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Bestbath affordable housing bathroom panel

Webinar: Better Bathroom Decisions in Affordable Housing — Balancing Investor Returns and Resident Needs

by Sarah Daniels August 25, 2026

On August 20, Multifamily & Affordable Housing Business hosted the webinar “Better Bathroom Decisions in Affordable Housing — Balancing Investor Returns and Resident Needs.” The discussion covered how bathroom design and specification decisions can influence maintenance costs, resident satisfaction, accessibility and long-term asset performance in affordable housing communities. Panelists reviewed why bathrooms deserve more strategic attention during the design and specification process. They also covered strategies for approaching affordable housing, where repairability matters and where repairs often must be completed in occupied units. Key Takeaways: Click here to access the …

August 25, 2026

Features Leasing & Marketing Operations

Five Keys to Boosting Lease Renewals

by Lynn Peisner August 19, 2026

When rent growth is slow, property managers reset priorities. In 2025, rent growth was essentially flat. One reliable third-party source (Yardi Matrix) reported that U.S. multifamily advertised rents ended 2025 with zero percent year-over-year growth, while another data provider (brokerage giant Cushman & Wakefield) reported a 1.1 percent annual increase in asking rents nationally. The first half of 2026 seems to be more of the same, with Yardi measuring 1 percent rent growth. In the absence of record-breaking rent hikes — 15.3 percent at the start of 2022, per RealPage …

August 19, 2026

Build-to-Rent Features Investment Sales Operations

Institutional BTR Buyers Face New Federal Limits

by Lynn Peisner August 10, 2026

By Hollie Croft and Nicholas Heckman On July 11, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law, bringing about several changes designed to increase housing supply and affordability. Section 1001 of the legislation — titled “Homes Are for People, Not Corporations,” creates a sweeping federal prohibition on the acquisition of single-family homes by “large institutional investors,” subject to narrowly defined exceptions. The law represents one of the largest federal interventions in the single-family housing market that we have seen in decades, imposing structural limitations on investment strategies and new …

August 10, 2026

Architecture & Design Development Features

How Aging Malls Are Being Transformed Into Mixed-Use Neighborhoods

by Lynn Peisner July 30, 2026

By Carl Malcolm and W. Brian Keith Across the United States, aging regional malls are entering a new phase in the evolution of suburban landscapes. Once designed as inward-facing retail environments surrounded by vast parking lots, many now sit within fully developed communities that have grown up around them. What were once peripheral shopping destinations are occupying some of the most strategically located land in metropolitan areas — often 50 to 100 acres at highly visible intersections with strong infrastructure and regional access. As traditional retail models struggle to compete …

July 30, 2026

Affordable Housing Development Features Finance Seniors Housing

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Enter Bullish Phase

by Lynn Peisner June 24, 2026

By John Nelson Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are scaling up their multifamily loan production this year while their partner servicers and underwriters are aggressively pursuing new business. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which has been the conservator of the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) since 2008, blew open the annual lending caps for the two agencies this year. The new caps are set at $88 billion apiece, which is a more than 20 percent increase from the 2025 cap and the highest dollar amount allotted by the FHFA since …

June 24, 2026

Affordable Housing Development Features Florida

Florida’s Live Local Amendments Remove Barriers and Open New Doors for Workforce and Affordable Housing

by Lynn Peisner June 24, 2026

By Steve Wernick For years, church-owned land and government parcels sat unused in the middle of Florida’s housing shortage. They were available in theory, but off-limits in practice. Now, through House Bill (HB) 1389, a new round of amendments to the Live Local Act is unlocking that land, limiting local roadblocks and expanding how and where affordable housing can be built across the state. The amendments were approved in March and go into effect July 1. Florida’s housing market continues to gain momentum, and with it comes an opportunity to …

June 24, 2026

Features Leasing & Marketing Operations

The Operational Standard Residents Expect — And Why It’s Higher Than Ever

by Lynn Peisner June 22, 2026

By Crystal Jackson and Aryne Bailey In conventional multifamily, it’s easy to assume that competition is driven by what residents can see: upgraded finishes, new amenity packages or the latest design trends. While those elements still play a role in attracting residents, they are no longer the primary drivers of long-term satisfaction. What matters most today is far less visible — and far more difficult to execute consistently. Communication, safety and cleanliness have emerged as the defining factors of the resident experience. These are not new concepts, but resident expectations …

June 22, 2026

Affordable Housing Architecture & Design Conference Coverage Features Southeast Sustainable/LEED

Architects Leverage Creative Design, Advanced Technology to Build Affordable Housing in the Southeast 

by Lynn Peisner June 1, 2026

By Matthew Auchincloss  The dire need for more affordable rental housing across the country has been well-documented, but the pathway to delivery is full of potential pitfalls, says Ian Hunter, regional director at Dwell Design Studio, who operates out of the architectural firm’s Atlanta office. In short, there are several ways for projects to “get stuck,” he points out.   At the top of the list is funding, but the entitlement process, design, construction costs and operations are also potential impediments to getting an affordable housing project from conception to inception.  …

June 1, 2026

Affordable Housing Conference Coverage Features Southeast

Affordable Housing Stakeholders Are Going the Extra Mile to Assist Cost-Burdened Renters, Says InterFace Panel

by Kristin Harlow May 19, 2026

ATLANTA — Affordable housing developers are fighting an uphill battle, and on multiple fronts. On the demand side, renters are more cost-burdened than ever before. According to the “America’s Rental Housing 2026”report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, the number of renters who are cost-burdened (households that spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities) reached a new record high in 2024. The report found that 22.7 million renter households were cost-burdened in 2024, with 12.1 million households qualifying as “severely cost-burdened” …

May 19, 2026

Features Finance Investment Sales Operations

You Built It. Your Kids Don’t Want to Run It: A Tax Strategy Most Investors Are Missing

by Lynn Peisner May 11, 2026

By Ben Roper and Hal Reinauer There’s a conversation happening in estate attorneys’ offices and around family dinner tables across the country, and it usually goes something like this: an owner of a multifamily property, often held for decades, begins to think seriously about what happens next. The asset has been good to them. It generates income. It carries emotional weight. And the plan, loosely held, is to pass it along the same way it arrived: intact, appreciated and relatively uncomplicated. What most owners never fully reckon with, and what is …

May 11, 2026

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