With the first presidential debate of the 2012 election set to kick off Wednesday, Americans may soon get a clearer picture of where President Barack Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney stand on housing and a better sense of the policies that they might implement.

The 11 million people whose mortgages are underwater and the 9 million who have received foreclosure notices since the housing crisis began are sure to pay close attention to the candidates' proposals. But sharp interest in their plans won't stop there: Other large swaths of voters, including homebuilders, Realtors and investors, are also holding their breath.

To get a sense of their concerns, AOL Real Estate spoke to six Americans from different backgrounds who have a whole lot riding on the next administration's approach to housing. Click through our gallery to learn about the changes that they are hoping for in the next presidential term. 

REI Nation, a single-family rental real estate investment services firm, sold 164 homes during the third quarter and spent $3.1 million with 58 local small businesses completing redevelopment of those properties. Those companies collectively employ approximately 250 workers.

The 164 homes represent a 166 percent increase from the third quarter of 2011 for the company, which was recently recognized on the Inc. 500/5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies in the U.S. Of the 164 properties sold in Q3, 127 had fully complete renovations by the end of the period.

High cost items contributed heavily to the $3.1 million spent redeveloping properties, with 42 percent of the properties receiving new roofs, 54 percent receiving new water heaters, 57 percent receiving new air conditioning units, and 47 percent receiving new furnaces. In addition, smaller cost items such as replacing flooring, interior and exterior repair and painting, and lawn beautification were also factors in Q3’s redevelopment costs.

REI Nation reported working with 527 individual real estate investors from 41 states and six countries as of the end of September. The company is managing 1,476 single-family homes in Memphis and Dallas with a market value of approximately $134 million. Dallas is the company’s newest market, having been opened under the brand Dallas Invest this past spring.

The company expects fourth quarter results to show more than $13 million in private redevelopment funds spent in Memphis, and an additional $1.2 million spent in redevelopment in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in 2012. 

'Conscientious People' Coming Out of a Crisis

Many of these single-family renters are like Jacobs' tenants, whom, he said, are "fairly conscientious people that just went through a foreclosure crisis" and want to retain some semblance of homeownership.

People like Michael Williams, who lives in Memphis, Tenn. When he couldn't find enough work, he was forced to sell his home in a short sale in 2011 for $110,000 -- nearly $40,000 less than he owed on his mortgage. Now he lives in a single-family rental, which costs him $1,025 a month. He said that he feels "blessed" to still be able to reside in a home of his own close to his old neighborhood.

"I'm partial to a home," he said. "I have my own privacy, and [I also] have grandkids."

Williams rents from REI Nation, an "REO-to-rental company" that purchases homes in Dallas, Memphis and Phoenix and flips them to "mom-and-pop" investors. REO is real estate parlance for bank-owned properties.

"They're looking for stability and still have pride of ownership," said Chris Clothier, a partner with REI Nation, of its tenants.