Lessons in Single-Family Rental with Amherst’s Sean Dobson
Top of Mind
Navigating the Complexities of Housing Affordability
This chapter examines the persistent challenges of housing affordability in America, highlighting the critical interplay between consumer income, capital costs, and home prices. It underscores the importance of gradual improvements and the influence of the mortgage market and federal policies on this complex issue.
In this episode of the Top of Mind podcast, Mike Simonsen sits down with Sean Dobson, the CEO and CIO of Amherst, to learn about the single-family rental business from a true market leader. Amherst is a vertically integrated real estate investment, development, and operating company with single-family residential, mortgage-backed securities, and commercial real estate. Amherst has $15B under management and owns 50,000 homes across 33 metropolitan areas in the US.
About Sean Dobson
Sean Dobson is the Chairman, CEO, and CIO of Amherst, where he leverages his 30+ years of expertise in U.S. real estate, mortgage, and securitized products to lead the firm’s investment strategy and oversee day-to-day strategic direction for the platform.
Sean has been leading Amherst for over 20 years, transforming the firm from regional broker dealer into a market-leading real estate investment, management, and operating platform. Sean and Amherst had an active role in educating the White House, Congress, and the Federal Reserve as they navigated a historic market during the great financial crisis.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
In this episode, Sean shares a candid and data-rich perspective on what’s really happening in the single-family rental market, how institutional capital has reshaped housing dynamics, and what it will take to solve the affordability crisis in the years ahead.
- How Amherst transitioned from a mortgage data platform to one of the largest single-family rental investors in the U.S.
- The surprising stats behind institutional investing and homeownership
- Why 85% of Amherst rental applicants can't qualify for a mortgage—and what that reveals about today’s affordability landscape.
- Learn the special indicators Amherst watches to understand local housing markets.
- Why institutional buyers now act as shock absorbers in market downturns What owning 50,000 homes taught Amherst about maintenance, neighborhoods, and the hidden complexity of renting.
- The long-term stability strategy: why Amherst doesn’t flinch when the market softens.
- The compelling new areas of the housing industry that Amherst is aiming for in the next decade.
If you want to understand the housing market not just from headlines, but from the ground level and the capital stack, this conversation is essential.
Related to this episode:
Featuring Mike Simonsen, President of Altos
A true data geek, Mike founded Altos in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. The company now serves the largest Wall Street investment firms, banks, and tens of thousands of real estate professionals around the country. Mike's insights on the market have been featured in Forbes, New York Times, Bloomberg, Dallas Morning News, Seattle PI, and many other national media outlets.
Follow us on Twitter for more data analysis and insights:
About Altos
Each week, Altos tracks every home for sale in the country - all the pricing, and all the changes in pricing - and synthesizes those analytics to make them available before becoming visible through traditional channels.
Schedule a demo to see Altos in action. You can also get a copy of our free eBook: How To Use Market Data to Build Your Real Estate Business.
The Top of Mind podcast features top real estate industry insiders and experts to unpack the most important housing, real estate, mortgage data and trends that are shaping the housing market. Hosted by Altos founder Mike Simonsen and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
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