Gregor Watson
OAKLAND, CA—Roofstock, Inc. a marketplace for single-family rental (SFR) investment properties, recently announced the launch of Roofstock One, a platform that allows investors to purchase shares of single-family rental homes without the responsibilities of being a landlord.
“We believe that single-family rental homes are a unique investment opportunity,” says Gregor Watson, co-founder and Chairman of Roofstock. “Even during the 2008 housing crisis when home prices plummeted, SFR rent growth moderated but never turned negative—and then it picked up again.”
The single-family rental space is a $3 trillion asset class that has consistently performed well over the last several decades. Today, the US has about 16 million rental homes with an additional 13 million new rental households being established by 2030. Historically, SFR performance has been largely independent of the stock market. For instance, while the economy saw a downturn in both the stock market and home prices during the 2008 housing crisis, SFR rent remained fairly steady and even grew during the same timeframe, Watson tells GlobeSt.com.
According to Roofstock, approximately 60 to 65 million+ people, between the ages of 20 and 35, are not ready to own and are instead choosing to lease homes. This increase in millennials renting has a significant and positive impact on the SFR industry.
How It Works
Roofstock One has created a model where investors do not have to deal with property management issues or potential landlord-tenant disputes. Investors may also retain anonymity “since they own an interest in a trust series and do not need to set up an LLC to hold the property,” says Watson.
The Roofstock One platform allows accredited investors to start investing at $5,000 per share.
“Not only will this make rental investing accessible to a much larger audience but it also enables investment diversification across multiple properties for far less capital than what is traditionally possible.”
For example, if shares in four separate homes were priced at $5,000 per share in the first home, $7,000 per share in the second home, $9,000 per share in the third home, and $10,000 per share in the fourth home, you could purchase one share in each of the four properties for a total investment of only $31,000 and those monies can be diversified across four properties.
Roofstock One manages its properties using its in-house property management company, Streetlane PM LLC. Asset management is also performed by their in-house team of experts who are focused on optimizing the long-term income potential of each property, explains Watson.
As the nation continues to suffer from a shortage of affordable homes for sale, builders still aren't necessarily focused on the lower end of the market. That shortage will continue to fuel rental demand for the foreseeable future and Roofstock One and their investors are taking advantage of the momentum.
“Investor priorities may be changing, and we recognize that the old ways of doing things may no longer apply when it comes to real estate investing,” said Gary Beasley, co-founder and CEO of Roofstock. “With Roofstock One, we're making it frictionless and seamless for investors to reap the potential benefits of real estate investing.”
Roofstock One homes are initially available in the Atlanta and Indianapolis metropolitan areas.
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