About Timothy Lobner
In September 2020 and September 2021, Timothy Lobner, as Executive VP & COO of Invitation Homes, appeared on CNBC to discuss the rental market. He stated that the company finished 2020 with occupancy "far north of 98%" and that demand remained strong, with application ratios at peak levels. Lobner noted that Invitation Homes had worked with "over a couple thousand families" to restructure or forgive past due rents during the pandemic, and expressed concern for smaller landlords "stuck in the middle" of balancing renter hardship and landlord protections. He attributed tight housing supply to the 2008-2009 housing slump, which he said caused builders to avoid overbuilding.
Lobner described the millennial cohort of roughly 65 million people as a key demographic seeking flexibility and single-family rentals. He said Invitation Homes added nearly 1,200 homes to its portfolio in the fourth quarter of 2020, and that the company intended to continue growing because "the demand is telling us that we need to." He characterized the company's position as offering a service "people have been choosing for hundreds of years" but now with greater scale and efficiency. Lobner also noted that 70% of the company's revenue came from the West Coast and parts of Florida, areas he described as having household formation at nearly twice the national average.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Timothy Lobner's recent appearances.
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Transcript (7 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
I want to get your thoughts on what you have seen, not only in the fourth quarter but in 2020. Obviously we've seen forbearance programs that have been extended with all of the stimulus packages that have been rolling out. But in general, just looking at your properties around the country and the demographics of folks that are renting them, what are you seeing in terms of payments?
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Timothy Lobner0:21
Well, it's been interesting. I think we've had month-over-month acceleration really since the beginning of 2020. We finished the year far north of 98% from an occupancy perspective. And while we've had this tremendous amount of demand, we've certainly been having to meet the needs and work with residents that have been impacted by COVID-19. So that's been a real balancing act. I think fortunately for us, while the demand's been there, working with the different municipalities to try to make sure that our residents most importantly are looked after in a proper way, we've probably worked now with over a couple thousand families in restructuring or forgiving past due rents and things like that. And we're fortunate given the size of our business that we can weather that. I do have some concerns about smaller landlords that are out there that are kind of stuck in the middle, that are having to strike that balance. So I think it's important that the administration continues to work with housing experts to find and strike that right balance between helping with additional stimulus for renters that are facing hardship, but also making sure that landlords have the protections they need because again, they pay property taxes and insurance and things like that. So finding that balance has been really tricky, but demand is really, really strong.
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Interviewer1:31
Yeah, in terms of finding that balance, I mean, we keep hearing that it's a seller's market right now, especially in the suburbs around big metro areas. And yet it looks like you're continuing to buy properties. Why?
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Timothy Lobner1:42
Well, two things really. First, this millennial cohort of people that are between the ages of 22 and 36, there's roughly 65 million people that are coming our way into our target demographic, and these people want flexibility of choice. And so as you take a step back, remember a third of the country leases something in some way, shape, or form every year. And I think the ability to have a quality experience in a nice single family home but not have the burdening nature of down payment or ownership implications with maintenance and things like that can be quite appealing to people. And so we offer a service that quite frankly people have been choosing for hundreds of years, but nobody's had the scale and size they can do it as efficiently and offer the sweetest services that we can in today's environment.
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Interviewer2:28
About the competitive threat from the purchase market, I would have to imagine it's subdued because of the lack of inventory. And it's hard, at least I would think, that that picture is going to be a big ship to turn around to where you're actually seeing either higher churn or less interest because the purchase market got that much better.
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Timothy Lobner2:47
You're right, supply is at all time lows in terms of where you're seeing that inventory. And a lot of this has to do with the fact that 2008 and 2009, the great housing slump, had everybody kind of rein in their focus in terms of not overbuilding in parts of the country. So we feel the same way. We think that supply will stay relatively tight. With that being said, we're active every day. And so in the fourth quarter, we were able to almost buy 1200 homes, add to our portfolio. We feel really good about the opportunities we're seeing in front of us, and we're going to continue to find ways to grow our portfolio because the demand is telling us that we need to.
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Shepherd Smith3:22
Shepherd Smith here. Thanks for watching CNBC on YouTube.
