I’ve been trying to buy my first house for years. I never thought it would be this difficult. But I encountered barriers I didn’t know existed — one of which President Donald Trump is trying to break with one executive order he signed on January 20.
I am a man in my thirties living on Marco Island, Florida, a community with a rich history and beautiful beaches. It has been a popular spot for decades, and that has obviously driven up prices. A typical home now costs the high six figures, with many homes selling for more than a million dollars. That makes buying a house difficult enough for young people, especially young families.
But what makes it even more difficult is that a large number of houses are not even used as homes. About one in four homes on Marco Island are used for short-term rentals. Although they are built for families and first-time homebuyers like me, they are not actually for sale. Many of them are owned by ordinary people who have decided to rent out their old homes. But others are owned by institutional investors, meaning companies as far away as New York City.
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Let’s be clear: these companies have no connection with the island. But they still robbed houses left and right. This is especially true as homes have been rebuilt after the devastating hurricane that made landfall here in 2017. The data shows that my country has since seen some of the highest institutional investor activity in America. And that’s a problem for home buyers like me.
These institutional investors are pricing people out. It is the iron law of supply and demand. There are many potential home buyers like me in the area, but when big corporations buy homes first, there are fewer properties left for the rest of us. If more people compete for fewer homes, prices are guaranteed to rise. This helps explain why local house prices have risen continuously over the past decade. Again, not all of it, but not none of it either.
Moreover, institutional investors buy houses with cash. It’s virtually impossible for normal people to compete. Even if we as an investor agree on the same sales price, a homeowner will always choose the cash offer. I understand: it’s less risky and you get the money right away. But what chance do ordinary Americans have of beating Wall Street?
In 2021, I bid on four or five places without success. I always made a competitive offer at or around the asking price, but that didn’t help. In mid-2021, I gave up my single-family home and settled for a small apartment. But things have only gotten tougher since then, as more and more institutional investors have entered the market. I know many people – landscapers, waiters, fishing guides, you name it – who struggle to even find an apartment. That’s how bad things are.
This was not the case in the past. In 2011, there was no investor in America who owned more than 1,000 single-family homes. Less than fifteen years later, the five largest investors alone own more than 300,000 homes. And it’s not just in places like Marco Island.
In Atlanta, about 25% of homes are owned by large investment companies. In Jacksonville it is 21%. In 2022, there were twelve major cities where investors owned more than 10% of all homes. That number has certainly grown since then, and with it the homeownership affordability crisis has also grown. In the second quarter of 2025, investors bought one in three new homes in America. That’s a gut punch.
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Is there hope for potential home buyers like me? Hopefully. President Trump’s new executive order sets the stage for new federal rules that protect Main Street homebuyers from Wall Street. He said, “people live in homes, not businesses,” and he’s right. Therefore, the President is exploring a variety of unilateral actions and is also working with Congress to enact this reform into law. I couldn’t have been more supportive.
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The critics – especially on Wall Street – say cracking down on institutional investors won’t do much to lower home prices. While that may be true in places where investors don’t own homes, it doesn’t hold up in places like Marco Island. As more homes become available, prices will fall – or at least not rise nearly as quickly. Besides, when it comes to lowering home prices, you have to start somewhere. Banning institutional investors from consuming large numbers of single-family homes is a good choice. And hopefully it will be just the first reform of many.
One thing is certain: people like me need help. We are not asking for alms, a rescue package or anything like that. We just want a chance to buy a house – and avoid being beaten out by billionaires on Wall Street. I don’t understand why they are blocking us. And I’m grateful to President Trump for fighting to get rid of them.
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