Live in It Like You Own It with Roots

Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio

Co-founder Larry Dorfman with Roots joins the Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio podcast to share details about how the nonprofit organization partners with residents to build wealth and identifies and selects properties for investments. Dorfman sits down with Show Host and President of Denim Marketing Carol Morgan and discusses how Roots maintains high returns for investors.

Kicking off their informative chat, Morgan shared a quote that has acted as a cornerstone for Dorfman’s career: “Succeed not because it’s big or because it’s long-established, but because there are people who live it, sleep it, dream it and build future plans for it.” Dorfman shared that he found the quote hanging in a print shop in 1984 and has referred to it since.

Dorfman said, “I had no idea where it came from, but it lived with us through that business and is now living with us through this one.”

Originally from New York, Dorfman moved to the Atlanta area in 1956. When he was younger, he worked in his father’s office equipment company and entered the real estate sector at the age of 28. Soon, he founded his first company alongside his future wife—APCO Holdings. The company experienced great success and he retired in 2019.

During the pandemic, he stayed with his son Daniel, who has an impressive 15-year-long real estate career. The two put their heads together and devised the idea for Roots.

Dorfman said, “I thought it was a cool idea and all the pieces fit really well!”

The concept for Roots initially came from his son Daniel’s impressive market knowledge. One notable thing his son saw time after time was that after selling someone a home, they would commonly return within six months to purchase their first rental home. He would have to inform them that putting 10% percent down was insufficient. In reality, 20% down or more is necessary to have enough income to cover both the new and rental home investment.

Dorfman said, “About 90% of Americans have nowhere to really invest in real estate…[Daniel wanted] to truly democratize it.”

Dorfman and his son planned to figure out the legal aspects and put into place how one could achieve it, build a fund and successfully invest in real estate. That idea eventually became Roots, a REIT that creates wealth for its investors and its renters. This led to the creation of the “Live in it Like You Own it®” program.

Through this program, Roots is turning the tables on the adversarial landlord/tenant relationship by partnering with its residents. When residents take care of their properties and pay rent on time, they can grow their wealth by up to $3,600 in two years and up to $10,000 in five years through incentives and investment in the Roots REIT.

Along with his son, Dorfman invested in nine duplexes in Austell, Georgia and told the residents that if they paid their rent on time, were good neighbors and submitted a quick video of their property once a quarter, Roots would invest their security deposit into the fund and award them with an additional $150 per quarter in the first year and $200 per quarter in the second year to place into their wealth building account.

The Roots founding team posited that if they could incentivize their residents with a great place to live while building wealth as they rent, Roots would have fewer vacancies, lower turnover rates and higher returns for their investors.

The numbers confirm their theory. Roots far exceeds industry averages with renewal rates at 77% (industry avg: 57%) and average occupancy of 97% (industry avg: 91%). An impressive 88.3% of residents paid their rent on time and submitted their quarterly videos. Roots’ residents have built more than $465,000 in their Wealth Builder accounts to date.

The success is due in part to Roots’ proprietary resident engagement SaaS platform, Bloom, a first-ever resident engagement solution aimed to transform the tenant/landlord relationship into a partnership. The company is further boosted by generous investors such as Dominique Wilkins to make the venture a success.

Dorfman said, “The partnership that gets built with these residents is incredible.”

The need is clear and the statistics are staggering. Studies show that the average renting family has less than $650 in savings. Households making less than 50% of the average median income (AMI) represent 71% of all cost-burdened households in metro Atlanta. Currently ranking sixth largest in the nation, the five-county region continues to grow.

Tune into the full interview above to learn more about Roots or visit https://RentWithRoots.com to rent and https://InvestWithRoots.com to invest. To support the nonprofit organization, visit www.FreeRentATL.com.

A special thank you to Denim Marketing for sponsoring Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio. Known as a trendsetter, Denim Marketing has been blogging since 2006 and podcasting since 2011. It is currently working on strategies for the Google Helpful Content update and ways to incorporate AI into sales and marketing. Contact them when you need quality, original content for social media, public relations, blogging, email marketing and promotions. A comfortable fit for companies of all shapes and sizes, Denim Marketing understands marketing strategies are not one-size-fits-all. The agency works with your company to create a perfectly tailored marketing strategy that will adhere to your specific needs and niche. Try Denim Marketing on for size by calling 770-383-3360 or by visiting www.DenimMarketing.com.

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The Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio “All About Real Estate” segment, presented by Denim Marketing, highlights the movers and shakers in the Atlanta real estate industry – the home builders, developers, Realtors and suppliers working to provide the American dream for Atlantans. For more information on how you can be featured as a guest, contact Denim Marketing at 770-383-3360 or fill out the Atlanta Real Estate Forum contact form. Subscribe to the Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio podcast on iTunes, and if you like this week’s show, be sure to rate it.