Invitation Homes Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the Invitation Homes second quarter 2021 earnings conference call. All participants are in a listen-only mode at this time. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Scott McLaughlin, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning and welcome. Joining me today from Invitation Homes are Dallas Tanner, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ernie Friedman, Chief Financial Officer, and Charles Young, Chief Operating Officer. During this call, we may reference our second quarter 2021 earnings press release and supplemental information. This document was issued yesterday after the market closed and is available on the investor relations section of our website at www.invh.com. Certain statements we make during this call may include forward-looking statements relating to the future performance of our business, financial results, liquidity and capital resources, and other non-historical statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in any such statements. We described some of these risks and uncertainties in our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings we make with the SEC from time to time. Invitation Homes does not update forward-looking statements and expressly disclaims any obligation to do so. We may also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures during the call. You can find additional information regarding these non-GAAP measures, including reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures to the extent available without unreasonable effort in our earnings release and supplemental information, which are available on the investor relations section of our website. With that, let me turn the call over to Dallas.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. Last night we posted our second quarter results, closing out a very strong first half of the year. The current fundamental tailwinds we are experiencing are among the best we've seen. and we anticipate that these will stay with us for the foreseeable future. Demand for our high-quality, well-located single-family homes continues to greatly exceed supply, as shown by our high occupancy and retention rates. Today, there are nearly 90 million people in their 20s and 30s in the United States. We expect this population surge to be heading our way for many years to come. As this segment of the populations form families and seek out more space and homes to live in, We see Invitation Homes as a part of a comprehensive housing solution that helps serve those who prefer the convenience and lifestyle of renting a single-family home. With our integrated platform delivering a first-rate resident experience and efficient operation, we believe we are well positioned to meet the rising demand for our product through continued growth. In this regard, we significantly enhanced our multi-channel strategy this past week with the announcement of our new strategic relationship with Pulte Group, the nation's third largest home builder. Our preference from the beginning has been to partner with the best home builders rather than compete with them directly. And this strategic relationship greatly strengthens that approach. Over the next five years, we expect to buy approximately 7,500 new homes that Pulte will design and build and have already identified the first thousand homes across seven communities located in the Sunbelt region. We love the approach of acquiring great product in great locations across a diverse subset of communities that will further enhance our risk-adjusted return profile for our investors. We look forward to welcoming our new residents into these neighborhoods where families who both lease and own homes build a community together. We're pleased to collaborate with Pulte in the important next chapter of our builder partnership story. It's an exciting time as we invest to bring new homes to the market, complementing our other acquisition channels. Now, outside of our announcement with Pulte, we've bought almost 1,600 homes so far this year through June 30th for $569 million. We're over halfway to our billion-dollar acquisition target for this year. We remain confident that we can achieve our target during the second half of this year. Directing us in our effort is our three pillar strategy of location, scale, and eyes and markets. These differentiate us from our peers and support the acquisition engine we've designed and perfected over the last decade. Our first pillar, location, speaks to our focus on select markets with high population and job growth that offer good schools and easy access to employment centers and transportation corridors. Location is a major driver of outperformance. as evidenced by our West Coast and our Sunbelt markets. The second pillar is scale. With about 5,000 homes per market on average, our scale is industry-leading and extremely difficult for competitors to quickly or easily duplicate. And our third pillar is being high touch with eyes and markets. This refers to our local team of experts who oversee our resident services, leasing, and investment decisions. Our eyes and market go beyond desk-bound associates and algorithms by investing with local insight and relationships in order to find the best homes at the best price. Together, these three pillars support our proven track record of disciplined growth and support our philosophy of genuine care. We think our occupancy of over 98%, turnover of only 25%, average length of stay now approaching three years, and high resident satisfaction scores are amongst the strongest indicators that our teams are delivering on our mission statement. Together with you, we make a house a home. We've lived out that mission in both good and challenging times. During the last 16 months, some of our residents have faced significant hardship. We have helped provide peace of mind to those who have been struggling by providing flexible payment structures, waiving late fees, assisting in securing rental assistance, and forgiving past due balances. We have consistently gone above and beyond, and I couldn't be prouder of how our teams have supported our residents and communities during these challenging times. We will continue to follow all government directives, laws, and regulations at the national, state, and local levels. And we will continue to go beyond what is required and work with those impacted by the pandemic, because that is who we've always been, and that is who we will continue to be. Finally, I'd like to wrap up with some thoughts on sustainability. We're continuously taking the steps necessary to be a responsible steward who encourages discussion, innovation, and action amongst our peers, associates, and the industry. Earlier this month, we announced our investment in Fifth Wall's Climate Tech Fund, which is seeking solutions to reduce carbon emissions from the construction, ownership, and operation of real estate. In addition to investing in future solutions, we continue to roll out initiatives that help limit the company's carbon footprint and the environmental impact of our homes. These include our smart home technology that help residents manage their homes and save up to 15% on their energy bills, and our air filter home delivery program that provide better air quality and improve HVAC efficiency. Looking forward, we're focused on identifying new opportunities to advance further long-term sustainability efforts. In conclusion, I'd like to recognize our nearly 1200 associates across the country. You continue to be the driving force behind the value we create for both residents and shareholders. And I'm grateful for your dedication to that mission. We could not be prouder of the work we're doing together to provide homes for tens of thousands of families who need or prefer to lease a home today. With that, I'll now ask Charles to discuss our second quarter operating results in greater detail.