Backed by private equity firm Blackstone Group, Invitation Homes has spent $7.5 billion to acquire 40,000 homes in 14 housing markets, making it the largest landlord of single-family homes in several cities, Minnesota Public Radio reports.
The portfolio of 700 homes the company has amassed in the the Minneapolis-St. Paul market means that it’s probably the Twin Cities’ biggest landlord of single-family homes, MPR reports in a story examining the company’s ability to manage such a large portfolio.
MPR found that a number of properties Invitation Homes owns are still vacant six months after the company bought them, and noted that renters in other markets have complained that the company is slow in responding to requests for repairs. A spokesman for the company said that it’s taken longer than expected to secure permits and licenses for renovations and rentals, and that Invitation Homes is working to address complaints by renters in other markets.
“To do what we’ve done in terms of acquiring and renovating 40,000 homes and renting the vast majority of those to families is no small undertaking,” Invitation Homes spokesman Andrew Gallina told MPR. “There are times we’re going to be disappointing to a resident. But at the same time, we have a real commitment to getting it right.” Source: minnesota.publicradio.org