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55 Looking ahead to 2023-2024, what do you anticipate for the SFR sector? e issue of the supply and the demand is not going anywhere. I don't see how that gets fixed, at least not in the short term. Based on those fundamentals, it's hard to write off SFR. Will there be issues, are there headwinds? Sure. But if they do make all the interest rate hikes we anticipate for this year, they'll probably overcorrect and then adjust next year to balance any hikes that go too far. But as long as the issues remain with supply and the demand, there's going to be a lack of housing, particularly affordable housing, Buy, fix, and rent is going to continue; whether it keeps chugging along the pace it's going, I'm not so sure, but this market is here to stay. JOE HULLINGER President Finance of America Commercial Joe Hullinger leads Finance of America Companies' commercial loans division, which helps clients overcome traditional financing hurdles and build long-term wealth through real estate investment. Since the launch of Finance America Commercial in 2017, Hullinger has been integral to the organization's numerous successes. An accomplished executive with more than 35 years of mortgage industry experience, Hullinger has a history promoting substantial growth and profitability for mid-size and Fortune 500 mortgage banking institutions. He has managed start-ups and built highly effective sales and operations divisions from the ground up. Hullinger is known for his skill around recruiting, training, and managing multisite operations staff. He previously held leadership roles at Genworth Mortgage Insurance, BNC Mortgage, Fieldstone Mortgage, and American Mortgage Solutions. What is the current state of the SFR marketplace? Investors are running full steam ahead. Historically, investors accounted for 27% of home sales. According to John Burns Real Estate Consulting's March Market Overview, today this has increased by 6%, with one in three homes now purchased by investors. Although some growth can be explained by institutional involvement through instant buyer or "iBuyer" programs and SFR Real Estate Investment Trust acquisitions. However, smaller investors with fewer than 10 homes account for 27% of all purchases—more than four times that of larger investors with more than 10 homes. Investors of all sizes are recognizing the inflation hedging strengths of real estate investments. At Finance of America Commercial, we cater to both small and large investors and have several different solutions available for those investing in the SFR marketplace. Increased investor appetite and higher owner-occupant demand since the pandemic continue to drive the low-inventory competitive marketplace we see today. What are the headwinds and opportunities you're seeing? e cost of everything is going up, but the speed and timing of each component leaves us with a mixed bag of results. Yardi Matrix, a market intelligence tool, reports that rents for the average single-family unit in the United States rose in March, but overall annual growth has decelerated to 14.1%. e higher rents and high home price appreciation have provided excellent returns for existing portfolios, but the pressure on property values has compressed capitalization rates for the SFR industry which now sit around 6%. Rent growth has been unable to keep up with home appreciation in most markets. We expect that lagging rental growth, coupled with the recent substantial rise in interest rates, may cool certain markets and cause downward pressure on rent increases, value increases, or both. Given the anticipated runway for rates, investors will have to carefully consider their investment decisions. Notably, industry analysts believe that investors appear to be maintaining reasonable levels of debt and are putting equity into the purchases of homes, so the financing and approach investors are taking is different from what we saw with the highly leveraged investors in the 2000s. How has the SFR sector responded to the challenges presented by the pandemic? e number of capital providers and operators in the sector has increased substantially given the increased demand over the past two years. As businesses and pipelines shut down due to lockdowns introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many noticed the historically high occupancy levels and rent growth leading in the SFR space. e pandemic and related shocks have further highlighted the lower volatility and risk rated returns of SFR. Finance of America Commercial is focused on helping our clients overcome traditional financing hurdles and build long-term wealth through real estate investment. By providing a wide range of innovative lending products—including fix-and-flip property loans, bridge loans for temporary real estate assets, new construction loans, and single and portfolio rental term loans—we're able to offer solutions tailored to the different types of SFR investors. How is technology changing the way you do business in 2022? Most in the mortgage industry today are attempting to use technology efficiently. An industry that has historically been a slow adopter of technology has seen huge jumps in development and adaptation recently. Appraisals, inspections, and closings can now happen without being physically present. Additionally, property acquisitions and property management can now be accomplished via third-party websites or apps, increasing an investor's ability to expand in various geographic areas at once. Technology systems have created a fast and comfortable environment for borrowers and businesses to increase their speed of execution. However, at Finance of America Commercial, we believe that technology should enhance the home financing decision-making process for borrowers, not replace it. Our lending products and tools are designed with the customer at the center, so we can efficiently connect with our customers and provide the personalized service they want, when and where they need it. We see real value in continuing to provide guidance and expertise in the form of human touchpoints, so we can help ensure positive outcomes for our customers. What do you anticipate 2023 and 2024 will look like for SFR? For Finance of America Commercial specifically, we're focused on continuing to serve our existing customers to ensure they can grow and scale their business as they