Now the Hard Part Begins

I have posted before about Wall Street getting into the local rental market business.  I tried to tell them again that getting into this market was not going to be as easy as it seems.  I am sure everything looks great on paper back at the office.  But the reality of this business is very different.  Tenants skip out in the middle of the night, leave water running, all kinds of crazy things.

Now, Blackstone’s buying binge has ended according to this article on Bloomberg.  After spending nearly $8 billion to buy over 43,000 homes across the country, the company has reduced its spending on new property acquisitions by 70%.

So, after spending all of that money, driving prices up and beating out local investors and actual owner/occupant buyers, what now?

“We’re not selling the homes. We’re building a long-term business,” said Jonathan Gray, global head of real estate for the New York-based firm.

I wonder.  It is easy to buy them, hard to manage them.   Let’s check back in a couple years and see what they say.