Single-family landlords sinking cash into Rust Belt rentals

New York

AL BEAHN was a 22-year-old college graduate living in his parent's basement in the Detroit suburbs when he bought his first investment property in 2009. It cost him US$27,000 and he flipped it three months later for a US$16,000 profit. Today, his company, Pioneer Homes, has bought and sold 1,000 homes, primarily through a business model he calls the turnkey rental.

Mr Beahn buys and renovates a single-family home, hires a property manager and finds a tenant - then sells the whole package to an investor. He works …