DS News | May 28, 2012 | Tory Barringer

Memphis Invest announced today that it has sold 229 homes to out-of-town, independent investors since January in a run-up to a recent investor weekend.

Memphis Invest hosted the investor weekend May 11-13 in order to showcase local single-family rental properties and to demonstrate Memphis’ strengths as a rental market. The company specializes in locating and renovating distressed properties before placing tenants in them. While some people renovate and flip these houses, it’s becoming more common for investors to buy and hold houses to take advantage of a growing demand for single-family rental homes.

In addition to showcasing homes at the event, Memphis Invest presented a $61,000 donation to Memphis-based St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The company announced in January that it and its partner, Fortune Builders, Inc., would donate to St. Jude a portion of the proceeds from all of its home closings from January to the end of the investor weekend. Memphis Invest also announced that it would give an additional $1,000 to St. Jude for each of the homes sold during the weekend, a total of $23,000.

“Anytime we’re able to show investors properties in person, it really makes the entire process come to life and it offers a tangible link to the area where they’re directing their capital,” said Chris Clothier, partner at Memphis Invest. “People from New York, California and even Canada and Asia who could invest anywhere in the world see the benefits of investing in property in Memphis. That says a lot about the future stability of our community. Because St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is such a defining cornerstone of Memphis, it was only fitting that we partner with our investors to support the hospital.”

Memphis Invest, based in Memphis, Tennessee, Invest provides single-family rental real estate investment services to domestic and international clients looking to include residential real estate ownership in their investment portfolios.