Rent-to-Own Real Estate Key to Individual, Societal Economic Well-Being, According to Kinloch Partners, LLC Founder Bruce W. McNeilage

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Dec. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Dream of homeownership has taken a giant step backward, and unless builders, investors and realtors develop new pathways to ownership, things will only get worse. However, encouraging younger consumers to buy real estate through rent-to-own programs will help shore up housing sales and overall real estate values, according to investor and developer Bruce W. McNeilage, co-founder of Kinloch Homes LLC.

Speaking here today at the Single Family Rental Forum attended by 800 leading decision makers in the residential real estate industry, McNeilage said younger buyers are not investing in real estate like their parents and grandparents did. This could have long-term negative repercussions for individuals and the economy as a whole.

"Buyers in the so-called Millennial generation are strapped with student debt, face an uncertain economy overall and are not getting married and starting families as early in life as their parents," McNeilage said. "This is creating an entire generation of renters. For most people, their home is their single biggest asset. What happens in 20 or 30 years if this group of consumers doesn't buy? Individually, they will not build wealth and as a nation, our real estate values overall will drop. It's important that as an industry we look for ways to get younger buyers into homes."

Millennials (ages 18-34) have seen their student debt jump eightfold compared to consumers of the same age in 1989. The average educational debt among millennials is $16,300, compared to just $1,900 in 1989. This debt is one of the leading factors in putting off home purchases. In the first quarter of 2014, homeownership for Americans 35 and under declined to 36.2 percent, down from 36.8 percent in 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is the lowest on record since the census's Housing Vacancy Survey began tabulating homeownership by age in 1982.

However, Zillow.com predicts that millennials want – and will – buy homes.  According to a recent survey by the real estate web site, roughly 42 percent of millennials say they want to buy a home in the next one to five years.

McNeilage, through Kinloch Partners and other real estate investment partnerships, currently owns 250 pad ready residential lots in Greater Atlanta and another 217 under contract in Nashville and Greater Atlanta. Many of the homes on these lots will be rental properties built with the goal of eventually turning the renters into buyers. He sees this as an excellent solution for helping millennials move from renters to buyers.

"If you put a renter in an apartment, there is little chance of turning them into a buyer," McNeilage said. "But, if you put them in a home and work with them on creating a path to ownership, there is a good chance they will want to make it their own. Giving millenials a chance to take a trial run as a renter is a great way to get them to fall in love with the property and the concept of home ownership." 

About Kinloch Partners, LLC

Kinloch Partners, LLC is a real estate investment company formed in 2011 by childhood friends Bruce W. McNeilage and Christopher P. Zachary, who met on the playground at Kinloch Elementary School in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, in the mid-1970s.  The company specializes in providing a path to home ownership for new homeowners through new construction, home renovation or investment in financially distressed real estate properties.

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SOURCE Kinloch Partners, LLC

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