The housing market’s newest power players aren’t mega-funds or Wall Street titans like we saw the last decade. They’re remodelers, small-time flippers, and local investors—the kinds of folks you’d expect to see on a jobsite with a tape measure. And they’re back in force. Here’s why I am watching this trend.
So far in 2025, investors have accounted for nearly 30% of all home purchases, the highest share in over a decade. But here’s the twist: it isn’t large investors dominating anymore. It’s smaller investors—the ones with fewer than 100 properties—who’ve captured most of that market. The “mom and pops,” the local remodelers, regional flippers, and small-scale investors who are back in the driver’s seat.
Why? Builders are eager to unload excess inventory, offering discounts that used to be reserved for the big institutional buyers. And with mortgage rates easing again after the Fed’s cuts, financing is suddenly less punishing. The combination has cracked the door open for remodelers and flippers to step through.
Then there’s incentives. Trump’s newly passed tax package is pouring gasoline on this fire. Expanded write-offs for renovations, more generous depreciation schedules, and tweaks to capital gains treatment all sweeten the math for anyone willing to buy, fix, and flip (or fix and hold). For remodelers, the incentive structure now looks more like an opportunity than a gamble.
It doesn’t hurt that many of these smaller investors can move quickly—no boards, no shareholder votes, no Wall Street quarterly earnings calls. Just cash, a construction crew, and a good sense of what today’s buyers or renters want.
Okay but there’s a catch: slimmer margins. Of course, the glossy TV version of flipping—the “buy ugly, sell pretty, cash out big” model—has lost its shine. According to ATTOM, average flip returns slid to just 25% ROI in Q1 2025, down from nearly 50% in 2020. That’s a lot of risk for lower returns. Between higher renovation costs and sluggish resale activity, the quick-flip jackpot is harder to come by.
But the playbook is shifting. Instead of “glam flips,” many remodelers are leaning into BRRRR strategies (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat), treating homes less like lottery tickets and more like long-term portfolio assets.
So why am I watching this trend? We’re witnessing a reshuffling of the market’s power dynamics:
- Remodelers are back—center stage.
- Flippers are adapting—trading quick profits for tax-advantaged holds.
- Neighborhoods will feel it—from zombie homes being revived to distressed builder inventory getting scooped up and repurposed.
It’s not the frothy, HGTV-fueled flipping frenzy of the last decade. This time, it’s a quieter, more tactical takeover—but no less transformative.
📸 The last time I took on a whole-house remodel was in 2019—a different world, right before the pandemic reshaped everything.
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Adam Pretorius is a top-producing luxury real estate agent in Iowa City. Follow for more real estate insights and news.
