Institutional Investors and the Future Landscape of Real Estate Investment

[Nick Brubaker]

Hi everyone!

After reading the two recent articles below, I am trying to make better sense of the impact institutional investors (those who bought at least 10 rental properties over the past 12 months) are having on US real estate markets:

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/06/big-investors-buy-f...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-13/...

I understand the situation so little that I have to first ask whether what seems to be a relatively new trend of large-scale institutional investment in rental properties is good news or bad news for the small-time investor long-term? Are they boosting appreciation? Or forcing the small investor out? Or both?

It's sounds like the wave of buying by Blackstone and other institutions since the housing crisis is now waning and that in places like Atlanta - which is my hometown and a market I am particularly interested in - they are now selling off large quantities of less desirable rental properties.

Again, is the this good news or bad news for small-time buy-and-hold investors?

I personally am just starting out and am reading books like The Millionaire Real Estate Investor and Building Wealth One House at a Time. These books are well-reviewed, but not exactly current. As I set out I want to be sure that the same rules apply and that the REI landscape for the individual or small-time investor is not shifting in any dramatic way. The lessons in these books make sense to me and I am sure that I can do well following this guidance, but I wonder what broad changes in the REI environment I should expect and prepare for as I proceed long-term.

If anyone could illuminate some of this for me I would be grateful. Will there continue to be ample room for the "Mom and Pop" real estate investor long-term?