From Bloomberg: "Wall Street Is Losing Out to Amateur Buyers in the Housing Slump"

[Patricia Steiner]

Bloomberg Wealth reports that Institutional Buyers have taken a bath in the Phoenix housing market by  "paying far more than they needed to on the way up and getting far less than they should on the way down."  OpenDoor alone lost money on 89% of the homes they sold in the fourth quarter - average a loss of $58k per property.  On the other side, Amateur Buyers (a term that Bloomberg obviously misused) were the real financial winners:  "local flippers sold homes for 20% above their purchase price. They tended to buy distressed properties, though they also generally put more into renovations" - and there's nothing amateurish about buying right and renovating to market standards.  Rents in that market are also declining so those I-Buyers who decided to play the rent game instead are faring no better.  It's an article worth reading - but more than that:  Congrats on showing Wall Street how real estate investment is done by the real experts!