Mynd CEO chats inflation, single-family rental boom on TRD’s podcast

While increased capital costs and inflation might be sidelining investors, Doug Brien is still bullish on the single-family rental sector.

“I believe that there’s gonna now be a lot more demand to rent homes just by virtue of the price of owning has gone up,” said the CEO and founder of Mynd, an investment and management platform for single-family rentals.

On the latest episode of TRD’s podcast “Deconstruct,” Brien chatted about the slowdown that’s hit the market, and why he still thinks you’ll see institutional capital flock to the asset class.

“We’re, you know, 4 to 5 million homes short from a supply perspective in this country, and that problem is not going to get solved anytime soon,” Brien said.

Single-family rentals boomed as an asset class in the wake of the pandemic as rents soared to record levels in markets across the country.

The rise of the sector also owes thanks to the advent of technology, which allowed investors to own homes across a wider geographic spread. It became scaleable.

“You could now have a system, a database in the cloud, where you could have your team out in the market with full access to all the data they needed,” he said. “You could basically manage, buy and manage a lot of homes that were spread out.”

Single-family rentals now account for about 16 million units, or a third of total rental inventory across the U.S., according to data from Harvard University. And if interest rates start to plateau and housing costs dip, more investors can seize on the opportunity.

Tune in to the full interview, and check back every Monday for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible or wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode was brought to you by Dottid.