The housing market thrives on optimism, which is what the market is getting so far under President-elect Donald Trump, at least that’s what OwnAmerica CEO Greg Rand said.
Speaking at the IMN 5th Annual SFR Investment Forum in Phoenix, the CEO explained what the Trump Administration means for housing and the single-family rental market.
Feelings toward Ben Carson as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development are currently all over the place. However, Rand notes in his speech that Carson could actually make a needed change in the single-family rental market.
“The biggest opportunity to boost housing at the federal level right now is for the Federal Housing Administration to adapt their multi-family lending product to be friendly to single-family investors. I believe that proposal will get legs with Carson in charge of HUD,” said Rand.
Rand explains that if people read Carson’s book, they would understand that what motivates and animates Carson is education.
“He will see the home as the place kids do their homework and read. He will recognize the impact housing can have on education,” he said. “He will instinctively know that, to a kid, a home is more of a home when it's a house. Expanding access to capital for investors of Single-Family Rentals will make sense to him and he will green light the policy.”
Beyond Carson leading HUD, Rand also states that there will be more confidence in the housing market.
He stated that the announcement last week that Carrier is keeping 1,000 jobs in Indiana is going to become a regular occurrence.
“Why? Because American corporations have gotten pretty good at buttering up politicians in Washington. The way they usually do it is by writing a check to their campaigns. That won't work anymore,” he said.
Instead, it’s better to give Trump a success to announce, a factory saved or opened and a failing company acquired.
This in turn translates into confidence, which will help keep the homeownership rate up, Rand said.
