SFR Deal Highlights - March 2025
Enterprise wholesalers growing, new construction interest deepening, and more
Large Wholesalers Continue To Grow
While wholesalers have always been instrumental in sourcing deals for real estate investors, industry leaders are now expanding at an unprecedented rate. New Western surpassed 10,000 transactions last year, Net Worth had several thousand deals, and emerging wholesale firms are rapidly expanding. Aurumys, a wholesaler who launched in 2023, surpassed 1,000 transactions last year and is already closing hundreds of deals per month in 2025.
The fastest-growing wholesalers are positioning themselves as investment advisors — curating both on and off-market opportunities to deliver the best possible deals to their investors.
The property below was sourced by Aurumys in Indianapolis, where the borrower secured a construction loan from ROC Capital.
New Construction Interest Is Spiking
Ascent Developer Solutions, a private lender founded by former Genesis Capital CEO Robert Wasmund, has significantly increased originations, specializing in financing home builders and luxury property flips.
In March, Ascent completed a $6.24M origination in Miami Beach for a luxury flip (photos below).
The borrower, EZ BH Builders, brings substantial experience with over a dozen completed projects, each requiring multi-million dollar originations.
Institutional SFR Funds Continue To Trim
Institutional investors are actively selling parts of their portfolios. While our March data is still finalizing, it looks like we’ll see ~1,000 homes sold from institutional SFR investors in March. The majority of these homes are getting resold back to individuals.
These sales are geographically diverse rather than concentrated in specific neighborhoods or zip codes. Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Tampa, and Phoenix make the top 5 markets, with each representing 5-10% of institutional sales.
Below you’ll see a handful of the properties that were disposed by the large SFR funds.
This Orlando property was purchased by Starwood in 2019 for $165,000, was extensively renovated and most recently rented out in 2022 for $2,295.
First Key acquired this property in February 2022 with a last recorded rental rate of $2,295 in November 2023. After attempting to increase the rent to $2,485 in October 2024, they were forced to reduce it to $2,135 before pivoting to a sales strategy at $377,000. Following four months of successive price reductions, the property ultimately sold at a significantly lower $292,000 price point.
Turnkey Rental Providers Continue To Show Demand
The Open House Group, a publicly traded company in Japan, is one of the top homebuyers in March — acquiring north of 100 properties.
Their business model exemplifies the turnkey rental approach, offering comprehensive end-to-end services for Japanese investors seeking exposure to US rental real estate markets. Even with the market shift the last few years, Open House continues to acquire a steady state of properties each month (by our estimate they average ~100 per month).
Their acquisition strategy is highly targeted, focusing exclusively on Atlanta, Houston, and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Baltimore Emerges as Rehabilitation Investment Hotspot
As documented in our recent analysis of high-activity investment zip codes, Baltimore has become a magnet for investment capital.
In March alone, Gelt Ventures LLC—a specialized Section 8 housing provider—acquired 12 single-family homes and townhouses, with 10 concentrated in Curtis Bay, MD. AmeriTrust Mortgage served as the primary financing partner for this portfolio expansion.
Our analysis shows that investment activity is concentrating in markets supporting diverse strategies. Baltimore's versatility—accommodating Section 8 rentals, conventional long-term rentals, value-add renovations, and fix-and-flip opportunities—creates an accessible ecosystem for investors across multiple specializations.
