Innovation in the single-family rental space? It’s a team effort.

In a previously published blog, we sat down with Dan Andresen, Vice President of Strategy to touch on how he came to join Imagine Homes and how his past experiences contribute to the business. In this follow-up post, we dive into: what the scope of his role includes, the new and exciting opportunities for us to innovate in real estate; and the thought process behind how we identify our markets and set our team up for success.

At Imagine Homes, when we talk about eyeing new markets, our philosophy is based around the fact that there’s a lot of value in the Midwest.

This kind of strategy is not new. People have been executing similar strategies in other parts of the country for some time now. But what sets us apart is that we are among the first to recognize the value in the Midwest.

When we talk about value, we look at indicators that project a healthy economic future for a city.

This includes its size, population and job growth, as well as the different kinds of infrastructure set up: academic, medical, industrial. For example: a number of large corporations have been in the Midwest for a very long time. These corporations make, build, and add a lot of value to the communities that are nestled in Midwestern cities.

That said, finding new markets isn’t a walk in the park and there are always factors that we need to keep in mind to get the best one that suits what we’re doing. We’re fortunate that we work with an incredibly tech-savvy capital company and have access to technology that allows us to dig into the data from the different cities all around the Midwest. Technology not only helps us get the work done when analyzing potential markets—it truly empowers us to execute efficiently once we’re operating locally.

In terms of process, we start with performing an initial analysis based on the factors I mentioned above. These help us identify which cities have the most opportunity for our business model. Once we have that initial analysis, we make it a point to get boots on the ground in these cities, so that we can learn about it from a local, bottom-up level.

Understanding our markets from a local perspective is extremely relevant, because while taking a top-down analytical approach business-wise can be effective, there’s a possible disconnect if you don’t have local market knowledge.

This is where working with both our portfolio manager and hiring a local acquisitions manager becomes crucial. Working closely with them while going over our data helps us determine specific areas where we should be buying homes. It also helps us find and hire the right people in the first place, which is always the most challenging part in any business.

In new markets, we recognize that local people are the ones who really get the work done.

We’ve shared before, how we hire locally. The reason for this is because these people are the ones who provide real insight into the communities that we’re looking to become a part of.

To better support team members who live in these communities, it was critical to set up robust systems and a clear operational directive. As a company, we were intent on developing a model that is repeatable and scalable. And as a business, when you rely on these systems, it follows that the local folks that we hire become reliant on those systems as well.

Moving into the role of VP of Strategy, I’m looking forward to working within all facets of the business so that we can operate at a higher level. I can be less reactive and more strategic in our planning, which allows room for greater efficiency and innovation.

The larger we get [as a company], the more challenging it is for us to maintain our level of efficiency and organizational agility. So it’s critical that the different plans and steps we take are deliberate to facilitate responsible and sustainable growth.

In its most evolved form, my job will be to be a primary facilitator of continued innovation and efficiency. This is exciting because I’ve been doing a version of this role for a very long time, but I was never really fully deputized to do it.

Innovation is very much in our company’s DNA. That’s something we don’t want to lose as we grow.

The single-family rental space is now becoming a far larger and more mature part of the real estate sector. Oftentimes, growth for companies that are already in the space means they get very large, and they get very conventional.

We’re extremely proud of how innovation is a big part of our company culture and how that defines our people as exceptional. But innovation also needs to be managed in a way that is not counterproductive. When we innovate, we want to be able to manage and measure that process responsibly.

We’re always going to try to be at the cutting edge, at the intersection of real estate and technology. To do that, we’re out to strike a balance by standardizing our behaviors and processes even as they evolve. That’s going to be a large part of my job moving forward. It’s going to lead to a lot of exciting possibilities and also a very dynamic work environment.

One of the things we’re currently looking into and working with our capital company on is the federal program for opportunity zones.

We’re not just looking for the “best” neighborhoods. We want to be a part of rebuilding and revitalizing communities that are designated as opportunity zones.

To date, a lot of the work done is in the commercial real estate and industrial sectors. There hasn’t been a lot of activity in the single-family rental space yet. Thankfully, we’re fortunate to work with a lot of very smart people who are helping us with this kind of expansion, given the challenges involved.

We actually have taken possession of SFR [single-family rental] properties already, and have others under contract in these tracks throughout all our markets. What makes it exciting is how this gives us the opportunity to take institutional money and use it in a very positive way.

We won’t just be expanding our operations, we’re looking to fundamentally improve the housing infrastructure in areas that need it. That’s very innovative and very exciting for us. And once again, it’s an example of Imagine Holmes being at the forefront of something.

I’m not going to lie, it’s not an easy strategy to execute. So it’s a credit to everyone that we have in these markets that we’re able to do it.

We’re currently gathering the data from our experiences internally so that we can roll out a strategy that is manageable. This also won’t be the end of our growth or the diversification of our operations: from an acquisitions, a renovations, and a management standpoint. There will definitely be other opportunities that we will be working on.

But in the short and intermediate term, these are strategies that will benefit the company greatly. And this will also allow us to be in the unique position we’re in to positively impact the communities that we operate in.

We all had a lot of work to do, and now that we’ve achieved the success that we have, we have the luxury to provide everybody the support that they need.

We’re looking to really begin specializing. This means that everyone can begin to focus on doing their job extremely well. Ultimately, my job will be all about ensuring that everyone else achieves their goals, which means the company will continue to grow in the most effective and responsible way possible.

Experience all of the benefits and advantages of homeownership—in a rental.

Our residents deserve to feel truly at home. Beyond fully-renovated homes, our locations are also second to none. We make it so easy, all you have to do is come home.

Talk to our team—we’d love to know how we can help.

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