Trion Properties is staying busy during the pandemic. The company is reporting strong rent collections, new leasing activity and has remained an active buyer through the pandemic. This year, it expects to buy six or seven additional properties, adding more than 600 units to its portfolio.

"We are very active, and we are net buyers. We have already closed on one property and we are closing on two more in the next few weeks. In 2020, we expect to buy six to seven properties, maybe more. We are buying with COVID discounts of 4% to 10%," Max Sharkansky, co-founder of Trion Properties, tells GlobeSt.com.

The discount makes sense, considering Trion is anticipating declining rents for the next year. The firm is underwriting negative rent growth of 4% in the first year and positive rent growth in the years following. "We are assuming negative rent growth year one, and positive rent growth years two, three, four and five on a five-year hold. If you blend year one and two, we are at zero for the first two years, so we are assuming that two years from now, rents will be where they are today," says Sharkansky. "We think that is a fairly conservative way to underwrite."