waiting longer to get married and put down roots. In 2016, the average male was 29 and the average female 27 when they got married. In 1950, this was 22 and 20.
  • People change jobs much more frequently. Millenials are projected to change jobs on average four times by age 32.

While homeownership has changed because of these demographics, it is creating opportunities in the single-family home rental industry. Homes that were owned in the past often will be rental properties moving forward. This presents an excellent opportunity for both publicly held and privately held companies that specialize in the SFR business.

[su_quote cite=” ~Bruce McNeilage”]There has never been a better time to be in the rental business.[/su_quote]

Interest rates are low, home values are relatively flat and the need for housing far outweighs supply.

Develop Relationships With Lenders That Understand The Business

One of the most important steps to winning in the single-family home rental business is developing a relationship with a lender that understands this business and can provide capital. Many community banks and large money center banks are still spooked by the real estate crash in 2008-09. They don’t understand the current rental market and are hesitant to loan money investors need to acquire SFR assets.

The good news is Colony American Finance thrives in this business and has loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to small and large operators to acquire single-family rental homes. Colony American Finance offers short-term loans also known as fix and flip loans that are available to small and large buyers to allow them to renovate and flip single-family houses. Colony American Finance also provides long-term funding for the purchases of these assets at a very competitive rate for investors who are going to hold their assets over the long term.

Whether you are big or small, the SFR industry is poised to be a very profitable industry for many years. The most important ingredient is to provide the capital to invest in this space. Colony American finance is an excellent partner for anyone who wants to get into the single-family rental home business.


image of Bruce McNeilage, Co-Founder and Managing Member of Kinloch Partners

Bruce McNeilage, Co-Founder and Managing Member of Kinloch Partners, has been in the investment business for more than 28 years. The company he founded provides a path to home ownership through new construction, home renovation and investment in financially distressed real estate properties. Bruce is a national speaker and guest lecturer on the single-family rental industry. Prior to launching his businesses, he had a successful career with NYSE firms and was appointed to the Board of Directors of a Florida college plan by Governor Jeb Bush.

By Bruce McNeilage 14 Dec, 2023
In my interview with Seana Smith & Brad Smith from Yahoo Finance today we discussed single-familiy rental rates and my thoughts on mortgage rates going into 2024.
By Bruce McNeilage 14 Dec, 2023
Owner's equivalent rental prices rose 0.5% in November , a pervasive factor in US inflation as limited housing inventory continues to squeeze homebuyers out of tightened real estate markets. Kinloch Partners CEO Bruce McNeilage joins Yahoo Finance Live to weigh in on the outlook for renters and home purchases in 2024. Home prices are "not going to go down, that's for sure. And mortgage rates might go down, but if the cost of a house goes up $10-20,000, it's a wash," McNeilage states. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live. 
By Bruce McNeilage 08 Nov, 2023
Original Story can be found here: https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ Charlene and Timothy Stratton traded in their 4-acre Illinois ranch for a rental home in the Nashville suburb of Spring Hill and, so far, they love the new low-maintenance lifestyle. Like a growing contingent of Americans, they chose to rent a single-family house rather than buy a home or rent in multifamily apartment buildings. "We lived in the country all of our lives with horses and cows," said Timothy Stratton, a retired airline mechanic. "But we wanted to rent because we’re looking at our age. We did a lot of research and decided this will work out for the time being." Families like the Strattons increasingly want the mobility and limited commitment of a rental, with the privacy and space of a single-family home. Meanwhile, many families are also being pushed out of the tight housing market. Housing affordability plummeted to historic lows this year, with only 23% of U.S. listings in April considered affordable to households earning $75,000 or less, according to the National Association of Realtors. In response, real estate investors are betting heavily on new rental properties and, increasingly, on standalone units — especially in the South. More than 61,000 fully and semi-detached single-family rental units are under construction in Southern states as of September. In comparison, 28,000 units are in production in the Western U.S., the next-busiest region, according to RealPage Market Analytics. Those units include single-family homes, townhomes, rowhomes, quadruplexes and duplexes. Single-family rental communities are increasingly concentrated in subdivisions with on-site maintenance, rather than in homes nestled in for-sale housing neighborhoods. The Nashville market has the ninth-highest number of in-construction, build-to-rent homes with 2,745 units in the pipeline. Phoenix tops the list with 21,676 units underway, a RealPage analysis in August found. "Construction isn't going fast enough in Nashville. If they built four or five new build-to-rent communities, they would fill them up immediately," said Doug Ressler, the business intelligence director of Yardi Matrix, a real estate data firm. "We really expect Nashville to continue to see growth here." Rent vs. own: 'More house for your money' Charlene Stratton filled the three-bedroom house with festive seasonal crafts and artwork she creates in her home studio. Renting isn't perfect, but there are real perks — like, when the air conditioner stalled on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of summer, the landlord offered to put them in a hotel until maintenance could fix it that Monday. "When something goes wrong, we just call them," Charlene Stratton said. "It's great." The Strattons live at DerryBerry Estates, one of the first of its kind, built in 2019 by Kinloch Parners. The 34-home community sits on former pastures with views of Spring Hill's rolling green landscape and rose bushes in the front yard. Local development companies like Kinloch Partners of Nashville and Franklin-based Chartwell Residential and Barlow Builders have made stakes in the industry. "In 2008, I had no competition. Now there are six or seven players in the market," said Kinloch Partners Co-founder Bruce McNeilage, who sold much of his inventory to American Homes 4 Rent and expanded to South Carolina. "We're 99% leased out." McNeilage said he prioritizes creating a calm, supportive community with competitive prices. Rents at DerryBerry Estates ranged from $2,300 to $2,600 for homes with three to five bedrooms in September. "People are starting families later in life and COVID-19 has allowed people to work out of their houses so people are moving farther out," McNeilage added. "Housing prices are going up and interest prices just doubled. You can get more house for your money if you get farther out." Housing in Nashville area: 'Can't build them fast enough' Chartwell Residential, a local real estate firm specializing in multifamily apartments, is now building out its first single-family rental home community. https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/ https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2023/11/08/renters-seek-new-options-in-nashvilles-tight-housing-market/70652968007/
By Bruce McNeilage 15 Jul, 2023
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — High prices and high-interest rates have kept many from buying a single-family home in a quiet suburban neighborhood. But what if you could rent one? Developers say they are seeing a big demand for build-to-rent communities. Upon first glance at the DerryBerry Estates subdivision, you might assume the single-family homes are for sale, but they are not—each one is a rental. “People are very happy with what we are providing,” said Bruce McNeilage, CEO/co-founder, Kinloch Partners. Bruce McNeilage built DerryBerry Estates in Spring Hill a few years ago. He saw some families struggling to afford a single-family home in the suburbs, but still craving that lifestyle. “Their kids are getting older, they want to be in good schools, you want to ride a bike around, and you just can’t do that in an apartment complex.” No sharing walls at DerryBerry Estates, or Fairview Station, the other rental home community Kinloch Partners built in western Williamson County. DerryBerry Estates subdivision has 41 single-family homes with 3 and 4 bedrooms and rents in the $2,300 to $2,500 range; and all the trappings of the suburban lifestyle. “They have front porches, they have covered back porches, two-car garage. They have all the amenities and appointments on the interior that one would want in a house for sale, but these are available for rent.” Who would be interested in an all-rental community? McNeilage said his tenants are often folks new to town testing out the neighborhood, young families who can’t afford just yet to buy, those looking for a low-maintenance lifestyle, and senior citizens, which make up 10% of his tenants. “They don’t want to live in an apartment and share walls with someone. They want to live in a single-family home in the suburbs to probably be real close to their grandchildren.” McNeilage has a couple of rental communities in Middle Tennessee, as well as out of state. And with housing prices staying high, he sees the popularity of rental communities sticking around “I could build 100 houses. I could build another 100 houses. I really have a demand that I can’t keep up with.” McNeilage said that his tenant turnover is lower than an apartment complex. People will stay in his homes 3-4 years on average, but for apartment complexes, it’s 1.5 years. 
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