In addition to buying in Houston, Landsmith is involved with deals in Raleigh, NC (87 homes, about half of which are still in escrow) and in Nashville, TN (on which it closed on 118 homes in mid-May).

Breitenstein says he anticipates closing about 500 more homes in the next 60 days. The homes purchased were done on behalf of institutional investors – what Breitenstein dubs as "the top 10 private equity funds and REITs in the country. Landsmith is examining several markets for more investments, and if there's any common denominator with the ideal spot, it's that the MSA should have a population of at least 500,000.

"We don't want to place 100% rentals in any subdivision," Breitenstein comments. "We look for solid, growing areas with good schools and low crime."

Breitenstein says he learns about the single-family rentals through a variety of methods; foreclosures, property managers, the Internet and builders – Breitenstein says builders with inventory sometimes like the idea they can sell an entire collection of homes in a fairly quick transaction, rather than selling the single-family homes one at a time, over a period of months.

And it's not only the builders who are intrigued by the idea of single-family sales to well-heeled institutional buyers. Landsmith's transaction occurred a little more than two months after MACK Cos. sold 93 single-family homes to Arizona-based American Residential Properties. According to an article written on GlobeSt.com, that particular transaction followed a similar $28 million, 196-home transaction that took place between MACK and ARP in December, 2012. On its website, MACK bills itself as "the nation's premier provider of single-family, turnkey investment properties.

Nor does the single family seller need to be a huge, national one. "I spoke to a woman this morning," Breitenstein says. "She'd closed on more than 200 houses since 2008, but thinks now is the time to get out of the market."