Rental Companies Purchasing Houses

We recently had a company called American Homes 4 Rent purchase a bank foreclosure in my development. I know there are many companies like this purchasing foreclosures all over Florida. Does anyone have experience with these folks?

There is a local real estate agent in my area who had a rental company. IMO he is trouble. He has worked to either get on the board of the HOAs he holds property in or get involved with the neighborhoods but for the sole purpose of advancing his business. He had written very misleading articles in the newsletter, he would push to get area improvements (coincidentally by his properties or with a lot of recognition for his actions - free advertising), tried establishing a special tax district to pay for projects around where he owns properties, or even push foreclosures so that he could purchase properties real cheap.

While some of that may sound good, he lives in a wealthier neighborhood. The neighborhoods he goes into are middle class but the costs he pushes for these projects are huge. He tried to push multi-million dollar wall projects, thousands on flowers and grass plantings, that tax district was to landscape miles of county road, establish more covenants (including stricter penalties, mandatory membership, and higher assessments). These neighborhoods are surrounded by famous wealthy neighborhoods and have a different demographic that couldn't afford much of these changes but he was only interested in one thing selling and renting his properties. He didn't care about the people living there.

I am not sure about your company but I would just be wary.

Allison, this is an undesirable situation for the current homeowners. As the % of non-owner occupied units inceases it can lead to no being qualified for certification for condos. It leads to difficulty selling a Unit and we experience more violations for renters of townhomes and single family homes.

A townhome association we manage has amended their CC&Rs to require the Buyer to occupy the property during the first 12 months.

I read the article on the main page, very interesting. So far its been weeks, our attorney has attempted contact but we have no response yet. The landscaping is out of control, we will see if they pay dues this quarter. So far, I am not happy. We have 74 houses and 6 rentals including the 2 that are association owned homes. A few years ago we tried to amend our docs to include a provision that a home must be owned for a year before renting but it did not pass the final vote. I would like to try for it again this year. There is not too much info on their website but I will do some more digging.