Latest news with #rentalproperties
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jeff Bezos Backed This Platform — Now Anyone Can Own Rental Homes for $100
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. When people think of real estate investing, they usually picture massive commercial buildings, towering apartment complexes, or high-end developments backed by hedge funds and private equity. But the truth is, most landlords in the U.S. aren't corporations. They're everyday individuals—people who own just one, two, maybe a handful of rental properties. And in many parts of the country, renters aren't living in skyscrapers—they're renting single-family homes. So here's the real question: if most rental properties in America are houses, why do so many investment platforms only offer access to commercial buildings? The answer usually comes down to money. Most platforms focus on accredited investors with deep pockets, offering big deals to match. But a new wave of real estate investing is challenging that—and at the front of it is a platform backed by Jeff Bezos himself. It's called Arrived, and it makes it possible to buy into actual rental homes for as little as $100. What Is Arrived? Arrived is a real estate investment platform designed specifically for non-accredited investors—that is, everyday people who want to grow their money in real estate but don't have hundreds of thousands in capital or the time (or interest) to become a landlord. The big idea behind Arrived is simple: you invest in shares of individual rental properties—mostly single-family homes—and earn passive income through rent, plus any upside if the home appreciates and sells. But here's what really makes it stand out: these are real, physical properties in real neighborhoods. You're not buying into a fund or a faceless REIT—you're choosing actual homes to invest in, right down to the property photos, floor plans, and financial projections. How Arrived Works Once Arrived identifies and purchases a home, they set it up under an LLC and break the ownership into shares. Each share typically costs $10, and investors can buy in with as little as $100. The listing for each home includes detailed projections—how much rent it's expected to generate, estimated expenses, and the projected hold period (usually 5–7 years). Once a home is fully funded by investors, Arrived takes care of everything else. That includes managing the property, finding tenants, collecting rent, handling maintenance, and reporting performance. As an investor, you just sit back and receive quarterly payouts from rental income—plus your share of any profits when the property is sold. What Makes Arrived Different The big differentiator is accessibility. Arrived was built from the ground up for regular investors, not institutions or accredited insiders. You don't need $25,000 to get started. You don't need to be a landlord. You don't even need experience in real estate. It's real estate investing with training wheels—and yet it still gives you exposure to an asset class that's been quietly building wealth for generations. Another major selling point? Arrived focuses on single-family homes, which are more familiar and easier to understand than large commercial deals. These are the kinds of homes people grow up in, raise families in, and rent when they relocate. The demand is there—and so is the potential. The Jeff Bezos Connection It's worth pointing out that this platform isn't some niche side project. Arrived is backed by Jeff Bezos through his venture fund, Bezos Expeditions. That vote of confidence isn't just a headline—it signals that this is a serious, well-capitalized platform with long-term vision. Since launching, Arrived has already funded more than 180 homes valued at over $65 million. Some listings sell out in minutes. It's a fast-growing platform that's clearly struck a chord with people who've been priced out of traditional real estate investing. What About Fees? Every investment platform charges fees, and Arrived is no exception—but they're clearly stated and easy to understand. First, there's a sourcing fee, which covers the work of finding and vetting each property. Then there's an annual asset management fee to cover ongoing property oversight and management. These fees are usually modest and vary by property, but everything is disclosed upfront so there are no surprises. Compared to traditional real estate costs like broker fees, repairs, and tenant headaches, the simplicity is a huge plus—especially when you're investing as little as $100. Getting Started Is Easy One of the best things about Arrived is how beginner-friendly the platform is. Signing up takes just a few minutes and only requires an email and password. Once you're in, you'll have access to new investor onboarding webinars, live Q&A calls, and even one-on-one help from Arrived team members if you want it. When you're ready to invest, you can browse available homes, filter by location or investment strategy, and see clear side-by-side numbers for each property. Every listing includes projected rental income, appreciation potential, and estimated returns. You pick what fits your budget and goals, and buy your shares with a few clicks. What Kind of Returns Can You Expect? Arrived isn't promising overnight riches—but the performance has been strong. In Q1 of 2024, investors received $1.1 million in dividends across 352 properties. That jumped to $1.84 million by the end of Q4, with 365 homes in operation. The platform had a 92% stabilized occupancy rate, and more than half of new leases came in above projected rents. In addition to long-term rentals, Arrived has also started offering access to vacation rentals and diversified funds like its Single Family Residential Fund and Private Credit Fund, giving investors more ways to diversify and grow. Investor Education and Support If you're new to real estate, Arrived has one of the best education centers around. Their Learn section is packed with explainers and plain-English guides on how real estate investing works, how rental income is distributed, how appreciation is calculated, and more. There's also a Help & FAQ area that answers common questions, and if you still need help, you can message the support team directly. Arrived understands that not everyone comes in with a finance degree, and they've gone out of their way to make the experience easy, transparent, and unintimidating. Is Arrived Right for You? If you've always wanted to invest in real estate but didn't know where to start—or assumed you couldn't afford to—Arrived is worth a serious look. It lowers the barrier to entry while still offering the benefits of ownership: passive income, long-term upside, and tax advantages from depreciation. You're not flipping houses. You're not answering calls about leaky faucets. You're just putting your money to work in a way that's smart, steady, and tied to real assets. And if it's good enough for Jeff Bezos, there's probably something here worth exploring. This article Jeff Bezos Backed This Platform — Now Anyone Can Own Rental Homes for $100 originally appeared on
BreakingNews.ie
18-07-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Number of homes accepting housing assistance payments drops 22% in three months
The number of available rental properties that accept housing assistance payments (HAP) has dropped by 22 per cent in the second quarter of the year, a new report shows. The Simon Communities of Ireland's (SCI) quarterly Locked Out of the Market report, from June, shows that just 32 properties were available to rent within the scheme. Advertisement This is a drop of nine properties, down from 41, since March. Ber Grogan, executive director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, repeated her call for an updated HAP limit. The housing assistance payment (HAP) scheme is a social housing payment made to landlords by local authorities, and tenants pay a contribution to their local authority. The report found 978 properties were available to rent at any price within the 16 areas surveyed over three dates in June. Advertisement This is a 17 per cent reduction from the 1,178 properties available in the June 2024 Locked Out report. There were no properties available in eight of the 16 areas, including Athlone, Cork city centre, Cork city suburbs, Co Leitrim, Limerick city centre, Sligo town, Portlaoise, and Waterford city centre. Four of the 16 areas saw a reduction in the number of HAP properties available since the March 2025 report. These include Dublin city north, Dublin city centre, Dundalk and Kildare. Advertisement This lack of availability was across all household categories within standard or discretionary HAP limits. Discretionary HAP limits include homeless HAP, the increased rate of HAP for people experiencing homelessness. The supply of properties within HAP limits are predominantly in Dublin, with a total of 22 properties in Dublin. Just five of the 13 areas outside of Dublin had properties available to rent within HAP limits. Advertisement These included Dundalk, Galway city suburbs, Galway city centre, Kildare and Limerick city suburbs. In Dublin, the discretionary rate allows up to an additional 50 per cent on the standard rate, but this is limited to 35 per cent elsewhere in the country. Nathan, a Cork Simon service user, said: 'Most of the time you ring a place, it's gone. You get fed up of every day doing it and then you just give up for a while, depressed out of me head. 'You can't get out of it (homelessness). I don't seem to see a way anyway. And it's not for want of trying. A bed, a bathroom and a kitchen. Basics. Oh, I'd love it. Advertisement 'Come and go as you please.' Sligo town and Portlaoise had the lowest number of properties available to rent, with just seven and two properties available in each area, respectively, across the three days. Of the 16 areas, 10 saw a reduction in the number of properties available to rent, including Cork, and Dublin, Dundalk and Kildare. Four of the 16 areas saw an increase in the number of properties available to rent, including Athlone, Galway city, Limerick city and Sligo town. Ms Grogan said the findings of the report must act as a 'wake-up call for policymakers'. 'Do they care that the rental sector continues to fail those reliant on HAP? Simon certainly cares,' he said. 'With only 32 properties available under HAP across 16 areas and entire counties without a single option, people entitled to housing support are being pushed further into homelessness and essentially, left behind. 'The rental market is failing those most in need. 'We urgently need accelerated delivery of social and affordable housing, meaningful reforms to HAP rates, and a targeted strategy to prevent homelessness. 'We must ensure that hope is restored for those people who are locked out of access to this accommodation option. 'The Simon Communities of Ireland has been calling for updated HAP limits for many years. 'We welcomed the ombudsman's report on HAP and will continue to call for reform. Budget 2026 will give the opportunity to address this cause of homelessness before our next Locked Out of the Market report.' Meanwhile, the figures show that there were four properties available to single person/couple households through a standard HAP rate. These four properties were located in north Dublin, Dublin city centre, Galway city and Kildare. There were an additional 12 properties available for single person/couple households within discretionary HAP limits. There were no properties available to couple/one parent households with one child through a standard HAP rate. There was one property available to couple/one parent households with two children through a standard HAP rate. This property was in Limerick city suburbs. There were five properties available through discretionary HAP rates, and an additional 10 that overlapped with properties available to families with one child. The five unique properties were in Dublin city centre, Dundalk and Kildare. Ms Grogan said: 'It's particularly concerning given that one parent families are over-represented in the thousands of families and children experiencing homelessness. 'Does anybody care that nearly 5,000 children are experiencing homelessness? Simon cares.'
RNZ News
17-07-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
'Mark your own homework': Healthy Homes checks under fire for DIY loophole
Photo: 123rf Like drivers issuing their own warrants of fitness - that's how building experts and renter advocates describe the new Healthy Homes Standards. Since 1 July, all rental properties across the motu have been required to comply with the new standards, which set minimum requirements for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage. But who gets to say whether a property is up to scratch? Well, with no certification required in order to complete an assessment, the role could technically be filled by anyone. This has prompted calls for an independent certification system. Ideally, under the new standards, damp and draughty rentals should now be a thing of the past. But the New Zealand Institute of Building Inspectors isn't convinced. Chief executive Graeme Blissett, said the standards contain several loopholes. Not least, that anyone can label themselves a healthy homes assessor. "It's a huge problem, because there's no one looking at what they're actually inspecting and writing reports on is actually correct. "There are no guarantees because no one's double-checking what they're doing, and I believe that if you're charging $150, $200 to do a healthy homes inspection on a house, you're not doing it correctly." It doesn't take long to find companies offering Healthy Homes assessments - Checkpoint found a business online, offering to carry out a certification for around $200. But Blissett fears that without certification, many of these businesses will prioritise "quantity over quality". He said he's seen several certificates that ticked off each of the standards, despite the properties falling short. "The tenants [are] usually up to speed with these sorts of regulations and rules, so if the landlords do it on their own property and they get it incorrect, and the tenant finds out about it or talks to someone, and they've got a little bit of knowledge on it. There is a chance for them to be taken [to] the Tenancy Tribunal. "I believe there's fines of like $5000 or something like that for non-compliance." Renters United President, Zac Thomas, said the Healthy Homes Standards are a positive step towards a warmer and drier housing stock. But he's also concerned about the assessment process. "There is a mark your own homework situation where landlords don't even need to use an independent assessor in the first place. They can say that they are healthy homes compliant, that's the first thing. "But then the second thing is they can get this assessment from an agency that in many cases won't actually be complying or assessing to the standards as they should be." Thomas said that if the checks were completed by qualified assessors, it would give peace of mind to both landlords and tenants. "A renter might go, 'hey, please show me your healthy homes compliance.' They might be worried that the house is not compliant, and the landlord will probably show this, and then they might go, 'Oh well, I guess I have nothing to complain about'. "In reality, if there was a consistent standard, tenants would have the confidence to say, 'Okay, like this does meet standard, therefore I don't need to worry about going to the Tenancy Tribunal." University of Otago Professor, Lucy Telfer Barnard, said that as winter rolls around, if houses aren't up to standard, it's the tenants who face the consequences. "The tenants may not necessarily initially know that's why they're feeling unwell, but then if they do start to wonder, there's whole process that they can then have to go through to get those standards met. "To have that after the fact when they've moved in, in good faith, thinking that the property meets the standards, really isn't fair and puts a whole burden onto people." Landlords who fail to meet the Healthy Homes standards can face fines of up to $7200. Owners of six or more rentals that do not comply could be hit with $50,000 fines. A statement from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said they don't assess how landlords achieve compliance, and there is no licensing requirement to undertake Healthy Homes Standards assessments. Moving to this sort of "WOF" scheme would be a big undertaking with significant costs and impacts. It said landlords need to satisfy themselves that the person they hire is suitably experienced and can undertake the required inspection or work to an acceptable standard. If a tenant thinks the property they are renting is not up to standard, they can make a complaint on the Tenancy Services website or apply for a work order from the Tenancy Tribunal. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
17-07-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Lack of certification required for healthy homes
The system for certifying the new Health Homes Standards has been described as being like drivers issuing their own warrants of fitness. Since July 1st, all rental properties across the motu have been required to comply with the standards, which set minimum requirements for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage. Currently there is no certification required in order to complete an assessment, meaning nearly anyone can. It has prompted calls for an independent certification system, to ensure rentals are indeed healthy homes. Bella Craig reports. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Times
11-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Is this the best town in Britain for landlords?
T he letting agent Ashley Leaper says there has never been as much excitement about buy-to-let in her town. In the past year her company, Letting Angels, which she started in Redcar more than 20 years ago, has had a surge of calls about rental properties. 'International interest has increased,' said Leaper, 47, who has an office in the centre of Redcar. 'We're getting more calls from investors overseas, especially expats.' Her experiences, however, do not reflect the general state of the buy-to-let market, suggesting that her North Yorkshire town is bucking the trend. Tighter regulations, stamp duty rises, the removal of tax breaks and new energy efficiency rules have increased costs for buy-to-let owners, making it harder for them to make a profit — driving landlords out of the market rather. HM Revenue & Customs research in May found that one in five were looking to sell up in the next 12 months.
