Rents drop again in November, posting the 4th straight month of decline

Hey there,

I hope you had a great weekend!

Every other Monday, I send out a roundup of the most relevant multifamily news and insights, curated from the perspective of both an operator and a passive investor.

Here's what stood out to me this week

The multifamily rental market hit a rough patch in November, with average rents dropping $8 to $1,740—the fourth straight month of decline and the weakest year-over-year growth since early 2021. What's particularly concerning isn't just the drop itself, but how widespread it's become: even strong-performing markets like Columbus, Indianapolis, and San Francisco flipped from positive to negative growth.

The culprits appear to be a combination of normal winter seasonality, an oversupply of new units hitting the market, and cooling demand driven by tighter immigration policy, shaky consumer confidence, and slower job growth. While occupancy rates remain steady at 94.7%, the message is clear—landlords are facing real pressure to keep units filled, and renters may finally be getting some relief after years of climbing costs.

In nearly every bad deal I've been involved in, we would have been better off just cutting bait and selling sooner, vs. trying to "right the ship". Whether it's a team that wasn't right for the deal, incorrect underwriting assumptions, etc, it's very hard to turn a "bad" deal around. Many investors' egos are too big to accept any level of capital loss, when it's oftentimes best to cut bait quickly and move on!

In this episode, I sit down with Jason Yarusi — an investor and operator who’s built a 3,000+ unit portfolio after starting in the hospitality world. I really enjoyed digging into how his background in construction, a near-death experience, and a commitment to narrowing his focus completely reshaped his approach to business. Jason’s story is a great example of how clarity, consistency, and follow-up can take you from small multifamily deals to running a serious operation across multiple markets.

We also get into what market selection looks like at scale, how he thinks about asset management, and why being specific about your goals and criteria ultimately accelerates momentum with brokers, partners, and investors. Jason talks through lessons learned in markets like Louisville and Nashville, why they chose to bring some management in-house, and the underrated importance of follow-up when opportunities slip through the cracks. If you’re looking for an honest, experienced perspective on scaling a portfolio the right way, this is a conversation you’ll get a lot out of.

You can also listen to this episode on Spotify:

We acquired this 4-unit in Nashua, NH, in late 2022 as part of a 12-unit portfolio (sourced direct-to-seller). The building was significantly underrented, and each unit was in rough shape. At closing, it was bringing in $3,100/mo. Since closing, we renovated all 4 units and the common areas. When we sold, the property was generating $5,365/mo in rents, a 73% increase from when we closed.

We invested $72k into renovations throughout the life of our ownership, most of which occurred in 2023, with our all-in basis being $482k. We closed on the sale last month for $756k, which allowed us to return 120% of invested equity in this deal (while retaining the ownership of the other 8 units in the portfolio) - a home run outcome.

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