We have a limited operating history and therefore we cannot ensure, either in the near- or long-term, that we will be able to generate cash flow or profit or execute our business plan. We commenced our current business operations in July 2012. As a result, our company has a limited operating history upon which you may evaluate our business and prospects and an investment in our common stock may entail significantly more risk than the securities of a company with a substantial operating history. Our business operations are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties, expenses and difficulties associated with early stage enterprises. You should consider an investment in our company in light of these risks, uncertainties, expenses and difficulties. Such risks include:

Because we are subject to these risks, evaluating our business may be difficult. We may be unable to successfully overcome these risks, which could harm our business and prospects. Our business strategy may be unsuccessful and we may be unable to address the risks we face in a cost-effective manner, if at all. If we are unable to successfully address these risks, there may be an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

We have a history of net operating losses, and we may never achieve profitability from operations or generate sufficient cash flows to make or sustain distributions to our shareholders. We have a history of net operating losses. For the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, we had a net loss of $3,154,573 and $1,833,303, respectively. We may never achieve profitability from operations. Even if we do achieve profitability, we cannot assure you that we will be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis in the future. There can be no assurance that future operations will be profitable or that we will be able to make or sustain distributions to our shareholders from cash from operations. Revenues and profits, if any, will depend upon various factors, including whether we will be able to successfully implement our acquisition strategy. We may not achieve our business objectives and the failure to achieve such goals would have an adverse impact on us. In addition, an inability to achieve profitability could have a detrimental effect on the long-term capital appreciation of our common stock.

We are an early entrant in an emerging industry, and the long-term viability of our business strategy on an institutional scale is unproven. Large-scale institutional investment in single-family residential homes as investment properties for rent is a relatively recent phenomenon that has emerged out of the mortgage and housing crisis that began in late 2007. Previously, single-family homes were generally not viewed as a viable asset for investment on a large scale by institutional investors. Consequently, the long-term viability of single-family residential investment strategies at an institutional scale has not yet been proven. As an early entrant in this emerging industry, we are subject to the risk that single-family rental homes may not prove to be a viable long-term business strategy for a permanent capital vehicle at an institutional scale. If it turns out that our strategy is not a viable long-term business strategy at an institutional scale, we may not be able to generate meaningful cash flows, which would materially and adversely affect the viability of our business and stock price.

We have limited experience operating as a REIT, and we cannot assure you that we will be successful operating as a REIT. We have limited operating history as a REIT. Our Board of Directors and executive officers will have overall responsibility for the management of our company. While certain of our officers and directors have extensive experience in real estate marketing, development, management, and finance, they had not previously engaged in operating a business in accordance with the requirements of the Code for achieving and maintaining qualification as a REIT prior to joining us. We cannot assure you that the past experience of our Board of Directors and executive officers will be sufficient to successfully operate our company as a REIT. Our failure to qualify and maintain REIT status would have an adverse effect on the cash available for distribution to our stockholders, as well as our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

We have many competitors and may not be able to adequately compete in the SFR market. Institutional investors have begun acquiring single-family homes on a large scale. Traditionally, foreclosed properties and loans secured by properties in pre-foreclosure were sold individually to private home buyers and small-scale investors. The sale of these assets in portfolios and the entry into this market of large, well-capitalized institutional investors are relatively recent trends, which we expect to intensify in the near future. Other REITs and investment funds have recently deployed, or are expected to deploy in the near future, significant amounts of capital in the single-family housing sector and may have investment objectives that overlap with ours. In acquiring our target assets, we will compete with a variety of well-capitalized real estate investors, including pension funds, individual home buyers, banks, insurance companies, public and private real estate investors, such as REITs, real estate limited partnerships and other entities engaged in real estate investment activities. We also face competition from new home builders, investors and speculators, as well as homeowners renting their properties. Most of our competitors are larger and have greater financial, technical, leasing, marketing and other resources than we do. Some competitors may enjoy significant competitive advantages that result from, among other things, having substantially more available capital, having a lower cost of capital and enhanced operating efficiencies.

Our long-term growth will depend significantly upon future acquisitions of single-family homes that meet our acquisition criteria. The acquisition of single-family homes (which is the central element of our growth strategy) entails various risks, including the risks that we may overvalue a home or portfolio of homes, our homes may not perform as we expect, our tenants may default and our cost estimates for restoring an acquired home may prove inaccurate, and we may be unable to quickly and efficiently renew leases of our acquired homes upon their expiration. If any of these should occur, it may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. In addition, we cannot assure you of the continued availability of acquisition opportunities in our markets at attractive pricing levels. If such opportunities are not available, our revenue and growth potential may be adversely affected.

Our single-family homes may be unable to compete successfully for tenants. Our single-family homes compete for tenants with other single-family homes and multi-family housing options, such as apartments and condominiums. Some of our competitors may offer more attractive properties or lower rents than we do, and they may attract the high-quality tenants to whom we seek to lease our properties. Additionally, some competing housing options may qualify for governmental subsidies that may make such options more affordable and therefore more attractive than our properties. Competition for tenants could reduce our occupancy and rental rates and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.

We intend to rapidly expand our scale of operations and make acquisitions even if the rental and housing markets are not as favorable as they had been in 2012 when we first began our real estate operations, which could adversely impact anticipated yields. Our long-term growth depends on the availability of acquisition opportunities in our current markets and other markets at attractive pricing levels. In many markets housing prices have already begun returning to more normalized levels from the low prices we saw in recent years due to the downturn in the housing market, and we expect that in the future housing prices will continue to rise or stabilize at its current levels, and therefore future acquisitions may be more costly and result in lower yields. There are many factors that may result in future acquisitions becoming more expensive and possibly less attractive than recent past and present opportunities, including:

We will continue acquiring properties as long as we believe such properties offer an attractive total return opportunity. Accordingly, future acquisitions may have lower yield characteristics than recent past and present opportunities, and if such future acquisitions are funded through equity issuances, the yield and cash available for distribution per share will be reduced and the market price of our common stock may decline.

Our limited asset class and geographic diversification increases the risk of loss. Our portfolio is not fully diversified into a wide variety of properties or holdings. All of our real estate assets are of a single asset class (namely SFRs) and are currently located in the following markets: the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area; the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area; the Jacksonville, Florida, metropolitan area; the Memphis, Tennessee, metropolitan area; the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, metropolitan area, and the Birmingham, Alabama, metropolitan area. Accordingly, any adverse effects on the SFR sector specifically or the real estate industry in general or limited to such geographic markets, may have a disproportionate negative effect on our company and the value of our common stock. Additionally, we do not have geographic or product diversification or concentration as an investment objective. As a result, we could have (i) exposure to a limited number of regional and even local markets; and/or (ii) a limited number of real estate-related investments. The aggregate yields generated by our company may be negatively affected by adverse regional or local economic conditions in these geographic markets.

We are dependent on our executive officers and dedicated personnel, and the departure of any of our key personnel could materially and adversely affect us. We rely on a small number of persons to carry out our business and investment strategies. Any member of our senior management may cease to provide services to us at any time. The loss of the services of any of our key management personnel, or our inability to recruit and retain qualified personnel in the future, could have an adverse effect on our business and financial results. As we expand, we will continue to need to attract and retain qualified additional senior management but may not be able to do so on acceptable terms or at all.

Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to hire and retain highly skilled managerial, investment and operational personnel, and the past performance of our senior management may not be indicative of future results. The implementation of our business plan may require that we employ additional qualified personnel. Competition for highly skilled managerial, investment, financial and operational personnel is intense, and we cannot assure our stockholders that we will be successful in attracting and retaining such skilled personnel. If we are unable to hire and retain qualified personnel as required, our growth and operating results could be adversely affected.

Our dependence upon local, third-party service providers may harm our financial results or reputation if the third parties fail to perform. We use local, third-party vendors and service providers to provide certain services for our properties. For example, we regularly rely on third-party property management companies, home improvement professionals and leasing agents to provide services to many of our properties. Selecting, managing and supervising these third-party service providers require significant resources and expertise. We do not have exclusive or long-term contractual relationships with any of these third-party providers, and we can provide no assurance that we will have uninterrupted or unlimited access to their services. If we do not select, manage and supervise appropriate third parties to provide these services, our reputation and financial results may suffer. Notwithstanding our efforts to implement and enforce strong policies and practices regarding service providers, we may not successfully detect and prevent fraud, incompetence or theft by our third-party service providers. In addition, any removal or termination of third-party service providers would require us to seek new vendors or providers, which would create delays and adversely affect our operations. Poor performance by third-party service providers will reflect poorly on us and could significantly damage our reputation among desirable tenants. In the event of fraud or misconduct by a third party, we could also be exposed to material liability and be held responsible for damages, fines and/or penalties.

Short-term leases of residential property may expose us to the effects of declining market rents. We anticipate that a majority of our leases to tenant-occupants will be for a term of one year. As these leases permit the tenants to leave at the end of the lease term without penalty, we anticipate our rental revenues may be affected by declines in market rents more quickly than if our leases were for longer terms. Short-term leases may result in high turnover, which involves costs such as restoring the properties, marketing costs and lower occupancy levels. Because we have a limited operating history, our tenant turnover rate and related cost estimates may be less accurate than if we had more operating data upon which to base these estimates.

We depend on the accuracy and completeness of information from third parties, and inaccuracies in such information could adversely affect profitability. In connection with making and managing our investments, we rely heavily upon information supplied by third parties, including the information contained in tenant applications, property appraisals or other indicators of property value, title information and employment and income documentation. If any of this information is intentionally or negligently misrepresented and the misrepresentation is not detected prior to making an investment or execution of a lease, the value of the investment may be significantly less than expected. Whether a misrepresentation is made by seller of a property, the rental applicant, another third party or one of our own employees, we generally bear the risk of loss associated with the misrepresentation. Although we may have rights against persons and entities who made or knew or should have known about the misrepresentation, it will likely be difficult to recover any monetary losses that we have suffered as a result of their actions.

We may be unable to secure funds for future tenant or other capital improvements, which could limit our ability to attract or replace tenants. When tenants do not renew their leases or otherwise vacate their space, we often are required to expend funds for property restoration and leasing commissions in order to re-lease the property. If we have not established sufficient reserves for such expenditures, we will have to obtain financing from other sources. We may also have future financing needs for other capital improvements to restore our properties. If we need to secure financing for capital improvements in the future but are unable to secure such financing or are unable to secure financing on terms we feel are acceptable, we may be unable to make capital improvements or we may be required to defer such improvements. If this happens, it may cause our properties to suffer from a greater risk of obsolescence or a decline in value, or a greater risk of decreased cash flow as a result of fewer potential tenants being attracted to the property or existing tenants not renewing their leases. If we do not have access to sufficient funding in the future, we may not be able to make necessary capital improvements to our properties, and our properties’ ability to generate revenue may be significantly impaired.

Our revenue and expenses are not directly correlated, and, because a large percentage of our costs and expenses are fixed and some variable expenses may not decrease over time, we may not be able to adapt our cost structure to offset any declines in our revenue. Many of the expenses associated with our business, such as acquisition costs, restoration and maintenance costs, homeowner’s association, or HOA, fees, personal and real property taxes, insurance, compensation and other general expenses are fixed and would not necessarily decrease proportionally with any decrease in revenue. Our assets also require a significant amount of ongoing capital expenditure. Our expenses, including capital expenditures, will be affected by, among other things, any inflationary increases, and cost increases may exceed the rate of inflation in any given period. Certain expenses incurred on a per-unit basis are recurring in nature, such as HOA fees, taxes, insurance and restoration and maintenance costs, which may not decrease on a per-unit basis as our portfolio grows through additional property acquisitions. By contrast, our revenue is affected by many factors beyond our control, such as the availability and price of alternative rental housing and economic conditions in our markets. As a result, we may not be able to fully, or partially, offset any increase in our expenses with a corresponding increase in our revenues. In addition, state and local regulations may require us to maintain our properties, even if the cost of maintenance is greater than the value of the property or any potential benefit we may receive from renting the property.

If we cannot obtain financing, our growth may be limited. To qualify as a REIT, we will be required to distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gain, each year to our stockholders. As a result, our ability to retain earnings to fund acquisitions or other capital expenditures will be limited. As of December 31, 2018, our assets were purchased with available cash and the proceeds from loan transactions to which we owe an aggregate of $51,362,000 as of December 31, 2018. Our loan transactions are secured by first priority liens and related rents on our homes. Over time, we may determine that it is appropriate to increase our use of leverage as a component of our financing strategy in an effort to increase our return potential. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to obtain future debt financing on favorable terms or at all.

Recent events in the financial markets have had an adverse impact on the credit markets, and, as a result, credit has become significantly more expensive and difficult to obtain, if available at all. Some lenders are imposing more stringent credit terms and there has been and may continue to be a general reduction in the amount of credit available. Many banks are either unable or unwilling to provide new asset-based lending. Tightening credit markets may have an adverse effect on our ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, thereby increasing financing costs and/or requiring us to accept financing with increasing restrictions. If adverse conditions in the credit markets — in particular with respect to single-family home finance — materially deteriorate, our business could be materially and adversely affected. Our long-term ability to grow through additional investments will be limited if we cannot obtain additional financing. Market conditions may make it difficult to obtain financing, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain debt or equity financing or that we will be able to obtain it on favorable terms.

We anticipate being involved in a variety of litigation. Although we have not been subject to any litigation to date, we anticipate being involved in a range of court proceedings in the ordinary course of business as we continue to operate our business. These actions may include eviction proceedings and other landlord-tenant disputes, challenges to title and ownership rights (including actions brought by prior owners alleging wrongful foreclosure by their lender or loan servicer) and issues with local housing officials arising from the condition or maintenance of a property. While we intend to vigorously defend any non-meritorious action or challenge, no assurance can be given that we will not incur significant expense relating to these matters or that they will not require significant management attention and adversely affect us.

Our underwriting criteria and evaluation of properties involves a number of assumptions that may prove inaccurate, which may cause us to overpay for our properties or incur significant costs to operate a property. In determining whether a particular property or portfolio of properties meets our investment criteria, we make a number of assumptions, including assumptions related to estimated time of possession, annual operating costs, market rental rates and potential rent amounts, time from purchase to leasing and tenant default rates. These assumptions may prove inaccurate, causing us to pay too much for properties we acquire, overvalue our properties or our properties not to perform as we expect, and adjustments to the assumptions we make in evaluating potential purchases may result in fewer properties qualifying under our investment criteria. Improvements in the market prices for single-family homes in our target markets or decreases in the available inventory could also reduce the supply of properties that meet our investment criteria. Reductions in the supply of properties that meet our investment criteria may adversely affect our operating results and ability to implement our business plan.

Certain of our older properties may contain lead-based paint, which we may be required to remove or could expose us to liability, either of which would adversely affect our operating results. The existence of lead paint is especially a concern in residential units and can cause health problems, particularly for children. A structure built prior to 1978 may contain lead-based paint and may present a potential exposure to lead; however, structures built after 1978 are not likely to contain lead-based paint. Federal and state laws impose certain disclosure requirements and restrict and regulate renovation activities on housing built before 1978. Violation of these restrictions could result in fines or criminal liability, and we could be subject to liability arising from lawsuits alleging personal injury or related claims. Although we attempt to comply with all such regulations, we have not conducted tests on our properties to determine the presence of lead-based paint and we cannot guarantee that we will not incur any material liabilities as a result of the presence of lead paint in our properties.

Operating our business on a larger scale could result in substantial increases in our expenses. One of our goals is to implement our single-family rental business nationally. Our business model assumes that we can successfully use our platform to acquire and manage single-family homes on a larger scale than we have done to date without a negative disproportional increase in our expenses. As our business grows in size and complexity, we can provide no assurance that our management platform will ultimately prove to be “scalable,” we will be able to achieve economies of scale or we will be able to manage additional properties in our current markets, successfully enter new markets or grow our business without incurring significant additional expenses.

Debt service obligations could adversely affect our operating results, may require us to sell properties and could adversely affect our ability to make or sustain distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock. We have entered into loan agreements to which we owe an aggregate of $51,362,000 as of December 31, 2018. The proceeds of which we used to purchase additional homes. Our loan transactions are secured by first priority liens and related rents on our homes. We may finance future activities with additional indebtedness and we may be more likely to do so as our business grows. We may borrow for a number of reasons, such as financing acquisitions, capital expenditures or distributions necessary to qualify as a REIT. Our governing documents contain no limitations on the amount of debt that we may incur. As a result, we may incur substantial debt at our parent company and or at our subsidiary levels in the future.

Incurring debt could subject us to many risks, including the risks that:

If we do not have sufficient funds to repay any debt we incur when it matures, we may need to refinance the debt or raise additional equity. If, at the time of any refinancing, prevailing interest rates or other factors result in higher interest rates on refinancing, increases in interest expense could adversely affect our cash flows and, consequently, cash available for distribution to our stockholders. To the extent we are required to raise additional equity to satisfy such debt, existing stockholders would see their interests diluted. If we are unable to refinance our debt or raise additional equity on acceptable terms, we may be forced to dispose of substantial numbers of properties on disadvantageous terms, potentially resulting in losses or the incurrence of special taxes that apply to dispositions by REITs of properties that are considered to be inventory or dealer property. To the extent we cannot meet any existing or future debt service obligations, we will risk losing some or all of our properties that may be pledged to secure our obligations to foreclosure. Any unsecured debt agreements we enter into may contain specific cross-default provisions with respect to specified other indebtedness, giving the unsecured lenders the right to declare a default if we are in default under other loans in some circumstances.

Security breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information and expose us to liability, which would cause our business and reputation to suffer. In the ordinary course of our business, we acquire and store sensitive data, including intellectual property, our proprietary business information and personally identifiable information of our prospective and current tenants, our employees and third-party service providers on our networks and website. The secure processing and maintenance of this information is critical to our operations and business strategy. Despite our security measures, our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or breached due to employee error, malfeasance or other disruptions. Any such breach could compromise our networks and the information stored there could be accessed, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen. Any such access, disclosure or other loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability under laws that protect the privacy of personal information, regulatory penalties, disruption to our operations and the services we provide to customers or damage our reputation, which could adversely affect our results of operations and competitive position.

Risks Related to the Single-Family Rental Housing Market

If rents in our markets do not increase sufficiently to keep pace with rising costs of operations, our cash available for distribution will be adversely impacted. The success of our business model will substantially depend on conditions in the single-family rental market in our geographic markets. Our asset acquisitions are premised on assumptions about, among other things, occupancy and rent levels, and if those assumptions prove to be inaccurate our cash flows will be lower than expected. When we first began executing our business plan, rental rates and occupancy levels benefited from macroeconomic trends affecting the U.S. economy and residential real estate markets in particular, including:

In recent periods, however, we have seen a reversal of these trends in the residential rental market. Eventually, the continued strengthening of the U.S. economy and job growth, coupled with government programs designed to keep homeowners in their homes and/or other factors, may contribute to trends that favor homeownership rather than renting. A softening of the rental market in our markets would reduce our rental revenue, which could adversely impact our cash available for distribution.

Acquiring properties during periods when the single-family home sector is experiencing substantial inflows of capital and intense competition may result in inflated purchase prices and increase the likelihood that our properties will not appreciate in value and may, instead, decrease in value. The allocation of substantial amounts of capital for investment in the single-family home sector and significant competition for income producing real estate may inflate the purchase prices for such assets. To the extent we purchased or in the future purchase real estate in such an environment, it is possible that the value of our properties may not appreciate and may, instead, decrease in value, perhaps significantly, below the amount we paid for such properties. In addition to macroeconomic and local economic factors, technical factors, such as a decrease in the amount of capital allocated to the single-family home sector and the number of investors participating in the sector, could cause the value of our properties to decline.

We may engage in expedited transactions that increase the risk of loss. Our underwriting guidelines require a thorough analysis of many factors, including, among others, the underlying property’s financial performance and condition, geographic market assessment and future prospects of the property within the market. Investment analyses and decisions by us may frequently be required to be undertaken on an expedited basis to take advantage of investment opportunities. In such cases, the information available to us at the time of making an investment decision may be limited, and we may not have access to detailed information regarding the investment property, such as physical characteristics, environmental matters, zoning regulations or other local conditions affecting an investment property. If we make the decision to purchase a property prior to the full completion of one or more of these analyses, we may fail to identify certain risks that we would otherwise have identified and suffer significant losses as a result. Therefore, no assurance can be given that we will have knowledge of all circumstances that may adversely affect an investment. Additionally, we expect to rely upon independent consultants in connection with its evaluation of proposed investments, and no assurance can be given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by such independent consultants or to our right of recourse against them in the event errors or omissions do occur.

Properties acquired as part of portfolios or in bulk may subject us to a variety of risks. All of our properties have been, and we expect that a substantial portion of any future property acquisitions will be, purchased as portfolios in bulk from owners of portfolios of single-family homes. To the extent the management and leasing of such properties have not been consistent with our property management and leasing standards, we may be subject to a variety of risks, including risks relating to the condition of the properties, the credit quality and employment stability of the tenants and compliance with applicable laws, among others. In addition, financial and other information provided to us regarding such portfolios during our due diligence may not be accurate, and we may not discover such inaccuracies until it is too late to seek remedies against such sellers. To the extent we timely pursue such remedies, we may not be able to successfully prevail against the seller in an action seeking damages for such inaccuracies.

We may be unable to keep or attract tenants. We may not be able to retain current, or attract new, tenants for the properties we may acquire. We may make substantial concessions in terms of rent and lease incentives, and construct tenant improvements, to attract new tenants or keep existing tenants. The operating results and financial viability of any property could be substantially and materially affected by any inability to retain and attract tenants. Additionally, there is the risk that tenants may break their leases before those leases expire. Any of such properties may not be able to retain or increase its current occupancy at projected rents. If that occurs, our operations and our ability to make distributions to stockholders may be adversely affected.

Lease terminations or tenant defaults could reduce our income and limit our ability to make distributions. The success of our investments will materially depend on the financial stability of our tenants. The inability of tenants to meet their rental obligations would lower our net income. A default by a significant number of tenants on their lease payments would cause us to lose the revenue associated with such leases and require us to find an alternative source of revenue to meet operating expenses. We may fail to, or may not be able to, discover factors that would indicate a heightened level of uncertainty with respect to tenant defaults when performing due diligence on prospective investments. Tenant defaults increase the risk that we, and our stockholders, could suffer a loss.

If a tenant defaults or goes bankrupt, we may experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment and re-letting the property. If a defaulting tenant does not cooperate in vacating the property, we would have to engage in time-consuming and costly prosecution and enforcement of eviction proceedings, during which time there would be no rental revenues from such unit and no likely recovery of damages from the defaulting tenant. These events could limit our ability to make distributions to stockholders and decrease the value of our common stock.

If and when residents of our portfolio properties decide not to renew their leases upon expiration, we may be unable to relet such residents’ properties. Even if the residents do renew or we can relet the properties, the terms of renewal or reletting may be less favorable than current lease terms. If we are unable to promptly renew the leases or relet the properties, or if the rental rates upon renewal or reletting are significantly lower than expected rates, then our results of operations and financial condition will be adversely affected.

A number of our properties are part of HOAs, and we and our tenants are subject to the rules and regulations of such HOAs, which may be arbitrary or restrictive. Violations of such rules may subject us to additional fees, penalties and litigation with such HOAs which would be costly. As of December 31, 2018, approximately 18% of our properties are located within HOAs, which are private entities that regulate the activities of owners and occupants of, and levy assessments on, properties in a residential subdivision. We pay all HOA fees and assessments directly. The majority of the HOA fees due on our properties are billed annually. The fees are paid when due by our property managers and are included in our property and operating expenses. HOAs in which we own properties may have or may enact onerous or arbitrary rules that restrict our ability to restore, market or lease our properties or require us to restore or maintain such properties at standards or costs that are in excess of our planned budgets. Such rules may include requirements for landscaping, limitations on signage promoting a property for lease or sale or the requirement that specific construction materials be used in restorations. Some HOAs also impose limits on the number of property owners who may rent their homes, which, if met or exceeded, would cause us to incur additional costs to sell the property and opportunity costs of lost rental revenue. Furthermore, many HOAs impose restrictions on the conduct of occupants of homes and the use of common areas, and we may have tenants who violate HOA rules and for which we may be liable as the property owner. Additionally, the boards of directors of the HOAs in which we own property may not make important disclosures about the properties or may block our access to HOA records, initiate litigation, restrict our ability to sell our properties, impose assessments or arbitrarily change the HOA rules. We may be unaware of or unable to review or comply with HOA rules before purchasing a property, and any such excessively restrictive or arbitrary regulations may cause us to sell such property at a loss, prevent us from renting such property or otherwise reduce our cash flow from such property, which would have an adverse effect on our returns on these properties.

We are subject to tenant relief laws and may be subject to rent control laws, which could negatively impact our rental revenue. As an owner of rental properties, we expect that we will regularly be seeking to evict tenants who are not paying their rent or are otherwise in material violation of the terms of their lease. Eviction activities will result in additional legal costs and require the time and attention of our management. The eviction process is typically subject to numerous legal requirements and mandatory “cure” policies, which may increase our costs and delay our ability to gain possession of and stabilize a property. Additionally, state and local landlord-tenant laws may impose legal duties on us to assist tenants in relocating to new housing, or restrict our ability to recover certain costs or charge tenants for damage tenants cause to our property. Because such laws vary by state and locality, we will need to be familiar with and take appropriate steps to comply with applicable landlord-tenant laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate, and we will need to incur supervisory and legal expenses to ensure such compliance. To the extent that we do not comply with state or local laws, we may be subjected to civil litigation filed by individuals, a class of plaintiffs or by state or local law enforcement. We may be required to pay our adversaries’ litigation fees and expenses if judgment is entered against us in such litigation or if we settle such litigation.

Furthermore, rent control laws may affect our rental revenue. Especially in times of recession and economic slowdown, rent control initiatives can receive significant political support. If rent control becomes applicable to certain of our properties, the effects on both our rental revenue and the value of such properties could be material and adverse.

Class action, tenants’ rights and consumer rights litigation may result in increased expenses and harm our results. There are numerous tenants’ rights and consumer rights organizations that operate in our markets, and, as we grow in scale, we may attract attention from some of these organizations and become a target of legal demands or litigation. With the increased market for single-family rentals arising from former homeowners who may have lost their properties, some of these organizations may shift their litigation, lobbying, fundraising and grass roots organizing activities to focus on landlord-tenant issues, including issues relating to the Fair Housing Act, or FHA, and its state law counterparts. While we intend to conduct our business lawfully and in compliance with applicable landlord-tenant and consumer laws, such organizations might work in conjunction with trial and pro bono lawyers in one state or multiple states to attempt to bring claims against us on a class action basis for damages or injunctive relief. We cannot anticipate what form such legal actions might take if initiated or what remedies they may seek. Additionally, these organizations may lobby local county and municipal attorneys or state attorneys general to pursue enforcement or litigation against us or may lobby state and local legislatures to pass new laws and regulations to constrain our business operations. If they are successful in any such endeavors, they could limit our business operations and may impose on us significant litigation expenses, including settlements to avoid continued litigation or judgments for damages or injunctions.

Poor tenant selection and defaults by our tenants may negatively affect our financial performance and reputation. Our success will depend, in large part, upon our ability to attract and retain qualified tenants for our properties. This will depend, in turn, upon our ability to screen applicants, identify good tenants and avoid tenants who may default. We will inevitably make mistakes in our selection of tenants, and we may rent to tenants whose default on our leases or failure to comply with the terms of the lease or HOA regulations negatively affect our financial performance, reputation and the quality and value of our properties. For example, tenants may default on payment of rent, make unreasonable and repeated demands for service or improvements, make unsupported or unjustified complaints to regulatory or political authorities, make use of our properties for illegal purposes, damage or make unauthorized structural changes to our properties which may not be fully covered by security deposits, refuse to leave the property when the lease is terminated, engage in domestic violence or similar disturbances, disturb nearby residents with noise, trash, odors or eyesores, fail to comply with HOA regulations, sub-let to less desirable individuals in violation of our leases or permit unauthorized persons to live with them. In addition, defaulting tenants will often be effectively judgment-proof. The process of evicting a defaulting tenant from a family residence can be adversarial, protracted and costly. Furthermore, some tenants facing eviction may damage or destroy the property. Damage to our properties may significantly delay re-leasing after eviction, necessitate expensive repairs or impair the rental revenue or value of the property, resulting in a lower than expected rate of return. In addition, we will incur turnover costs associated with re-leasing the properties, such as marketing expense and brokerage commissions, and will not collect revenue while the property is vacant. Although we will attempt to work with tenants to prevent such damage or destruction, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in all or most cases. Such tenants will not only cause us not to achieve our financial objectives for the properties in which they live, but may subject us to liability, and may damage our reputation with our other tenants and in the communities where we do business.

Declining real estate values and impairment charges could adversely affect our earnings and financial condition. We intend to review the carrying value of our long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances, such as adverse market conditions, indicate that their carrying amount may not be recoverable. If our evaluation indicates that we may be unable to recover the carrying value of a material portion of our real estate investments, an impairment loss will be recorded to the extent that the carrying value exceeds the estimated fair value of the properties. These losses would have a direct impact on our net income, because recording an impairment loss results in an immediate negative adjustment to net income. They would also be reflected as a decrease in assets on our balance sheet. The evaluation of anticipated cash flows is highly subjective and is based in part on assumptions regarding future occupancy, rental rates and capital requirements that could differ materially from actual results in future periods. A deteriorating real estate market may cause us to reevaluate the assumptions used in our impairment analysis. Impairment charges could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, cash available for distribution and market price of our common stock.

Risks Related to the Real Estate Industry Generally

There are significant risks involved with any investment in real estate. The performance of our investments, and the performance of our company and our ability to make distributions, is subject to those risks typically associated with investments in real estate. Any change in operating expenses and tax rates could adversely affect operating results or render the sale, financing, or refinancing of a portfolio of properties difficult or unattractive. Certain expenditures associated with the properties will be fixed (principally real estate taxes and maintenance costs) and will be payable even if the properties do not generate sufficient income, which could have a negative impact on us. No assurance can be given that certain assumptions as to future costs of operating any of our properties will be accurate, since such matters will depend on events and factors beyond our control. These factors include, among others:

A worsening of current financial market conditions or events negatively impacting the U.S. banking system could adversely affect our operations and our ability to make distributions.

Uninsured or underinsured losses relating to real property may adversely affect our returns. We attempt to ensure that all of the properties we acquire are adequately insured to cover casualty losses. However, there are certain losses, including losses from floods, hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, acts of war, acts of terrorism or riots, that may not always be insured against or that are not generally fully insured against because it is not deemed economically feasible or prudent to do so. In addition, changes in the cost or availability of insurance could expose us to uninsured casualty losses. In the event that any of the properties we acquire incurs a casualty loss that is not fully covered by insurance, the value of our assets will be reduced by the amount of any such uninsured loss, and we could experience a significant loss of capital invested and potential revenues in these properties and could potentially remain obligated under any recourse debt associated with the property. Inflation, changes in building codes and ordinances, environmental considerations and other factors might also keep us from using insurance proceeds to replace or restore a property after it has been damaged or destroyed. Under those circumstances, the insurance proceeds we receive might be inadequate to restore our economic position on the damaged or destroyed property. Any such losses could adversely affect us and the market price of our common stock. In addition, we may have no source of funding to repair or reconstruct the damaged property, and we cannot assure you that any such sources of funding will be available to us for such purposes in the future.

Due diligence on properties may not reveal all conditions that may adversely affect the value of our investments. We perform due diligence on each investment prior to its acquisition. Regardless of the thoroughness of the due diligence process, not all circumstances affecting the value of an investment can be ascertained through the due diligence process. If the due diligence materials provided to us are inaccurate, if we do not sufficiently investigate or follow up on matters brought to our attention as part of the due diligence process, or if the due diligence process fails to detect material facts that impact the value determination, we may acquire an investment that results in significant losses to us or may overpay for an investment, which would cause our financial results to suffer.

Contingent or unknown liabilities could adversely affect our financial condition. Our acquisition activities are subject to many risks. We may acquire properties that are subject to unknown or contingent liabilities, including liabilities for or with respect to liens attached to properties, unpaid real estate taxes, utilities or HOA charges for which a prior owner remains liable, clean-up or remediation of environmental conditions or code violations, claims of vendors or other persons dealing with the acquired properties and tax liabilities, among other things. In each case, our acquisition may be without any, or with only limited, recourse with respect to unknown or contingent liabilities or conditions. As a result, if any such liability were to arise relating to our properties, or if any adverse condition exists with respect to our properties that is in excess of our insurance coverage, we might have to pay substantial sums to settle or cure it, which could adversely affect us. The properties we acquire may also be subject to covenants, conditions or restrictions that restrict the use or ownership of such properties, including prohibitions on leasing or requirements to obtain the approval of HOAs prior to leasing. We may not discover such restrictions during the acquisition process and such restrictions may adversely affect our ability to operate such properties as we intend.

In addition, purchases of single-family homes acquired as part of a portfolio or in bulk purchases typically involve few or no representations or warranties with respect to the properties and may allow us limited or no recourse against the sellers of such properties. Such properties also often have unpaid tax, utility and HOA liabilities for which we may be obligated but fail to anticipate.

Costs of complying with governmental laws and regulations may reduce our income and cash available for distributions. Real property and the operations conducted on real property are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to, among other things, environmental protection, human health and safety and access by persons with disabilities. We could be subject to liability in the form of fines or damages for noncompliance with these laws and regulations, even if we did not cause the event(s) resulting in liability.

Environmental Laws Generally.   Environmental laws and regulations generally govern wastewater discharges, air emissions, the operation and removal of underground and above-ground storage tanks, the use, storage, treatment, transportation and disposal of solid hazardous materials, the remediation of contaminated property associated with the disposal of solid and hazardous materials and other health and safety-related concerns. Some of these laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on tenants, owners or operators of real property for the costs to investigate or remediate contaminated properties, regardless of fault, whether the acts causing the contamination were legal, regardless of whether the contamination was present prior to a purchaser’s acquisition of a property, and whether an owner knew of such contamination. The conditions of investments at the time we acquire them, operations in the vicinity of our investments, such as the presence of underground tanks, or activities of unrelated third parties may affect the value or performance of our investments.

Hazardous Substances.   The presence of hazardous substances on owned real estate owned by us, or the failure to properly remediate these substances, may hinder our ability to sell, rent or pledge investments as collateral for future borrowings. Any material expenditures, fines, or damages that we must pay will reduce our ability to make distributions to stockholders and may reduce the value of an investment in our common stock.

Other Regulations.   We may be required to operate our properties in compliance with fire and safety regulations, building codes and other land use regulations, as they may be adopted by governmental agencies and bodies and become applicable to our properties. We may be required to make substantial capital expenditures to comply with those requirements, and these expenditures could adversely affect our performance and ability to make distributions to stockholders.

We may obtain only limited warranties when we purchase a property and would have only limited recourse in the event our due diligence did not identify any issues that lower the value of our property. The seller of a property often sells such property in its “as is” condition on a “where is” basis and “with all faults” without any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular use or purpose. In addition, purchase and sale agreements may contain only limited warranties, representations and indemnifications that will only survive for a limited period after the closing. The purchase of properties with limited warranties increases the risk that we may lose some or all of our invested capital in the property, as well as the loss of rental revenue from that property.

We may have difficulty selling real estate investments, and our ability to distribute all or a portion of the net proceeds from such sales to our stockholders may be limited. Real estate investments are relatively illiquid, and, as a result, we may have a limited ability to sell our properties should the need arise. When we sell our properties, we may not realize gains on such sales. We may elect not to distribute any proceeds from the sales of properties to our stockholders; for example, we may use such proceeds to:

Our ability to sell our properties may also be limited by our need to avoid the 100% prohibited transactions tax that is imposed on gain recognized by a REIT from the sale of property characterized as dealer property. In order to ensure that we avoid such characterization, we may be required to hold our properties for a minimum period of time and comply with certain other requirements in the Code or dispose of our properties through our TRS, which will be subject to federal and state income taxation as a corporation.

Increases in property taxes could adversely affect the value of a property or our ability to hold the property long enough to realize the desired return on its investment. Property taxes may increase as tax rates change and as the properties are assessed or reassessed by taxing authorities. As the owner of real estate properties, we will be responsible for payment of the taxes to the applicable government authorities. If real property taxes increase, we may or may not be able to raise rents to offset such increased taxes. Because such changes in property taxes are difficult to predict when a property is acquired, the financial results projected at the time of our investment may be realized during the period of our ownership and, therefore, cash flows and property values could be materially and negatively affected in a manner that we cannot foresee. If we fail to pay any such taxes, the applicable taxing authority may place a lien on the property and the property may be subject to a tax sale.

Our properties may be or become subject to condemnation or eminent domain proceedings. A governmental authority could bring an eminent domain or inverse condemnation action against a property. Such an action could have a material adverse effect on the financial viability and marketability of that property, and, as a result, the results of our operations and our ability to make distributions to stockholders.

Risks Related to Our Organization and Structure

Provisions of our charter may limit the ability of a third party to acquire control of us by authorizing our Board of Directors to issue additional securities. Our Board of Directors may, without stockholder approval, approve an amendment to our charter to increase or decrease the aggregate number of our shares or the number of shares of any class or series that we have the authority to issue, and classify or reclassify any unissued shares of our common or preferred stock, and set the preferences, rights and other terms of the classified or reclassified shares. As a result, our Board of Directors may authorize the issuance of additional shares or establish a series of common or preferred stock that may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our company, including transactions at a premium over the market price of our shares, even if stockholders believe that a change in control is in their interest. These provisions, along with the restrictions on ownership and transfer contained in our charter and certain provisions of Maryland law described below, could discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or make it more difficult for a third party to gain control of us, which could adversely affect the market price of our securities.

Provisions of Maryland law may limit the ability of a third party to acquire control of us by requiring our Board of Directors or stockholders to approve proposals to acquire our company or effect a change in control. Certain provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law, or the MGCL, applicable to Maryland corporations may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making a proposal to acquire us or of impeding a change in control under circumstances that otherwise could provide our stockholders with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of their shares, including:

By resolution of our Board of Directors, we have opted out of the business combination provisions of the MGCL and provided that any business combination between us and any other person is exempt from the business combination provisions of the MGCL, provided that the business combination is first approved by our Board of Directors (including a majority of directors who are not affiliates or associates of such persons). In addition, pursuant to a provision in our bylaws, we have opted out of the control share provisions of the MGCL. However, our Board of Directors may by resolution elect to opt in to the business combination provisions of the MGCL, and we may, by amendment to our bylaws, opt in to the control share provisions of the MGCL at any time in the future, whether before or after an acquisition of control shares.

Certain provisions of the MGCL permit our Board of Directors, without stockholder approval and regardless of what is currently provided in our charter or bylaws, to implement certain corporate governance provisions, some of which (for example, a classified board) are not currently applicable to us. These provisions may have the effect of limiting or precluding a third party from making an unsolicited acquisition proposal for us or of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us under circumstances that otherwise could be in the best interests of our stockholders. Our charter contains a provision whereby we elect, at such time as we become eligible to do so, to be subject to the provisions of Title 3, Subtitle 8 of the MGCL relating to the filling of vacancies on our Board of Directors.

Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to take action against our directors and officers are limited, which could limit your recourse in the event of actions not in your best interests. Under Maryland law, generally, a director will not be liable if he or she performs his or her duties in good faith, in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in our best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. In addition, our charter limits the liability of our directors and officers to us and our stockholders for money damages, except for liability resulting from:

Our charter authorizes us to obligate ourselves to, and our bylaws require us to, indemnify our directors and officers for actions taken by them in those capacities to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. Our bylaws require us to indemnify each director and officer, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law, in the defense of any proceeding to which he or she is made, or threatened to be made, a party to, or witness in, by reason of his or her service to us. In addition, we may be obligated to advance the defense costs incurred by our directors and officers. As a result, we and our stockholders may have more limited rights against our directors and officers than might otherwise exist absent the current provisions in our charter and bylaws or that might exist with other companies.

Our charter contains provisions that make removal of our directors difficult, and the employment agreements we have with some of our executives contain severance provisions that make termination of their employment under certain circumstances expensive for us, which could make it difficult for our stockholders to effect changes to our Board of Directors and our management. Our charter provides that a director may be removed only for cause (as defined in our charter) and then only by the affirmative vote of holders of shares entitled to cast at least two-thirds of all the votes entitled to be cast generally in the election of directors. Our charter also provides that vacancies on our Board of Directors may be filled only by a majority of the remaining directors in office, even if less than a quorum. These requirements prevent stockholders from removing directors except for cause and with a substantial affirmative vote and from replacing directors with their own nominees and may prevent a change in control of our company that is in the best interests of our stockholders.

We have entered into employment agreements with each of our executive officers containing severance provisions that could make it difficult and costly for us to terminate their employment.

Our Board of Directors may change our investment strategy, financing strategy or leverage policies, or any of our other major policies, without the consent of stockholders. Our Board of Directors determines our major strategies and policies, including policies and guidelines relating to our acquisitions and divestitures, asset allocation, leverage, financing, growth, operations, indebtedness and distributions to stockholders. Our Board of Directors may amend or revise these and other policies and guidelines from time to time without the vote or consent of our stockholders, which could result in our acquiring properties that are different from, and possibly riskier than, the types of single-family residential real estate and related investments described in this report. Accordingly, our stockholders will have limited control over changes in our policies, and those changes could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

We may structure acquisitions of property in exchange for OP units on terms that could limit our liquidity or our flexibility. We may acquire properties by issuing OP units in exchange for a property owner contributing property to the operating partnership. If we enter into such transactions, in order to induce the contributors of such properties to accept OP units, rather than cash, in exchange for their properties, it may be necessary for us to provide them additional incentives. For instance, our operating partnership’s limited partnership agreement provides that any holder of units may exchange limited partnership units for cash equal to the value of an equivalent number of shares of our common stock or, at our option, for shares of our common stock on a one-for-one basis. We may, however, enter into additional contractual arrangements with contributors of property under which we would agree to repurchase a contributor’s units for shares of our common stock or cash, at the option of the contributor, at set times. If the contributor required us to repurchase units for cash pursuant to such a provision, it would limit our liquidity and thus our ability to use cash to make other investments, satisfy other obligations or make distributions to stockholders. Moreover, if we were required to repurchase units for cash at a time when we did not have sufficient cash to fund the repurchase, we might be required to sell one or more properties to raise funds to satisfy this obligation. Furthermore, we might agree that if distributions the contributor received as a limited partner in our operating partnership did not provide the contributor with a defined return, then upon redemption of the contributor’s units we would pay the contributor an additional amount necessary to achieve that return. Such a provision could further negatively impact our liquidity and flexibility. Finally, in order to allow a contributor of a property to defer taxable gain on the contribution of property to our operating partnership, we might agree not to sell a contributed property for a defined period of time or until the contributor exchanged the contributor’s units for cash or shares. Such an agreement would prevent us from selling those properties, even if market conditions made such a sale favorable to us.

If our operating partnership fails to qualify as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, we could fail to qualify as a REIT and suffer other adverse consequences. Our operating partnership will initially be wholly-owned, directly and indirectly, by us, and will be classified for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disregarded entity. Once our operating partnership has more than one other member apart from us and our wholly-owned subsidiaries, we believe that it will then be treated as a partnership and not an association or a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a disregarded entity or partnership, our operating partnership will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on its income. Instead, each of the partners will be allocated its share of our operating partnership’s income. No assurance can be provided, however, that the IRS will not challenge our operating partnership’s status as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or that a court would not sustain such a challenge. If the IRS were successful in treating our operating partnership as an association or publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would fail to meet the gross income tests and certain of the asset tests applicable to REITs and, accordingly, would not qualify as a REIT. In that case, our income would be subject to corporate income tax without any tax deduction for dividends that we pay. Also, the failure of the operating partnership to qualify as a partnership would cause it to become subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax, which would reduce significantly the amount of its cash available for distribution to its partners, including us.

Risks Related to Qualification and Operation as a REIT

Failure to qualify as a REIT could adversely affect our operations and our ability to make distributions. We intend to be treated as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in obtaining and maintaining REIT status. Our ability to qualify as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of numerous requirements (some on an annual and quarterly basis) established under highly technical and complex provisions of the Code, for which there may be only limited judicial or administrative interpretations. Qualification and maintenance of REIT status involves the determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control, including requirements related to the nature of our gross assets, gross income, the composition of our shareholders and the distribution of our income. No assurance can be given that legislation, new regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions will not change the tax laws with respect to qualification as a REIT or the U.S. federal income tax consequences of that qualification.

If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT for any taxable year, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income at corporate rates. In addition, we would generally be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we lose our REIT status. Losing our REIT status would reduce our net earnings available for investment or distribution to stockholders because of the additional tax liability. In addition, distributions to stockholders would no longer be deductible in computing our taxable income and we would no longer be required to make distributions. To the extent that distributions had been made in anticipation of our qualifying as a REIT, we might be required to borrow funds or liquidate some investments in order to pay the applicable corporate income tax. In addition, although we intend to elect for qualification as a REIT, it is possible that future economic, market, legal, tax, or other considerations may cause our Board of Directors to determine that it is no longer in our best interest to be qualified as a REIT and recommend that we do not proceed with our proposed REIT election or otherwise revoke our REIT election.

To qualify as a REIT, we must meet annual distribution requirements, which could result in us distributing amounts that may otherwise be used for our operations. To obtain the favorable tax treatment accorded to REITs, we normally will be required each year to distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for distributions paid and by excluding net capital gains. We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our undistributed taxable income and net capital gain and to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on any amount by which distributions we pay with respect to any calendar year are less than the sum of 85% of our ordinary income, 95% of our capital gain net income and 100% of our undistributed income from prior years. These requirements could cause us to distribute amounts that otherwise would be spent on acquisitions of properties and it is possible that we might be required to borrow funds or sell assets to fund these distributions. It is possible that we might not always be able to continue to make distributions sufficient to meet the annual distribution requirements required to maintain our REIT status, avoid corporate tax on undistributed income and/or avoid the 4% excise tax.

From time to time, we may generate taxable income that is greater than our income for financial reporting purposes, or differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash may occur. If we do not have other funds available in these situations, we could be required to borrow funds on unfavorable terms, sell investments at disadvantageous prices or distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions to make distributions sufficient to enable us to pay out enough of our taxable income to satisfy the REIT distribution requirement and to avoid corporate income tax and the 4% excise tax in a particular year. These alternatives could increase our costs or reduce our equity. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to grow, which could adversely affect our value.

Distributions to tax-exempt investors may be classified as unrelated business taxable income. Neither ordinary nor capital gain distributions with respect to our common stock nor gain from the sale of common stock should generally constitute unrelated business taxable income to a tax-exempt investor. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule. In particular:

The prohibited transactions tax may limit our ability to dispose of our properties. A REIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of property other than foreclosure property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. We may be subject to the prohibited transactions tax in an amount equal to 100% of net gain upon a disposition of real property. Although a safe harbor to the characterization of the sale of real property by a REIT as a prohibited transaction is available, we cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with the safe harbor or that we will avoid owning property that may be characterized as held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. Consequently, we may choose not to engage in certain sales of our properties or may conduct such sales through a taxable REIT subsidiary (our TRS), which would be subject to federal and state income taxation as a corporation. For example, if we decide to acquire properties opportunistically to restore in anticipation of immediate resale, we will need to conduct that activity through our TRS to avoid the 100% prohibited transactions tax. No assurance can be given, however, that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) will respect a transaction by which any such properties are contributed to our TRS, and, even if the contribution transaction is respected, our TRS may incur a significant tax liability as a result of any such sales.

We may pay taxable dividends of our common stock and cash, in which case stockholders may sell shares of our common stock to pay tax on such dividends, placing downward pressure on the market price of our common stock. We may distribute taxable dividends that are payable in cash and common stock at the election of each stockholder. The IRS has issued private letter rulings to other REITs treating certain distributions that are paid partly in cash and partly in stock as taxable dividends that would satisfy the REIT annual distribution requirement and qualify for the dividends paid deduction for federal income tax purposes. Those rulings may be relied upon only by taxpayers to whom they were issued, but we could request a similar ruling from the IRS. Accordingly, it is unclear whether and to what extent we will be able to make taxable dividends payable in cash and common stock.

If we made a taxable dividend payable in cash and common stock, taxable stockholders receiving such dividends will be required to include the full amount of the dividend as ordinary income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for federal income tax purposes. As a result, stockholders may be required to pay income tax with respect to such dividends in excess of the cash dividends received. If a U.S. stockholder sells the common stock that it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of our common stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to certain non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold federal income tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend that is payable in common stock. If we made a taxable dividend payable in cash and our common stock and a significant number of our stockholders determine to sell shares of our common stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividends, it may be viewed as economically equivalent to a dividend reduction and put downward pressure on the market price of our common stock. We do not currently intend to pay taxable dividends in the form of our common stock and cash, although we may choose to do so in the future.

Our ownership of our TRS is subject to limitations, and our transactions with our TRS could cause us to be subject to a 100% penalty tax on certain income or deductions if those transactions are not conducted on arm’s-length terms. In general, no more than 20% of the value of a REIT’s assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. In addition, the Code limits the deductibility of interest paid or accrued by a taxable REIT subsidiary to its parent REIT to assure that the taxable REIT subsidiary is subject to an appropriate level of corporate taxation. The Code also imposes a 100% excise tax on REITs for certain transactions between a taxable REIT subsidiary and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis. We intend to monitor the value of our respective investments in our TRS for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the REIT asset requirements and to structure our transactions with our TRS on terms that we believe are arm’s length to avoid incurring the 100% excise tax described above.

There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to comply with the REIT asset requirements or avoid application of the 100% excise tax.

You may be restricted from acquiring or transferring certain amounts of our common stock. The stock ownership restrictions of the Code for REITs and the 9.8% stock ownership limits in our charter may inhibit market activity in our capital stock and restrict our business combination opportunities.

In order to qualify as a REIT for each taxable year after our initial election year, five or fewer individuals, as defined in the Code, may not own, beneficially or constructively, more than 50% in value of our issued and outstanding stock at any time during the last half of a taxable year. Attribution rules in the Code determine if any individual or entity beneficially or constructively owns our capital stock under this requirement. Those attribution rules provide, among other things, for the look-through of any of our common shares held by entities to the natural persons who own those entities. For example, for purposes of calculating ownership under Code’s attribution rules, our largest shareholder, King Apex Group Holdings IV Limited, is not considered to be an owner of our shares. Instead, those natural persons who own King Apex Group Holdings IV Limited are counted as our shareholders, with our common shares held by the Fund attributed to each of those natural persons based on their ownership of the Fund. In addition, shares are attributed among certain family members, and shares underlying certain stock options are attributed to the option holder.

Additionally, at least 100 persons must beneficially own our capital stock during at least 335 days of a taxable year for each taxable year after our initial election year. To help ensure that we meet these tests, our charter restricts the acquisition and ownership of shares of our capital stock. If we fail to qualify as a REIT, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income, if any, at corporate rates for such year and all subsequent tax years until such time as we qualify as a REIT.

Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. Unless exempted by our Board of Directors, our charter prohibits any person from beneficially or constructively owning more than 9.8% in value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of our outstanding shares of common stock or more than 9.8% in value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the aggregate outstanding shares of all classes and series of our capital stock. Our Board of Directors expects to grant an exception to the King Apex Group holders of our common shares from this restriction, subject to such terms and conditions as our Board of Directors may determine. Our Board of Directors may not grant an exemption from these restrictions to any proposed transferee whose ownership in excess of 9.8% of the value of our outstanding shares would result in our failing to qualify as a REIT. These restrictions on ownership and transfer will not apply, however, if our Board of Directors determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT or that compliance with the restrictions is no longer necessary in order for us to qualify as a REIT.

Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forgo otherwise attractive opportunities. To qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts that we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of our stock. We may be required to make distributions to stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution and may be unable to pursue investments that would be otherwise advantageous to us in order to satisfy the source-of-income or asset-diversification requirements for qualifying as a REIT. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to make certain attractive investments.

Complying with the REIT requirements may force us to liquidate otherwise attractive investments. To qualify as a REIT, we must ensure that at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified REIT real estate assets. The remainder of our investments (other than governmental securities and qualified real estate assets) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our assets (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 20% of the value of our assets can be represented by securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries, and no more than 25% of our assets may consist of debt instruments issued by publicly offered REITS which are not secured by qualified mortgages on real property. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct such failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter to avoid losing our REIT status and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate otherwise attractive investments.

Dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates available for some dividends. The maximum tax rate applicable to “qualified dividend income” payable to U.S. stockholders that are taxed at individual rates is currently 20%. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for the reduced rates on qualified dividend income. The more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate qualified dividends could cause investors who are taxed at individual rates to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including our common stock.

Liquidation of assets may jeopardize our REIT status. To qualify as a REIT, we must comply with requirements regarding our assets and our sources of income. If we are compelled to liquidate our investments to satisfy our obligations to our lenders, we may be unable to comply with these requirements, ultimately jeopardizing our status as a REIT, or we may be subject to a 100% tax on any resultant gain if we sell assets that are treated as dealer property or inventory.

Qualifying as a REIT involves highly technical and complex provisions of the Code. Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Code provisions for which only limited judicial and administrative authorities exist. Even a technical or inadvertent violation could jeopardize our proposed REIT qualification. Our qualification as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, stockholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. In addition, our ability to satisfy the requirements to qualify as a REIT may depend in part on the actions of third parties over which we have no control or only limited influence, including in cases where we own a non-controlling equity interest in an entity that is classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Foreign investors may be subject to FIRPTA on the sale of common stock if we are unable to qualify as a domestically controlled REIT. A foreign person disposing of a U.S. real property interest, including shares of a U.S. corporation whose assets consist principally of U.S. real property interests, is generally subject to a tax known as the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (“FIRPTA”) on the gain recognized on the disposition. FIRPTA can also apply if a REIT makes a distribution to a foreign stockholder which is attributable to gain recognized by the REIT upon a sale or disposition of a U.S. real property interest. FIRPTA does not apply, however, to the disposition of stock in a REIT if the REIT is a domestically controlled REIT. A domestically controlled REIT is a REIT in which, at all times during a specified testing period, less than 50% in value of its shares is held directly or indirectly by non-U.S. holders. We are not currently domestically-controlled, and may never become domestically-controlled, and so there can be no assurance that foreign investors will be able to rely on this exemption under FIRPTA. Another FIRPTA exemption is potentially available in the case of gain realized by a foreign investor on a sale of our common stock, or on a distribution by us that is attributable gain recognized by us upon a sale or disposition of a U.S. real property interest, if our common stock is traded on an established securities market and the foreign investor did not at any time during a specified testing period directly or indirectly own more than five percent of the value of our outstanding common stock. Although we believe that our stock is currently considered under the applicable Treasury regulations to be regularly traded on an established securities market, there can be no assurance that it will continue to be so treated in the future.

We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could reduce the market price of our common stock. At any time, the federal income tax laws governing REITs or the administrative interpretations of those laws may be amended. We cannot predict when or if any new federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, or any amendment to any existing federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, will be adopted, promulgated or become effective, and any such law, regulation, or interpretation may take effect retroactively. We and our stockholders could be adversely affected by any such change in the federal income tax laws, regulations or administrative interpretations.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

The availability and timing of our anticipated cash distributions are uncertain. We are generally required to distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gain, each year in order for us to qualify as a REIT under the Code, which requirement we currently intend to satisfy through quarterly cash distributions of all or substantially all of our REIT taxable income in such year, subject to certain adjustments. However, due to our net losses to date and our limited operating history, we currently do not have the ability to fund distributions from cash flow from operations and we cannot assure you that our cash position will allow us to make or continue to make distributions to you. Distributions to date have been made from cash on hand deemed to be in excess of our current requirements.

Our Board of Directors will determine the amount and timing of any distributions. In making such determinations, our directors will consider all relevant factors, including the amount of cash available for distribution, capital expenditures, general operational requirements and restrictions under applicable law. We bear all expenses incurred by our operations, and the funds generated by our operations, after deducting these expenses, are currently estimated to not be sufficient to allow for distributions to our stockholders from operations. We cannot assure you that sufficient cash will be available to make future distributions to you. With a limited operating history, we may be unable to make, maintain or increase distributions in the future.

There are many factors that can affect the availability and timing of cash distributions to stockholders, including the risk factors described in this report. Because we may receive rents and income from our properties at various times during our fiscal year, distributions paid may not reflect our income earned in that particular distribution period. The amount of cash available for distribution will be affected by many factors, including without limitation, the amount of time it takes for us to deploy the net proceeds from our recently completed public offering into our target assets, the amount of income we will earn from those investments, the amount of our operating expenses and many other variables. Actual cash available for distribution may vary substantially from our expectations.

Certain of our existing stockholders affiliated with Mr. Xiaofan Bai have substantial influence over our company, and their interests may not be aligned with the interests of our other stockholders and sales of their shares could cause the market price of our common stock to decrease. As of December 31, 2018, Mr. Xiaofan Bai, a member of our Board of Directors, and three of our stockholders affiliated with Mr. Bai collectively own approximately 54% of our outstanding voting securities. These three stockholders are private equity funds managed and controlled by Mr. Bai. As a result of this ownership interest, Mr. Bai has significant influence over our company and our business, including decisions regarding mergers, consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, election of directors, any amendments to our articles of incorporation and bylaws, and other significant corporate actions requiring stockholder approval. This concentration of ownership may also have the effect of discouraging, delaying or preventing a future change of control, which could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their shares as part of a sale of our company and might reduce the price of our shares. The interests of Mr. Bai and his affiliates may not always be aligned with the interests of our other stockholders. Furthermore, any sales of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock in the public market by Mr. Bai or the other stockholders affiliated with Mr. Bai, or the perception that such sales might occur, could result in significant downward pressure on the market price of our common stock. In addition, Mr. Xiaofan Bai and Mr. Xiaohang Bai, who is also a member of our Board of Directors, are cousins.

An active trading market for our common stock may never develop. Prior the filing of this report, trading in our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market has been limited and sporadic. An active trading market for our common stock may never develop or be sustained, which may affect your ability to sell your common stock and could depress the market price of your common stock. As a result, no assurances can be given that you will be able to readily sell your common stock at a price equal to or above the price you paid.

There can be no assurance that we will ever provide liquidity to our investors through a sale of our company. Potential investors are cautioned that no assurances can be given that any form of merger, combination, or sale of our company or any of our real estate assets will take place, or that any merger, combination, or sale, even if consummated, would provide liquidity or a profit for our investors. You should not invest in our company with the expectation that we will be able to sell our company or any of our assets in order to provide liquidity or a profit for our investors.

If a market for our stock develops, the trading and price of our common stock may be volatile and could decline substantially. The stock markets, including the NASDAQ Capital Market, have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. As a result, the market price of our common stock is likely to be similarly volatile, and investors in our common stock may experience a decrease in the value of their shares, including decreases unrelated to our operating performance or prospects. The price of our common stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a number of factors, including those listed in this “Risk Factors” section, and others such as:

If the market price of our common stock declines significantly, you may be unable to resell your shares at or above the price you paid for them. We cannot assure you that the market price of our common stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly.

Reports published by analysts, including projections in those reports that exceed our actual results, could adversely affect our common stock price and trading volume. Securities research analysts may establish and publish their own periodic projections for our business. These projections may vary widely and may not accurately predict the results we actually achieve. Our stock price may decline if our actual results do not match the projections of these securities research analysts. Similarly, if one or more of the analysts who write reports on us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, our stock price or trading volume could decline. If no analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price for our stock and the trading volume could be adversely affected.

Future sales of our common stock or other securities convertible into our common stock could cause the market price of our common stock to decline and could result in the dilution of your shares. Our Board of Directors is authorized, without your approval, to cause us to issue additional shares of our common stock (including equity or debt securities convertible into common stock) or to raise capital through the issuance of preferred stock, options, warrants and other rights, on terms and for consideration as our Board of Directors in its sole discretion may determine. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock could cause the market price of our common stock to decrease significantly. To the extent the proceeds of any future equity offering are invested in residential assets that have less favorable yield characteristics than our then-existing portfolio, our stockholders will suffer dilution in their yield and distributable cash per share. We cannot predict the effect, if any, of future sales of our common stock, or the availability of our common stock for future sales, on the market price of our common stock. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock, or the perception that such sales could occur, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Future offerings of debt securities, which would rank senior to our common stock upon our bankruptcy or liquidation, and future offerings of equity securities that may be senior to our common stock for the purposes of dividend and liquidating distributions, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by making offerings of debt securities or additional offerings of equity securities. Upon bankruptcy or liquidation, holders of our debt securities and shares of preferred stock and lenders with respect to other borrowings will receive a distribution of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. Our preferred stock, if issued, could have a preference on liquidating distributions or a preference on dividend payments or both that could limit our ability to pay a dividend or other distribution to the holders of our common stock. Our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control. As a result, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings, and purchasers of our common stock in this offering bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting their ownership interest in our company.

An increase in market interest rates may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock and our ability to make or sustain distributions to our stockholders. One of the factors that investors may consider in deciding whether to buy or sell shares of our common stock is our ability to make or sustain distributions and the rate of our distributions, if any, as a percentage of our share price, relative to market interest rates. If market interest rates increase, prospective investors may demand a higher distribution rate on shares of our common stock or seek alternative investments paying higher distributions or interest. As a result, interest rate fluctuations and capital market conditions can affect the market price of shares of our common stock. For instance, if interest rates rise without an increase in our distribution rate, the market price of shares of our common stock could decrease because potential investors may require a higher distribution yield on shares of our common stock as market rates on our interest-bearing instruments such as bonds rise. In addition, to the extent we have variable rate debt, rising interest rates would result in increased interest expense on our variable rate debt, thereby adversely affecting our cash flow and our ability to service our indebtedness and make distributions to our stockholders.

ERISA imposes additional obligations on us. In considering an investment in our common stock, trustees, custodians, investment managers, and fiduciaries of retirement and other plans subject to the fiduciary responsibility provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), or the prohibited transaction provisions of Section 4975 of the Code (including IRAs), should consider among other things: (i) whether an investment in the common stock is in accordance with plan documents and satisfies the diversification requirements of Section 404(a) of ERISA, if applicable; (ii) whether an investment in the common stock will result in unrelated business taxable income to the plan; (iii) whether the investment is prudent under Section 404(a) of ERISA, if applicable; and (iv) whether we or any of our affiliates is a fiduciary or party in interest to the plan. Fiduciaries and other persons responsible for the investment of certain governmental and church plans that are subject to any provision of federal, state, or local law that is substantially similar to the fiduciary responsibility provisions of Title I of ERISA or the prohibited transaction provisions of Section 4975 of the Code that are considering the purchase of the common stock should consider the applicability of the provisions of such similar law and whether the common stock would be an appropriate investment under such similar law. The responsible fiduciary must take into account all of the facts and circumstances of the plan and of the investment when determining if a particular investment satisfies its fiduciary responsibility under ERISA. Other investors must consider the potential impact that benefit plan investments could have on our operations.