Entries Tagged 'Temporary Housing' ↓

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

This is just a quick note on semantics and the power of them. Searching the web for stories on real estate and housing I find two different tones in the stories.

If I am looking for a story using the term real estate, the stories typically are very authoritative and businesslike. They focus on the transaction and physical nature of the property, they rarely talk about individuals.

If I am looking for a story using the term housing, the stories usually are focused on something bad that has happened to a group or individual. There is angst and depression and usually a political or social undercurrent in the story.

• You never hear about affordable real estate, you hear about affordable housing.
• You never hear about the real estate bubble, you hear about housing bubble.
• You never hear about a state real estate project for the homeless, but they sure are called housing projects.
• Is it temporary real estate, or temporary housing? Conversely, low income real estate or low income housing?

So my question to you, if housing is such a personal term that evokes a personal relationship, why don’t real estate agents call themselves housing agents? If we are looking for a personal relationship and we know that housing is such a personal term, is that more advantageous to be a housing agent?

Does the term housing agent bring out negative connotations in the buyers or sellers minds? I have some guesses but would love to hear your feedback on the matter. It may be an opportunity for someone out there to change a paradigm.

The Tampa Bay Builders Association has joined forces with HomeAid to build properties for the homeless. HomeAid has built residences for more than 60,000 people to live in since 1989, and provides needed shelter to those who become homeless. They plan on building a number of housing units for the local homeless population.

“The members of our association wanted to give back to our community by doing what we do best: building housing,” said Jeffry Ewing of Ladera Construction Group, who is the TBBA president, in a release. Homelessness in Hillsborough County has risen 70 percent since 2002, making it the sixth-highest homeless population in the United States, he said.

“HomeAid has a proven track record in communities across the United States in helping cope with this issue through building housing facilities for the temporarily homeless,” Ewing said.
HomeAid Tampa Bay will be the organization’s 18th chapter, and will work to provide housing facilities for the community’s temporarily homeless population.  via the Tampa Bay Business Journal

Investing in real estate is always interesting and can sometimes be rewarding, but investing in student housing can be a full contact sport. And like all full contact sports, it can also be very rewarding.

Student housing is a niche market in the real estate investment world. There is a high demand for it, and that demand will continue to grow in the coming years. Quality of the housing does not have to be the best to get rents that are above average, but the landlord also has to take on additional expenses. College students tend to be much more transient, rents are harder to collect, and students tend to wear out properties much more quickly than renters past the party years.

However, all that being said, the market for student rentals tends to be recession proof as a college education is never going out of style. If you are looking to invest in student housing, the following article from the Los Angeles Times will be helpful.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, college enrollment will grow by 11% between 2003 and 2013. Higher education is less affected by economic trends. When times are bad, more people seek a college degree to improve the job prospects; when times are good, a sheepskin becomes even more important. Moreover, children of the baby boom generation are taking longer than their predecessors to graduate, so they need housing for a longer stretch.

Next, toss in the fact that rents for student-housing properties have been rising at a higher rate than at conventional apartments, according to the National Multi-Housing Council, and you have the makings for what savvy real estate investors call a “good niche opportunity.”

via Los Angeles Times.

The after effects of Hurricane Katrina are still being felt. So many people relocated to other areas of Louisiana after the hurricane to stay with friends and family, that the Parish of St. Tammany could build 10,000 homes tomorrow and they all would be filled. So as we all lament that some areas of the country are not seeing 20 percent appreciation of their homes this year, remember that there are people who desperately would love to have a home built for themselves, and are ready to pay for it today.

Parish President Kevin Davis points to his own post-Hurricane Katrina living arrangements to illustrate how little he and other leaders know about the new population and how far home builders are from meeting its demand for permanent housing.
“We’ve still got literally thousands that are staying with friends and families,” Davis said last weekend as he began moving into his repaired Slidell house after living with his in-laws for five months. “You can’t use historical data to figure all of that out.”
Though the parish has learned more about how badly Katrina damaged the existing housing stock, officials aren’t able to pinpoint the current shortage. Preliminary estimates were that the storm flooded 12,000 houses. The parish has since used aerial photography and computer data to increase that figure to 18,870 homes, in addition to thousands of others damaged by wind and falling trees.
But a recent market study by a partner in the state’s largest appraisal firm attempts to quantify the housing need: It says the St. Tammany market could instantly absorb 9,950 new units — roughly equal to one-eighth of the existing stock.

Demand for housing swamps St. Tammany.

A study coming out of Brown University states that New Orleans will most likely lose 80 percent of its black population due to the damage created by the levee’s breaking after Hurricane Katrina.

The population has spread out all over the country and region, and the odds of them coming back are becoming slimmer every day. This may have been the motivation that caused Mayor Ray Nagin to say in his Martin Luther King speech that God wants New Orleans to be a chocolate city.

The population of the storm-damaged areas is nearly half black (45.8 percent, versus 26.4 percent of the undamaged areas), and disproportionate segments of those affected live in rental housing (45.7 percent compared to 30.9 percent), fall below the poverty line (20.9 percent versus 15.3 percent) and are unemployed (7.6 percent compared to 6 percent).

According to the study of the area’s 13 planning districts and 72 neighborhoods, a lower economic status forced poor people to live in low-lying areas. These areas, and thus the people who would have the most difficulty recovering, were hit the hardest when Katrina struck.

Most striking about the data, however, is the realization that if New Orleans’ citizens are prevented from returning to flood-ravaged areas, the city could lose more than 80 percent of its black population. via Brown University Campus News.

Illegal Immigration is a hot button topic all across  the United States, but when it comes to real estate, the issue is being addressed head on in many communities. Very often, homes are rented and then shared by an amazing amount of people. Many communities are meeting this issue head on with zoning rules to try to bring these homes up to local standards.

These standards can also help rental home owners as homes that have a dozen occupants can create a degree of wear and tear way beyond what is customary. 

Attempts to manage occupancy aren’t new. College towns such as Chapel Hill, N.C., have rules about how many students can live together off campus. But from Cobb County, Ga., to Herndon County, Va., the focus is increasingly on Hispanic immigrants who interpret the term “mother-in-law apartment” very broadly.
Some critics say it is an attempt to implement local anti-immigration laws using housing policy.
“Counties and cities are saying, if the federal government doesn’t do anything about [illegal immigration], we’ll do it a different way, and housing is one thing they’re looking at,” says Edgar Rivera, a Hispanic activist in Fairfax, Va. “What they’re doing is establishing laws that are specific to Hispanic people.”
In Manassas, Va., for example, an ordinance that says residents have to prove consanguinity, or direct relationship to the homeowner, makes it illegal for too many great-grandparents, nephews, and uncles to live together. Enacted in December, the law was suspended in early January after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) threatened to file a lawsuit against it. via csmonitor.com.

It looks like the refugees from Katrina have been less than proactive in finding housing as the FEMA money is running out for many.

Nadia Williams, who fled New Orleans with her one-month-old daughter the day before Hurricane Katrina flooded the city, came to Houston this month to find an apartment.

Armed with a voucher for rent to be paid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the 19-year-old called dozens of complexes only to be told there were no apartments available. “I came here expecting to find something,” Williams, who is staying with a friend, said as she left a relief center on Nov. 21. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Williams is among thousands of hurricane evacuees in Houston, the fourth-largest U.S. city, who haven’t lined up more permanent housing. FEMA this week extended the deadline for those staying in hotels, estimated by the city at 16,500, to move into rental properties to Jan. 7 from Dec. 1.

Landlords said there aren’t enough apartments available for everyone, and some may evict the FEMA tenants they already have because of payment delays. via Bloomberg

AMLI Residential, one of the largest apartment complex management firms in Atlanta is developing a new property in Northeast Atlanta, in one of the most affluent sections of the city. Partnering with Northwestern Mutual, AMLI will develop a 245 apartment community the will contain 234 thousand square feet of rental space.

AMLI currently manages 75 rental communities throughout the country.

Continue reading →

Following the devastation and displacement of individuals and families of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Hilton Head Properties Inc. is making efforts to coordinate relief efforts suitable rental housing for victims. Hilton Head Properties owns hundreds of residential properties suitable rental housing for victims of hurricanes that devastated the Gulf Coast region.

“We are offering 2 month, short-term leases to people stranded in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Forth Worth, and Detroit. Many people do not know the condition of their houses in Louisiana and Mississippi and these short-term leases give these victims a temporary respite to consider their options,” said Corinne Brunet.

“This relief effort by Hilton Head Properties is being accomplished without any government or agency assistance and reflects Hilton Head’s commitment to the community,” said Chase Fonteno, CEO. Information about available apartments and homes can be obtained by calling 214-571-9234.

(Full Story)