Comment by bell-cot

> ... investor-owned homes account for roughly 20% of the nation's 86 million single-family homes, the firm said.

> Of those, mom-and-pop investors, or those who own between 1 and 5 homes, account for 85% of all investor-owned residential properties, while those with between 6 and 10 properties account for another 5%.

> Institutional investors that own 1,000 or more homes account for only about 2.2% of all investor-owned homes, the firm said.

> ...

> Out of a group of eight of the biggest companies that own and lease single-family houses, including Invitation Homes and American Homes 4 Rent, six sold more homes in the second quarter than they bought ...

SO - how many of those mom-and-pop investors are mostly buying homes as investments? Vs. how many are building a well-to-do lifestyle, with a "cabin on the lake up north", and "winter condo in Florida"? (Or buying homes for their less-well-to-do children, maybe with some inheritance tax dodges baked in?)

EDIT: The issue with "investor" is here:

> Nearly 27% of all homes sold in the first three months of the year were bought by investors -- the highest share in at least five years, according to a report by real estate data provider BatchData.

How much does BatchData actually know about the finances and lifestyles of the "mom-and-pop" buyers which it has labeled as "investors"? (Vs. "developers", or "fixer-uppers", or multi-home lifestylers, vs. ...)

I don't think we can tell.