Yeah, I would say there's something else going on. I probably write 1 new $5m deal a month on average with the occasional $15-30m deal here or there. Most projects I lend to are ~10 units but I've done up to 100. The 100 unit one I did, ALL, and I do mean ALL of them were presold to regular people. The developer actually refused to sell to investors/companies and wanted people who wanted to live there as their main home buy because it was also where the developer was going to live and house his mother too. That's a one-off unique situation but still, I see new developments all the time and most people buying are not investors or companies. Companies typically buy the whole building and usually do the development themselves. Investors do buy from time-to-time, sometimes in hot markets and don't even intend to buy the house, they're just looking to flip the presale...

Anyway, I think your specific situation has some unique reasons for why it happened to be that way but it's not normally only investors buying. Still, a lot of people buying houses are buying a second home or a rental too as you can see from the numbers above so it happens but it's not usually any sort of sophisticated super-rich scheme. A lot of people buying rental properties are just people like your mom or dad deciding to buy a second property for their retirement. They aren't super rich by any stretch.

I think your situation regarding "can't wait" is unique also. Lots of people are in 12-month leases and can often negotiate month-to-month... so if they pre-buy a property, they don't need to worry about rent going up because they're in a lease. By the time the lease is up their house is ready or maybe they go month-to-month a few months or have to break a little early.

I think you're looking at this a little too "investor-like" yourself. Lots of people buying these new developments want the house in that area and want something new. They'd rather pay a little more in rent for a year to wait for their dream-home rather than buy something they don't really want because they care to save some money in rent.

Also, a lot of the people buying these presales are upgrading homes. They bought something cheap before and are looking to buy their forever home. They can wait for their forever home as long as it's exactly what they want.

Yeah, I would say there's something else going on. I probably write 1 new $5m deal a month on average with the occasional $15-30m deal here or there. Most projects I lend to are ~10 units but I've done up to 100. The 100 unit one I did, ALL, and I do mean ALL of them were presold to regular people. The developer actually refused to sell to investors/companies and wanted people who wanted to live there as their main home buy because it was also where the developer was going to live and house his mother too. That's a one-off unique situation but still, I see new developments all the time and most people buying are not investors or companies. Companies typically buy the whole building and usually do the development themselves. Investors do buy from time-to-time, sometimes in hot markets and don't even intend to buy the house, they're just looking to flip the presale...

Anyway, I think your specific situation has some unique reasons for why it happened to be that way but it's not normally only investors buying. Still, a lot of people buying houses are buying a second home or a rental too as you can see from the numbers above so it happens but it's not usually any sort of sophisticated super-rich scheme. A lot of people buying rental properties are just people like your mom or dad deciding to buy a second property for their retirement. They aren't super rich by any stretch.

I think your situation regarding "can't wait" is unique also. Lots of people are in 12-month leases and can often negotiate month-to-month... so if they pre-buy a property, they don't need to worry about rent going up because they're in a lease. By the time the lease is up their house is ready or maybe they go month-to-month a few months or have to break a little early.

I think you're looking at this a little too "investor-like" yourself. Lots of people buying these new developments want the house in that area and want something new. They'd rather pay a little more in rent for a year to wait for their dream-home rather than buy something they don't really want because they care to save some money in rent.

Also, a lot of the people buying these presales are upgrading homes. They bought sometimes cheap before and are looking to buy their forever home. They can wait for their forever home as long as it's exactly what they want.