Ty Lee, a Dallas architect, has partnered with a real estate developer to create an opportunity for everyday Americans to invest and profit from single-family homes.
With two investment funds under his belt, the first raising $7 million, and the second targeting to make $20 million, his goal is to help give citizens the chance to earn additional income from the money they invest. The fund, known as Common Dwelling, aims to obtain, renovate, manage, and lease single-family rentals throughout Texas.
“I wanted to create a platform where people can invest with however much money they have available to them,” Lee said. “Even if that’s as little as $100 or $1,000.”
The start of the pandemic in March 2020 caused Lee to seek new investment opportunities. He decided to focus on his passion, real estate. “It’s my history between being an architect and working with developers. It’s something that I love and understand,” said Lee.
Lee said he gravitated towards single-family homes due to demographics.
“I looked at the demographics of our country, in particular the Millennials—how big they are, what their lives are like, and what they are going to be. Then when you layer on Gen Z—which is the third-largest group—a lot of them are in college or about to wrap up college,” said Lee. He also discovered 43% of ‘Gen-Zers’ would rather rent a home than an apartment.
According to Common Dwelling’s website, its mission is “to provide better investment opportunities to the general public. We’re frustrated that the best opportunities are only available for high-net-worth or accredited investors.”
Lee’s background, strategies, and resources leave him confident in his company. He wants to give Americans possibilities that were once closed to them. It is also worth noting that one of Common Dwelling’s focuses is finding homes within great education school districts.
“We want tenants that value education as well. They tend to take care of the homes and be a great addition to the community,” Lee said, “That’s another characteristic of our investment criteria that is very important to us.”
