The Rent Roll with Jay Parsons EP#42 Hiten Samtani | The Media & Rental Housing
Jul 10, 2025
Hiten Samtani, a commercial real estate journalist and founder of 1031 Media, dives into the intricacies of media coverage surrounding rental housing. He discusses the decline of beat reporting and its effect on public perception of the industry. Together with Jay Parsons, Hiten emphasizes the need for housing owners to address negative stereotypes and provides strategies to counter misleading headlines. Their conversation highlights the delicate relationship between media narratives and rental realities, urging for more accurate journalism that reflects the complexities of the housing market.
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Shift in Housing Media Narrative
- Media coverage has shifted from landlord business perspectives to mostly consumer-focused narratives.
- This shift often creates a perception of landlords as solely profit-driven and dismisses the business realities of housing.
Loss of Expert Beat Reporters
- Newsrooms often lack dedicated commercial real estate beat reporters with deep expertise.
- This creates diluted and superficial coverage, missing nuanced understanding of the industry.
Call Out Industry Bad Actors
- Landlords must call out bad actors within their own ranks to improve industry reputation.
- Silence on egregious misconduct enables negative stereotypes and damaged public perception.