Forget polite corporate spin — I ripped into something that smells funny and I’m dragging you along. I talk about how Lennar spun off Milrose (they split it off in early 2025), and then Milrose went on a buying spree: more than 700 finished homes across 15 states in about a month, roughly $200 million worth. My antennae went up when Hunter Brook Media (and yes, they’re affiliated with an investment firm) started poking around and found Milrose buying homes that were supposed to be held as land — not rented out. Then filings changed, suddenly allowing Milrose to rent finished houses. Investors filed a class action claiming misleading statements between February 2025 and October 2026, and I walk through the math that suggests Lennar only barely hit delivery targets because of those sales. It’s sketchy, possibly a backroom move to prop up sales numbers and keep stock sentiment buoyant — and then Warren Buffett’s Berkshire quietly ups its stake. I also share my own, annoyingly personal connection: my fiancés son bought a Lennar home and we’re still battling HVAC and wiring issues. Bottom line: whether this is illegal or just ugly accounting, it stinks for homeowners and could ripple through neighborhoods. I’m staying on this story and doing a feature about a Lennar homeowner’s fight — so yeah, expect more receipts soon.
Takeaways:
- I’m calling shenanigans on Lennar’s move to spin off Milrose and then sell finished homes back to it, because it looks like a dodge to prop delivery numbers and tidy up earnings at just the right time.
- We talked about the investor lawsuit alleging misleading statements between February 2025 and October 2026, and I can’t help but note how odd timing—Lennar misses targets, Milrose pops up buying homes, and Berkshire quietly ups its stake—raises real questions.
- I’ve seen the homeowner side up close—my fiancée’s son bought from Lennar and we’re still fighting HVAC and wiring issues despite inspections, which makes me skeptical about quality control and buyer protections.
- We dug into the data and found nuance: a London School of Economics study suggests institutional buying can depress nearby home prices over time, while a Philly Fed paper found single-family rentals might nudge prices up slightly, so the real impact isn’t black-and-white.
- Heads-up on recalls: big-ticket hazards this week include 3M Scotch laminators that can overheat, crystal glass cups that can shatter into ingestion risks, bedside sleepers posing suffocation dangers, and air rifles firing unexpectedly—so I strongly recommend checking cpsc.gov for anything in your home.
- On a lighter note, I’m kind of into Medea’s new Straw Wash dishwasher—finally someone designing jets to actually clean metal straws and lids, and yeah, I’ll admit I want one because I’m tired of pre-rinsing and pretending it’s fine.
Links referenced in this episode:
