Hi y’all, welcome back to Selling Austin - your weekly local real estate recap.

Inside: Today’s edition is going to look a little different - we’re going to deep dive into Blackstone 🥽 

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WHAT'S INSIDE

• 🥽 DEEP DIVE: BLACKSTONE

• 🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER

🥽 DEEP DIVE: BLACKSTONE

I’m an ex-dentist turned Realtor - let’s work together! Email me, tweet me or send me a carrier pigeon. 🐦️ 

The dream of owning a home with a white picket fence might be coming to an end if Blackstone’s strategy is successful. Let’s take a look:

Let’s back up for a second - who is Blackstone?:

Blackstone is the world’s largest private equity firm, managing over $1 trillion in assets, with major holdings in real estate, housing, infrastructure, and corporate acquisitions. (yes, I did mean trillion with a T)

What do they want with homes?

Blackstone bought 274,000 homes. The goal is not to create communities - it’s to create a generation that rents everything and owns nothing.

How does Blackstone win with this strategy?

With high interest rates, families are priced out of ownership, but Blackstone buys in cash sometimes paying 30% above asking price.

With deep pockets they can -

• Buy in bulk

• Complete minimal renovations, just enough to raise rents

• Focused buying spree in certain zip codes to own local markets

The Permanent Renter

Blackstone and Wall Street are focusing on the “build to rent” model. Brand new communities where no resident will own their home.

The Data

• 30% of all starter homes were bought by corporate investors in 2024

• The U.S. homeownership rate remains stuck at 65% (we have yet to bounce back to 2008 highs)

  

• Blackstone is buying roughly 800 homes per month in 2025

What’s the Point?

Let’s take a look at the bigger picture. Some people might want to rent forever, maybe it’s not that bad?

Spoiler: it is.

These strategic acquisitions by Blackstone and Wall Street have already resulted in

• California apartment buildings where rents rose 38%

• Mobile home parks where lot rents tripled

• Expansion across the Sun Belt suburbs (that’s us!)

Their goal is to acquire enough concentration to control the market and set market price.

⁉️ WHAT BLACKSTONE MEANS FOR YOU

🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER

That was a ton of information. Here’s a palate cleanser -

It’s already pending. A compound that sleeps 32 with 15 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms in Bouldin. The surprise: it’s already operating as a high performing short term rental. It’s on track to generate $700K+ in revenue for 2025.

Listed: $4,999,000

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