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48 THE SKINNY ON SHORT-TERM RENTAL TRENDS Short-term rentals (STR), such as those through Airbnb and VRBO are gaining significant traction in the rental investment market, and early adoption of this emerging market could maximize your return, Ryan Pineda, CEO, Homerun Offer wrote for Forbes. Overall, Americans are recognizing the benefits of investing in real estate, including single-family rentals and STR. According to a Gallup poll, it's real estate, not stocks, that are considered to be the best investment. e survey indicated that 35% of Americans believe real estate to be the superior long-term financial investment, compared to 27% who say stocks are the better investment. According to Pineda, the primary benefits of STR investments are higher returns, personal use, and diversified risk. In the right markets, STR is producing much higher returns than traditional rental investments. Even with higher management fees considered, the net is usually going to be higher than if you rented the unit long-term. Additionally, with short-term tenants, STRs usually are less risky. ere is little risk of a single renter suddenly stop paying rent, with no course of action except eviction, and risk of damage fees. With multiple tenants each month, there is little risk of not getting a check each month, and many STR providers offer insurance in case of damages by renters. When picking a market for STR, consider location, ROI, and local legislation. Many metro areas are considering, or have already, banned STRs. Pineda asks, "Is the market STR friendly? Is there any upcoming legislation that could change the dynamic and put your investment at risk?" "I'm a big believer in STRs," Pineda said. "I think they will continue to gain even more market share as time goes on. ere will be more regulations as it becomes a bigger business, but the early adopters can cash in on some great opportunities." INVESTING IN BUILT-FOR-RENT e number of single-family homes built-for-rent declined at the start of 2019, according to the latest data from the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) and the Census Bureau. e Census Bureau's Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design report indicates that there were 5,000 single-family built-for-rent starts for the first quarter of 2019, below the 6,000 estimated for the start of 2018. Over the last four quarters, 42,000 such homes began construction. e NAHB notes that these quarter-to- quarter fluctuations were not statistically significant. e current four-quarter moving average of market share (4.8%) remains higher than the recent historical average of 2.7% (1992-2012) but is down from the 5.8% reading registered at the start of 2013. ough built-for-rent single-family rentals have been on the decline, the overall single- family rental market has been on the rise. e market for single-family rental (SFR) securitizations continued to grow month-over- month. It increased to 4.7% in March from 4.2%, according to the latest Morningstar Credit Ratings report on the SFR market. Among the securitizations analyzed by Morningstar, AH4R 2015-SFR1 had the highest lease expirations at 8.3%, up from 7.6% in February. On the other hand, PRD 2018-SFR1 had the lowest percentage of lease expirations at 2.7%, followed by PRD 2015- SFR3 at 4.4%. Among the securitized properties, the report said that rent gains from securitized properties trailed rent gains for three-bedroom properties. Additionally, the rent change for three-bedroom properties declined slightly to 5.6% from 6%. e rent for four-bedroom properties remained unchanged during the period. Rent growth for vacant-to-occupied properties increased to 3.9% from 2.5%, the report indicated.