http://pkrealtor.com/blog/categoryname_rental-ownership/sort_entrydatetime-desc/  If your house is on the market but you haven’t gotten any offers you’re comfortable with, you may be wondering: what do I do if it doesn’t sell? And for a growing number of homeowners, that’s turning into a new dilemma: should I just rent it instead?There’s a term for this in the industry, and it’s called an accidental landlord. Here’s how Yahoo Finance defines it:“These ‘accidental landlords’ are homeowners who tried to sell but couldn’t fetch the price they wanted — and instead have decided to rent out their homes until conditions improve.”Why This Is Happening More Often Right NowAnd right now, the number of homeowners turning into accidental landlords is rising. Business Insider explains why:“While there have always been accidental landlords . . . an era of middling home sales brought on by a steep rise in borrowing rates — is minting a new wave of reluctant rental owners."Basically, sales have slowed down as buyers struggle with today’s affordability challenges. And that’s leaving some homeowners with listings that sit and go stale. And if they don't want to drop their price to try to appeal to buyers, they may rent instead.But here’s the thing you need to remember if renting your house has crossed your mind. Becoming a landlord wasn’t your original plan, and there’s probably a reason for that. It comes with a lot more responsibility (and risk) than most people expect.So, if you find yourself toying with that option, ask yourself these questions first:1. Does Your House Have Potential as a Profitable Rental?Just because you can rent it doesn’t mean you should. For example:Are you moving out of state? Managing maintenance from far away isn’t easy.Does the home need repairs before it’s rental-ready? And do you have the time or the funds for that?Is your neighborhood one that typically attracts renters, and would your house be profitable as one?If any of those give you pause, it’s a sign selling might be the better move.2. Are You Ready To Be a Landlord?On paper, renting sounds like easy passive income. In reality, it often looks more like this:Midnight calls about clogged toilets or broken air conditionersChasing down missed rent paymentsDamage you’ll have to fix between tenantsAs Redfin notes:“Landlords have to fix things like broken pipes, defunct HVAC systems, and structural damage, among other essential repairs. If you don’t have a few thousand dollars on hand to take care of these repairs, you could end up in a bind.”3. Have You Thought Through the True Costs?According to Bankrate, here are just a few of the hidden costs that come with renting out your home:A higher insurance premium (landlord insurance typically costs about 25% more)Management fees (if you use a property manager, they typically charge around 10% of the rent)Maintenance and advertising to find tenantsGaps between tenants, where you cover the mortgage without rental income coming inAll of that adds up, fast.While renting can be a smart move for the right person with the right house, if you’re only considering it because your listing didn’t get traction, there may be a better solution: talking to your current agent and revisiting the pricing strategy on your house first. With their advice you can rework your strategy, relaunch at the right price, and attract real buyers to make the sale happen.Bottom LineBefore you decide to rent your house, make sure to carefully weigh the pros and cons of becoming a landlord. For some homeowners, the hassle (and the expense) may not be worth it.  http://pkrealtor.com/blog/990/thinking-about-renting-your-house-instead-of-selling?-read-this-first/ Mon, 01 Sep 2025 11:00:02 -0500  Remember the chatter in the headlines about all the homes big institutional investors were buying? If you were thinking about buying a home yourself, you may have wondered how you’d ever be able to compete with that. Here’s the thing. That’s not the challenge so many people think it is – especially right now.Let’s break down what’s really going on and why the recent shift in the approach investors are taking could tip the scales in your favor.Large Investors Are Pulling BackThe truth is institutional investors never represented as big a share of the housing market as people think. And now, they’re backing off even more.Today, big real estate investors aren’t buying as many homes. In fact, they’re actually selling more than they’re buying.According to data from Parcl Labs, 6 out of 8 of the largest institutional single-family rental investment companies in America sold more homes than they bought in the second quarter of 2025 (see graph below):And here’s the stat that really puts it in perspective. According to Dominion Financial, for every home being bought by big investors, about 1.75 are being sold.What’s Causing Big Investors To Change Course?The reason institutional investors aren’t buying as many homes now compared to recent years is actually pretty simple. It’s because home values aren’t rising as fast as they were a few years ago, but the costs associated with rental maintenance are.Since most institutional investors buy homes to rent them out, those higher costs eat into their margins. Remember, to investors, homebuying is a business.But you’re not buying a home just for this year or next. You’re buying a place to build a life, and that’s a long-term play.Historically, home values tend to rise over time. So, while investors may be sidelined by what’s happening right now, you’re in a different position entirely. You have the chance to buy while competition is lower and benefit from potential long-term price appreciation – something most investors are choosing not to wait for as they focus on shorter-term returns.What Does All This Mean for You?According to a recent survey, about 55% of real estate investors have no plans to grow their rental portfolios now or in the near future. With big investors stepping back, that means less competition from deep-pocketed buyers. And since they’re adding to today’s for-sale inventory, it also creates more options for you.Bottom LineIf you’ve been holding off on buying, now might be the time to take another look. Let’s connect so you can get expert guidance on what’s available and what might be a good fit for you.What kind of home would you be excited to make yours this year? http://pkrealtor.com/blog/956/why-big-investors-aren’t-a-challenge-for-today’s-homebuyer/ Wed, 02 Jul 2025 09:40:34 -0500  Are big investors really buying up all the homes today?If you’re trying to find a house to buy, this may be something you’re wondering about. Maybe you’ve read about it or seen reels on social media saying investors buying all the homes is making it even harder to find what the average buyer is looking for. But spoiler alert – there’s a lot of misinformation out there. To clear things up, here's the scoop on what's really happening. A lot of the big investor activity is actually in the rearview mirror already.The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) explains:“Investors of all sizes spent billions of dollars buying homes during the pandemic. At the 2022 peak, they bought more than one in every four single-family homes sold, though more recently their activity has slowed as interest rates rose and supply became tighter.”The key here is investor activity has slowed significantly, and even during the peak of investor buying, 3 out of every 4 single-family homes purchased were by regular, everyday buyers – not investors. And of the investors who bought over the past few years, most weren’t the big investors you may be hearing about. The vast majority were small mom-and-pop investors – people like your neighbors who own only a couple of homes, maybe even just their main residence and a vacation home.But let’s focus on the giant, mega-investor firms since that's what is being talked about so frequently on social media right now. Mega investors are those who own 1,000+ properties. You may be surprised to see that, according to the Wall Street Journal, they don’t buy all that many homes (see graph below): This graph tells us two things. First, institutional investors were never buying a large percentage of available homes. During the peak in 2022, they bought about 2% of available single-family homes. Second, that percentage has gotten even smaller recently (so small the number rounds down to 0%).In an effort to understand why that percentage is trending down, private lender RCN Capital asked investors about the challenges they’re facing. Here’s what Jeffrey Tesch, CEO of RCN Capital, found out:“Investors are already facing many challenges in today’s housing market – rising prices, limited inventory, and higher financing costs.”Understanding these challenges is important because they show big, mega investors aren’t taking over the housing market.So, don't fall for everything you hear. They aren't snatching up all the homes and making it impossible for regular people to buy. Bottom LineBig investors aren’t buying all the homes out there. If you've got questions about what you're hearing about the housing market, let's chat. I can help you understand what's really going on. http://pkrealtor.com/blog/651/how-many-homes-are-investors-actually-buying?/ Wed, 22 May 2024 08:32:31 -0500 If you’re thinking about buying a home, you may find yourself interested in the latest real estate headlines so you can have a pulse on all of the things that could impact your decision. If that’s the case, you’ve probably heard mention of investors, and wondered how they’re impacting the housing market right now. That could leave you asking yourself questions like:How many homes do investors own?Are institutional investors, like large Wall Street Firms, really buying up so many homes that the average person can’t find one?To answer those questions, here’s the real story of what’s happening based on the data.  Let’s start with establishing how many single-family homes (SFHs) there are and what portion of those are rentals owned by investors. According to SFR Investor, which studies the single-family rental market in the United States, there are eighty-two million single-family homes in this country. But how many of them are actually rentals?According to data shared in a recent post, sixty-eight million (82.93%) of those homes are owner-occupied – meaning the person who owns the home lives in it. If you subtract that sixty-eight million from the total number of single-family homes (82 million), that leaves just about fourteen million homes left that are single-family rentals (SFRs).Do institutional investors own all of those remaining fourteen million homes? Not even close. Let’s take it one step further. There are four categories of investors:The mom & pop investor who owns between 1-9 SFRsThe regional investor who owns between 10-99 SFRsSmaller national investor who owns between 100-999 SFRsThe institutional investor who owns over 1,000 SFRsThese categories show that not all investors are large institutional investors. To help convey that even more clearly, here are the percentages of rental homes owned by each type of investor (see chart below): As you can see in the chart, despite what the news and social media would have you believe, the green shows the vast majority are not owned by large institutional investors. Instead, most are owned by small mom & pop investors, like your friends and neighbors.What’s actually happening is, that there are people out there, just like you, who believe in homeownership, and they view buying a home (or a second home) as an investment. Maybe they saw an opportunity to buy a second home over the last few years to use it as a rental and generate additional income. Or maybe they just decided to keep their first house rather than sell it when they moved up.So, don’t believe everything you read or hear about institutional investors. They aren’t buying up all the homes and making it impossible for the average person to buy. That’s just not what the numbers show. Institutional investors are actually the smallest piece of the pie chart.Bottom LineWhile it’s true that institutional investors are a player in the single-family rental marketplace, they’re not buying up all of the houses on the market. If you have other questions about things you’re hearing about the housing market, let’s connect so you have an expert to give you the context you need. http://pkrealtor.com/blog/516/is-wall-street-buying-up-all-the-homes-in-america?/ Mon, 27 Nov 2023 08:24:36 -0500