And to add to this... if you want to rent from these foreign investors, you better have a PERFECT credit rating with NOTHING on you credit card or they won't rent to you. They bought the house with cash, so they don't care if it sits empty, it's appreciating in value anyways. 

It only makes it more difficult for the average person to rent. 

I have a co-worker who is going through this as I write this. She and her fiance are having a hard time finding a house to rent, despite having very high credit ratings because they owe some money on their credit cards (and we're not talking tens of thousands of dollars).