Despite housing shortages driving up home prices, built-for-rent housing continues to grow and evolve Matt and Sam Blank always wanted to go into business together, and the housing bust in 2008 provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the two brothers to do so. They quit their jobs in New York and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. The plan was to buy houses out of foreclosure at bargain prices with their own money.
The only problem: private equity firms like Blackstone with bottomless access to capital had the same idea. ?In about a period of two weeks they put us out of business,? Matt said.
To salvage their business?and their pride?the brothers shifted gears. Instead of buying houses and renting them, they decided build houses and rent them. And not just one house here and there, but whole communities of more than 100 single-family homes where every unit is a rental.
The Blank brothers?s company, BB Living, is one of a handful of home builders creating entire single-family rental neighborhoods?complete with all the amenities of a large apartment complex?to take advantage of growing demand from renters who want a single-family house without the responsibilities or risks of homeownership.
?We?re like a country club or apartment environment, where you have a community that has a social component to it as the centerpiece,? said Mark Wolf of AHV Communities, which has produced four built-for-rent communities in Texas. ?The dog park, the fitness center, the pools, the ...