A presidential executive order could make buying a home in South Florida easier.
That order, signed by President Trump last week, is aimed at stopping big companies from buying single-family homes and shutting out families seeking the American dream.
The dream of owning his own home seemed within reach a few years ago for Broward school teacher Leo Smart. When he saw an offer from the city to help first-time homebuyers get into the market, he was all in.
“They told us we need not worry about credit,” Smart said. “They would help us. Their goal was to get people in houses. Of course, not long before there was a housing crash.”
Everything was on track, and then one day, Smart said, the deal was off.
First-time buyers pushed out by corporate investors
“I was beginning to piece it together,” said Smart. “It was foreign investors.”
He said investors bought up a lot of the houses that would have gone to first-time homebuyers like himself.
“I felt helpless,” he said. “I wasted so much time. I felt betrayed.”
Michael Citron, who owns Parrot Realty and was the top-selling listing and selling agent in Broward last year, saw the surge of investors buying thousands of homes after the 2008-2009 housing crash.
“At that particular time, it really impacted and frustrated home buyers,” said Citron. “They took over the market, and at the time, they were beating out a lot of first-time home buyers.”
Citron said those homes are still around and being rented.
Like Invitation Homes, a publicly traded company. With U.S.snd foreign investors, they own houses leased in the Coral Springs community of Westview Estates
Blackstone, a global Wall Street company, started Invitation Homes, but sold its stake; however, it still owns homes in Florida.
“Our ownership of U.S.single family homes represents about 2 percent of our real estate AUM and 0.5 percent of the overall firm,” Blackstone said in a statement. “We have also been a net seller of homes over the past decade. Our current portfolio is poised to perform quite well.”
Broward property appraiser Marty Kiar said of 305,035 single-family homes, 20,000 belong to business entities and not individuals.
With corporate ownership, the corporations pay cash and the sellers benefit by getting their money immediately.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when mortgage and interest rates dropped and the population soared, big companies again scooped up homes in Florida.
Michael Citron said this contributed to prices being driven up.
Executive order targets corporate home purchases
The president’s executive order would ban corporations from buying single-family houses. He’s calling on Congress to make it a permanent ban.
Smart thinks it could help him, although he said home prices right now are out of reach.
“I have to be more strategic,” Smart said. “Get a second job if that’s gonna happen.”
Citron says results will not be immediate.
“It would be impactful, but it will take a while for that to take effect,” said Citron.
