8 Takeaways from the 2021 IMN Single Family Rental Forum West

December 17, 2021

Sold out weeks in advance, the 2021 IMN Single Family Rental (SFR) Forum West was another productive conference organized by the Information Management Network. Nearly 2,000 real estate investors, brokers, lenders and vendors in categories such as technology, insurance and property management, gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona, to meet and discuss relevant trends and topics on the national single family rental market.

Single family rental investments continue to soar with multi-million securitization deals taking place on a monthly basis, and 16 million homes (11.5% of all homes) are now considered single family rental properties in the United States. Interest in SFR has significantly grown in recent years with an influx of institutional capital making national headlines. CoreVest has been an early participant in this market including the IMN SFR Forum series, returning once again as a Gold Sponsor this year.

So, what did we find in early December as we met with clients, investors and other industry peers through the exhibit halls, meeting rooms, discussion panels, private dinners, and cocktail events? See our top 8 takeaways below:

#1. The industry/space is a busy as it has ever been. There was an abundance of new
investors who had entered the space in the past two years. There was also a noticeable
increase in institutional and larger owner operators present.

#2. Build for Rent (BFR) continues to be the talk of the conference, especially since existing SFR inventory is tight and price points are high. In addition to build for rent long-term, short-term rental was also a hot topic, even “build to stay

#3. Secondary and tertiary markets are getting a lot of attention in search of yield and
reasonable cost of inventory and land.

#4. Discussions around 30-year DSCR loans continued from the previous SFR conference.
Investors sought 30-year financing options and/or the potential for refinances into a 30-
year portfolio product.

#5. Small- and middle-market SFR lenders continue to maintain adjustments made in their qualifying criteria even in this new, post-quarantine environment. Many have increased their minimum credit score requirements while others expect to see a larger percentage
of liquidity.

#6. Borrowers are showing high interest in setting up lines of credit for 2022. Many investors believe that there will be a market correction and significant opportunity for acquisitions as a result.

#7. Buy and hold investors are finding significant competition in the local primary markets, and some investors that have acquired portfolios 5-8 years ago are now looking to sell the assets and recapitalize in other regional secondary markets.

#8. Some investors, however, are apprehensive of the current market conditions and have slowed down new acquisitions. They pointed to concerns over the recent real estate appreciation, rising interest rates, compressed yields and overall economy.

Overall, we give kudos to the organizers. The IMN SFR forum has grown and evolved with the shifting pace of the industry and was yet another great opportunity for attendees to connect with key market participants, including fix and flip investors, rental investors, institutional investors, and other real estate and mortgage professionals for a few days of learning, lively discussion, and networking. We would like to thank all of the following for their contributions to the takeaways above: Joakim Mortensen, Marc Heenan, John Prins, Ian Hardcastle, Dennis Spivey, Brendan Hamilton, Ramsey Kassih, Yumna Zahidi, Ryan Amill. We would also like to thank all our clients, colleagues and partners for making this another successful event and look forward to our next gathering.

#IG