Business

With piles of cash, big investors become NC’s top rental-home landlords

By Payton Guion , Tyler Dukes and Gordon Rago

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Security For Sale: Converting NC homes to rentals

Institutional investors have bought at least 40,000 single-family homes across North Carolina in the past decade and now rent them out. The industry — primed for continued growth — says it improved the rental experience, providing safe, affordable houses that were previously inaccessible to renters. But owning a house traditionally offered financial security for most American families. And our investigation finds the business model of these companies is finely tuned to squeeze profit from the homes, often to the detriment of renters, neighbors or other would-be buyers.

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This story was originally published April 30, 2022 at 11:00 PM with the headline "With piles of cash, big investors become NC’s top rental-home landlords."

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Profile Image of Payton Guion
Payton Guion
The Charlotte Observer
704-651-4667
Payton Guion is an award-winning investigative reporter for the Charlotte Observer. Prior to returning to his hometown paper, Payton reported for the Star-Ledger and the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey, and The Independent and VICE News in New York. He is a graduate of Appalachian State University with a master’s degree from Columbia University.
Profile Image of Tyler Dukes
Tyler Dukes
The News & Observer
919-696-1935
Tyler Dukes is the lead editor for AI innovation in journalism at McClatchy Media, where he leads a small team of journalists that helps the company’s 30 local newsrooms responsibly harness data, automation and artificial intelligence to elevate and strengthen their reporting. He was previously an investigative reporter at The News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C. In 2017, he completed a fellowship at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University and grew up in Elizabeth City, N.C.
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Security For Sale: Converting NC homes to rentals

Institutional investors have bought at least 40,000 single-family homes across North Carolina in the past decade and now rent them out. The industry — primed for continued growth — says it improved the rental experience, providing safe, affordable houses that were previously inaccessible to renters. But owning a house traditionally offered financial security for most American families. And our investigation finds the business model of these companies is finely tuned to squeeze profit from the homes, often to the detriment of renters, neighbors or other would-be buyers.

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