How does the Homeless Trust compete for units in this red hot rental market? We do it with landlords like Moshe Popack, a Miamian and co-founder of YMP Real Estate Management, LLC. This private real estate firm is engaged in the acquisition and management of both multi-family and commercial properties located in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Miami, Florida, which is where we caught up with Moshe to talk about the real estate industry, homelessness, and housing the least, last, lost and forgotten.
Moshe and his wife, Yaffa, moved to Miami from New York 16 years ago with no home, no family, and no support network. In the subsequent years, they grew their dream into hundreds of apartments. Moshe's business model includes renting and managing workforce housing and helping to provide affordable options in Miami's competitive real estate market. Still, something tugged on his heartstrings. "Driving downtown, my wife and I would see homeless people sleeping on the street. We really wished there was something we could do about it."
After a bit of research and finding the Homeless Trust, Moshe is more convinced than ever that he is making a difference. He rents over a hundred apartments to clients of the Homeless Trust!
Q: What do you see as the key advantages of working with the Homeless Trust team?
A: "The speed of placement, for one. Whenever we renovated apartments, they'd be empty for months on end while we spent money on marketing and trying to find new residents. As an owner, you're paying real estate taxes, insurance, utilities. These are fixed costs. Every apartment that's not rented during that time, there's an impact on cash outflow. With the Homeless Trust, it's not an issue anymore."
Being able to notify a housing coordinator at the Homeless Trust and having a renter in a unit within weeks or even days has been a huge boon to Moshe's business. "We're making fair market rent, and we have the added benefit of housing someone in our community."
Q: What do you see as the greatest value in working with the Homeless Trust Rental Program?
A: "You could say that the 'fair market' rent may be less than we could otherwise get, but the cash flow from constant occupancy rapidly makes up that delta."
Q: Why do you do what you do?
A: "If you're fortunate in the world, the only right thing to do in life is to pay it forward. It doesn't have to be about squeezing every last penny from a property."
The Homeless Trust agrees! We won't rest until everyone has a home. Join us on this journey! We will partner with landlords big or small. What matters is that we move people into self-sufficiency - and housing does that.
Contact Paul Imbrone with questions: paul.rentconnect@miamidade.gov