Celebrating the Two Year Anniversary of Flock Homes
Published May 1, 2023Share this article
Two years ago today — with five homes and five landlords — we launched Flock. Our inspiration: create a better way to own real estate. If we could bring landlords together to leverage the benefits of scale, we could provide better financial returns to owners and better homes for residents and their communities. We’ve grown to nearly 500 homes over the last two years. It's been an incredible journey thus far, and we couldn't have done it without our amazing team, partners, and most importantly, Flock Owners.
From then to now.
Our journey started in 2020. We spoke with thousands of landlords who had built their nest egg from hard-earned equity in their real estate. Some had been hands-on investors but no longer wanted to be involved with day-to-day decisions and management, others fell into ownership accidentally, either by inheriting properties or growing out of their primary residences. They all faced the same problem: they didn’t want to be landlords anymore, but didn’t want to sell. They didn’t want to deal with their property managers, tenants, or have their name on title, but they didn’t want to lose their income and appreciation potential, trigger a big tax bill, or prepare their homes for sale.There was a solution for this problem — the 721 Exchange or UP-REIT. Traditionally, this exchange was reserved for ultra-high-net-worth families and large institutional investors. But with technology, we believed we could make it accessible to the millions of individual landlords around the country who would all need a cost-efficient, seamless exit strategy at some point in their lives.With this in mind, we partnered with industry experts, brought on a world-class team, and started to build a product that would come to be the “Retirement Solution for Landlords”. It was a great idea, but we needed our first customer to turn our vision into reality. After a few weeks, we welcomed Shirlee to Flock.Shirlee held on to her rental property as a way to build her nest egg. When her long-term tenants left, the house needed tens of thousands of dollars of repairs, and her next-door neighbor was no longer willing to look after the property. “That’s where Flock came in. I believe this is a much better option than selling. When you exchange [into Flock] you keep all the financial benefits, defer the tax consequences, and yet [don’t] have the headaches.”After working with Shirlee and a few more Owners in Denver, we expanded. We launched lower-yielding geographies with tight housing dynamics, like Seattle and Austin, and higher-yielding markets that have experienced less economic growth, like Kansas City and Baton Rouge. Additionally, we expanded into moderate-yielding markets, popular with real estate investors, like Atlanta, Raleigh, and Phoenix.Now, two years later, we have nearly 500 homes across the country and serve hundreds of landlords. While the mechanism we’re using works for any rental property (or landlord), today, we’re focused on a handful of markets where we’ve established operational expertise. Our vision is to ultimately serve all landlords across asset classes and geographies, but for now, we’re laser-focused on delivering an exceptional experience to the hundreds of individuals and families that have entrusted us with their nest eggs.What we're proud of.
We’ve received investments from some of the leading venture capital firms and awards from industry-leading organizations, but our proudest accomplishments are what we’ve heard from our Flock Owners. From Katie and Mark, a young married couple in Colorado, we heard “maintenance took Mark away from us on the weekends and after work. It was a drain on the entire family.” Kevin, a Texas landlord who experienced an unfavorable resident-related incident, said “it was eye-opening to me that I could have still been liable given the circumstances…The biggest thing for me was to keep the investment without being a landlord anymore.” Wayne and Vickie, Washington Owners, explained “we have been landlords and businesspeople for a long time. We were tired from that and wanted to hand over our properties and still hold value.” We’ve heard countless stories like these and are immensely proud of the value we’ve added to our Owners.Alongside our Owners, Flock is powered by a team of 25+ dedicated professionals who work tirelessly to build innovative products, manage our growing portfolio, and service our residents. We’ll continue to work alongside all our stakeholders to deliver a solution that we’re proud of and that stands the test of time.Where we're going.
It’s an unpredictable time to build a real estate business. Will the rise of interest rates bring a housing market collapse, or will tight inventory and the “lock-in effect” lead to stable prices and increased demand for quality rental homes? Is the US economy on the verge of a recession or will economic growth rebound while inflation settles? We don’t have a crystal ball. But, if we focus on selecting the right assets at the right prices, manage growth prudently, keep costs down, and maintain high standards, we’re confident we’ll build a scalable product that adds true value. And when we do, there are millions of people who will need what we’re building.As we celebrate our second anniversary, we take this opportunity to thank our Owners, partners, and team members for their ongoing support and dedication. Here's to many more years of innovation, growth, and success!Learn more about Flock Homes here.Landlords, retire and minimize taxes.
Want more information?