NEW YORK: Evergreen Residential Holdings is taking over the management of 21,000 US rental homes owned by VineBrook Homes Trust Inc, as single-family landlords find new ways to grow at a time when acquisitions are difficult.
Evergreen, led by chief executive officer Joseph Negri, will provide property and portfolio management to VineBrook, the companies said in a statement.
The partnership expands Evergreen’s reach in the US Midwest and increases its exposure to workforce housing.
The agreement follows moves by Invitation Homes Inc to sign up property-management deals with Starwood Capital Group and Nuveen.
Such arrangements have become increasingly appealing as a way for single-family rental firms to add scale to their management operations, while higher-for-longer interest rates have made buying houses more challenging.
VineBrook, which is advised by an affiliate of James Dondero’s NexPoint Real Estate Advisors, is unusual among institutional single-family landlords because it caters primarily to working-class tenants.
The average home in its portfolio rents for about US$1,300 a month, which is significantly less than properties owned by companies such as Invitation Homes and American Homes 4 Rent.
By shifting management to an outside company, VineBrook gets access to better tools for communicating with tenants and collecting rent. — Bloomberg
