SFR Round Table: Thriving in an Emerging Market

On Monday, the Five Star Conference kicked off with the Single-Family Rental (SFR) Roundtable where industry experts weighed in on the most relevant topics surrounding this market.

The event was directed by Dave Garland, Partner at Second Century Ventures, he introduced the discussion of skilled SFR practitioners to talk about effective portfolio management, funding acquisition, and tactics for investors.

OwnAmerica CEO Greg Rand, a moderator at the event, stressed the importance for investors to use technology in strategic selection of SFR markets that are more accessible.

According to Rand, with the proper use of technology, you can attach yourself to a rising market. And now, especially compared to 10-years ago, investors can identify winning markets when others are ignoring it.

The SFR market has often been misunderstood as people tend to think about investing as, “you buy a piece of junk, fix it up, and flip it, but the SFR world says, show me a city that is rising and that becomes a shelter for families,” Rand said.

Rob Grossinger, President of National Community Stabilization Trust, discussed the challenges that the SFR world is currently facing as it becomes more institutionalized.

“For investors on the smaller end of the scale, under 500 units let’s say, how is the large-scale institutionalization going to affect them as its being brought into the spotlight?” Grossinger said.

Grossinger explained as entities that own 100,000 or more SFRs, as the government is looking at that more, and as people who advocate for homeownership see the competition that homebuyers have with cash investors, how is all that going to play out as something people have to keep their eyes on? “It may become a political football at some point,” he said.

Chief Client Officer at CoreVest Finance, Joakim Mortensen said the best solution is for investors to educate themselves not only in the lending space but the whole industry.

“I think people are defining where and what they want to buy, what asset class and what risk profile they are looking for,” Mortensen said. “So I think it is important to have events like this to educate, to see opportunities, develop new ideas, and new thoughts. Overall it’s for all of us to come together and compare notes.”

The Single-Family Rental Round Table was sponsored by 5 Arch Code Compliance, Alacrity Services, Arcana Insurance Services, Auction.com, Civic Private Money Lending, Home Depot Renovation Services, Homee, Inc., Ira Services Trust Company, LendingOne, MidAtlanticIRA, OwnAmerica, Patch of Land, The PIP Group, SGF Contracting Services, TaskEasy, The Mahoney Group, Truly Noble Services, Inc., and U.S. Best Repair Service Inc.