Ahead of IMN's Single Family Rental Forum (East) this month, May 20-22, some members of our esteemed speaker faculty have shared preliminary answers to key questions. Read and get up-to-speed, share with peers and get ready to join us on-site for another unmissable industry gathering. Find out more about the event here.

Jeff Cline, Executive Director, Principal, SVN | SFRhub Marketplace

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?
We anticipate approximately 400-600 homes being purchased within SVN | SFR Capital Management this year, increasing exponentially the following year.  We anticipate SVN | SFRhub Marketplace, our brokerage company, to sell around 1,500 homes this year across multiple SFR & BFR portfolios.

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?
We are strategically investing in our human capital to expand our asset management team as our portfolio grows, alongside the development and expansion of our Smart Home Tech packages.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose?
While we have no plans to sell, we're keenly eyeing select southwest markets that appear to have stabilized following the post-pandemic price surges. Locations such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Austin have shown some retraction in prices compared to many markets east of Austin, where values continue to hold strong or even grow.

Any innovations on the tenant screening side?
We're currently exploring a range of innovative tech solutions for fraud detection in collaboration with property management. Among these are cutting-edge tools designed to combat duplicity in online listings, a tactic often exploited by criminals to assess the number of vacant homes in a subdivision. Additionally, we're delving into solutions for document fraud analysis and protection, enhancing tenant verification screening processes, and more.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?
We consistently budget for a 3% increase in rents, though we realistically expect slightly higher growth across most markets for both new leases and renewals.

How are you battling higher insurance costs?
By collaborating closely with builders, we aim to optimize construction costs, ultimately delivering more affordably priced homes. While we face limited options in addressing insurance costs, we're strategically scaling our presence across multiple markets to mitigate risks across our portfolio. We're also diversifying our communities, including those in lower-risk markets, to help offset higher premiums in regions with greater risk. Of course, we're also hopeful for fewer natural disasters.   

 

Charles McKeag, President, BrightSky Residential

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell? 
We’re currently developing nine new communities representing nearly 1800 units.  Five of those communities are under construction and we expect to deliver homes to tenants on three before year end.  We have one community (150 units) going to market this quarter.  The balance will be held long term.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose? 
We’re active in California, Texas, and Florida, with acquisition efforts focused on all but Texas this year.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?  
Underwritten rents at each of our CA and FL communities are projected to increase approximately 3% over the next 12 months.

 

Wade McGuinn, CEO, McGuinn Hybrid Homes

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell? 
1,100.00.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose? 
Southeast, tertiary market-Columbia and Greenville SC, Savanna GA.

Are you using AI? How? 
Not yet.

How are you battling higher insurance costs? 
Shopping.

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?  
SC women's baseball…… all the way!!!

 

Larry Franks, President, Northern California Brightsky

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? We will have about 108 homes in production this year and over 300 next year.  Sell?   
We only rent our units and don’t have plans to sell them.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year? 
We underwrite at 3% YOY.

Are you battling higher insurance costs?  
Yes.  Especially in Florida.

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?  
Tampa Bay Lightning are always poised at a run for the Stanley Cup! You can’t pay me to watch basketball 😉.

 

Tom Harr, Managing Member, Legacy Home Group LLC

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell? 
We will buy and/or sell 150 houses this year.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose?
We transact only in Columbus OH.

Are you using AI? How?
Only for email marketing and basic content creation outlines.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?
On average $100 a unit.

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?
Sell 100, Buy 500 (Already closed on 149 this year so far).

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management? 
Yes we are moving our management in house and transitioned from a 3rd party manager.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose? 
Cleveland Ohio and Atlanta GA.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year? 
15%.

 

Wagner Nolasco, President, Build 2 Rent Direct LLC

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management? 
Re-creating AI based researches and also checks and balances. Cost during tough times needs to be taken seriously. No mistakes are allowed during this market. 

What is your top market to buy? Dispose? 
West Texas and Central Florida

Are you using AI? How? 
Identifying locations, demographics, product to implement and etc… we verify all information provided by AI but it’s a must now days.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year? 
8-10% due to low inventory in the areas that we are located. Remember we only have new homes. This helps to keep rents high.

Chris Kopacek, Principal, Lonestar Development Partners

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?  
Build – 450 BTR Homes. Sell – 10 BTR Condos

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? 
Yes, with occupancies going down in Austin due to larger than anticipated supply, top tier property management is one of the ways to keep a property at higher than market occupancies.

What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?
More calls / in person meetings with property management, more coordination on strategy with property management corporate leadership, new ideas centered around corporate / short term rentals at Multifamily and BTR sites in lease uup.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose?
Buy – Dallas. Dispose – San Antonio

Are you using AI? How?  
We aren’t but one of our property management groups is for after hour phone calls.

Any innovations on the tenant screening side? 
Buying insurance who vets your renters and makes sure they collect.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?
Flat to 2% rent growth in Austin.  Hoping for 1-5% growth in Dallas and San Antonio

How are you battling higher insurance costs?
It is the single biggest bust in our proformas.  We are having to decrease profits to make deals work.

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?
Not very far…;)

 

Mitchell Roschelle, Principal and Managing Director, Madison Ventures +

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell? 
500 plus. 

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management? 
More focus on community building.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose? 
The state of Florida (buy)  The NorthEast (sell).

Are you using AI? How? 
No but we are using more app-based tools for tenants.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year? 
Due to the limited supply of workforce housing, we expect Renta  to grow by approximately 200 basis points above the rate of core inflation.

Are you battling higher insurance costs? 
Yes.

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?
NY Knicks eastern conference finals.
 

John Isakson, CEO, ARK Homes For Rent

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?
We will buy between 1500 and 2K this year and probably sell 300-500.

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?
Yes, we have invested heavily in our technology stack to be able to more closely monitor and report on our assets as well as be able to observe performance in more real time.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose?
 Buy: Atlanta/Charlotte/Raleigh; Dispose: all secondary markets we are investing in.

Are you using AI? How? 
Yes, most notably in tenant screening and resident application review.  It has been a tremendous help in cutting down on fraud.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?
2.5-4%.

How are you battling higher insurance costs?
We use a captive to help offset premium and a high deductible that is partially offset by required tenant insurance.

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go? 
Not very far….I am in Atlanta…GO BRAVES!

 

James Bagley, CEO, Citicommunities LLC

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?
We sell about 150 vacation rental homes annually.

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?
Yes, more focused on maintenance margins.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose?
Pigeon Forge TN

Are you using AI? How?
Call center.

Any innovations on the tenant screening side?
Incredible progress in identification fraud devices.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?
Occupany and rate are expected to fall into 2024.

How are you battling higher insurance costs?
Insane insurance increases.

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?
Worried about occupancy and rate 😊.

 

Ray Mazzie, Managing Partner, Southern Waters Development

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?
We will begin construction on close to 1000 units, approximately 50% will be BTR and the other will be MF.

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year?
No.

What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?
Hiring better people and reducing staff, but replacing with 3rd party support.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose?
Prefer not to disclose outside of my favorite 5 states: FL, GA, TN, NC, and SC.

Are you using AI? How?
Yes, and in any way we can. We use it to create SOPs, draft simple clauses / term sheets for projects that have more complex designs, we brainstorm ideas with it, and essentially use it as a copilot for anything we find trivial.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?
0% - 3%

How are you battling higher insurance costs?
We are tapping into specialty programs and using materials that aid in reducing the property / GL policy costs. Also, we are making sure during our construction that we are building in a way where our peak construction at risk is lower in value by using specific building types, etc. That way we are reducing the risk associated with our OCIP policy.

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?
The Knicks will lose to the heat and the Rangers will make the playoffs and let me down, per usual.

 

Gary Hall, General Manager, Westshore Property Management

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?
20-50.

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?
We are looking to sell of some of the poorly cashflowing properties that had large equity increases over the last few years.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose?
West Michigan.

Are you using AI? How?
We are exploring what AI can do but have not found anything other than improving emails that we have put into practice.

Any innovations on the tenant screening side?
We have seen a rise is fake identities lately so we now have a credit cap. If your credit is too good you have to provide extra documentation.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?
Rents increased 12% last year and are continuing to rise. We won’t know for sure until the spring/summer market but we are expecting it to be close to 5%.

How are you battling higher insurance costs?
Raising rents. 

 

Sandeep Shah, Founder and CEO, Vitae Capital

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?
Vitae Capital is a capital allocator. Hence, the question of sales/acquisitions is one that rests with our development partners. That being said, most of our partners do not plan to sell in 2024 as there is a consistent and correct assumption that we will see cap rate compression in 2025. Those that can make deals pencil are engaged in aggressive builds this year, given the projected strong sales upon delivery in 2-3 years. 

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?
Yes. Vitae Capital hired a professional fund administrator whereas we had previously been handling those aspect in-house. This fund administrator will ensure strong bookkeeeping and increase confidence with our investors. The administrator liaisons seamlessly with our director of operations, who also manages our investor portal (AppFolio). These facets ensure seamless management and strong investor experiences. 

What is your top market to buy? Dispose?
We specialize in the Texas Triangle, which is also the best market in the country. 

Are you using AI? How?
Not at a consistent level, but will start incorporation later this year. 

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?
We are projecting ~3% YoY increase beginning in mid-2025 in the DFW and Houston market. Austin market will be flat due to the large supply that is yet to be delivered. 

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?
Rangers and Astros. Need I say more? 

 

Colleen Yeager, VP Operations, Quinn Residential

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?   
We plan on doubling our size and rarely sell.

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?
Our acquisition team plays the asset management role along with myself and our CEO, Richard Ross.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose? 
We are in the South East and looking at Texas.

Are you using AI? How? 
Not yet but considering.

Any innovations on the tenant screening side?
Yardi screening has been a good platform for us.  We deny close to 35% of all applicants.  Since bringing management in house, we have seen a sharp decline in our evictions/skips. However, we do have to continue to vet out who is already been approved outside our platform.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year? 
Depending on the MSA.  Some are expected 4-6% and others 7-9%.

How are you battling higher insurance costs? 
Scale is driving down our cost.  Coastal being higher but our portfolio levels off. 

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?  
Get back to me when football starts.  But the Panthers are promising.  😊

 

Ting Qiao, CEO, Wanbridge

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?
We expect our construction division to deliver 1,200 Homes in 2024. 

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year?
We continue to focus on asset management to identify our performance and have recently added a new role for this group.

What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?
We have spent the last few years developing an internal ERP system that should revolutionize the full life cycle and performance reporting of our business.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose?
We focus in Texas and have seen a lot of opportunities in rural areas of Houston, DFW, and central Texas.

Are you using AI? How?
AI has been in use in our company since late 2022; however, we greatly increase our AI usage in Marketing and Leasing tools.

Any innovations on the tenant screening side?
Only with the fact that we use AI to help answer questions and filter prospects for our communities.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?
Varies based on market, but we do expect rent growth.

How are you battling higher insurance costs?
We are actively researching a business insurance captive to mitigate these costs.

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?
We don’t have much to brag about in these categories. 

 

Alex Sifakis, President, JWB Real Estate Capital

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?
Build 450.  Sell 350. 

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?
Continued current investment.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose? 
We are only in Jacksonville – Northeast Florida

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?
3%.

How are you battling higher insurance costs?
They are actually dropping in the last month, which has been great!

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?
Celtics fan, so we are looking pretty good.

 

Tyson Schuetze, Founder and Managing Partner, Auben Capital Partners

How many homes do you plan to buy/build this year? Sell?
We are looking to be at a minimum of 3400 units under management by the end of the year. This will include an additional 200-250 doors that we are seeking to acquire ourselves.

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?
We are putting a lot of resources into asset management which has included hiring several new team members and further building out our asset management services department.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose?
For acquisition, we continue to favor Southeastern secondary markets. We also like several primary midwestern markets like Kansas City.  

Are you using AI? How?
Not much currently. Mostly just punching up some of our writing quicker using ChatGPT.

Any innovations on the tenant screening side?
We continue to try and be thoughtful about how big of an issue affordability is and will continue to be.

Your rents will be increasing by how much over the next year?
We expect about 5%.

How are you battling higher insurance costs?
It’s a major issue (even in our inland markets) that is not being offset by rents growth normalizing, Any tips?

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?
I am Reds fan. Usually we are out of contention this point of the season. This year we have De La Cruz, so hope springs eternal.   

 

Bobby Triplett, SVP Renovate, Offerpad

How many homes do you plan to buy/build [renovate] this year? Sell? 
We haven’t publicly provided full-year guidance; however, we have bought nearly 37,000 homes since inception (about 800 of those homes last quarter). Additionally, our renovation teams have renovated more than 35,000 homes since Offerpad’s inception. 

Offerpad Renovate™, which allows B2B partners the opportunity to tap into our renovation technology, cost management, logistics, and ground game within the Offerpad platform. Renovate is thriving, demonstrating strong operating and financial performance and completing nearly 400 projects in Q1.

Are you putting more resources into asset management this year? What are some of the things you’ve been doing to improve your asset management?  
Offerpad's Renovate™ platform service provides a remodeling service to institutional companies of all sizes. In Q2 2024, Offerpad intends to pilot a new technology management platform that will further enable internal and partners with more resources, visibility, and efficiency.

Alongside Renovate's success, our other asset-light platform services continue to scale. Together, these three services represented 43% of total transactions in the quarter, reshaping our product mix and yielding higher contribution margins.

What is your top market to buy? Dispose?
Our in-house underwriting capabilities, seasonality, and other macro market factors, such as affordability and population shifts influence our buying activity. Currently, we are most active on the East Coast and Mid-West, such as Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Indiana.   

Are you using AI? How? 
Offerpad uses a form of AI – in this case, machine learning - to optimize how it values and acquires homes. It forms a part of a score in a proprietary system that factors in home and local market characteristics to help determine the value of a home during the underwriting process. This was developed using Offerpad's extensive database of hundreds of thousands of real estate transactions, years of real estate experience, and deep data science expertise. We are actively exploring various methods to integrate AI across our company; however, we believe it's crucial to have real estate experts evaluate each property and help guide consumers through a transaction that best suits their needs.

How far do you think your Basketball or Hockey team is going to go?  
I’m a huge TB Lightning fan, so of course, they are going all the way this year!