Affordable Housing in Charlotte

[kermit]

Interesting study from the Upjohn Institute which shows that cities with all at large council structures issue more permits for new housing than cities with district representation. [at large representatives are less influenced by NIMBYs]

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by kermit

[kayman]

On 1/24/2022 at 12:07 PM, kermit said:

Interesting study from the Upjohn Institute which shows that cities with all at large council structures issue more permits for new housing than cities with district representation. [at large representatives are less influenced by NIMBYs]

 

This is why a hybrid legislative body of districts and at-large representations usually works best for all within said jurisdiction(s)

[KJHburg]

Corporate landlords are buying up most of the homes under 300K in Meck County and renting them out.  From Mecklenburg County officials.

[videtur quam contuor]

Thinking about the housing situation generally and the apartment component specifically, with the demand for housing and the increase in rents for the same apartment year over year, then for the new apartment construction what is the motivation to maintain quality compared to existing buildings? 

In other words, if I were searching for an apartment home today might I find a better quality (generally) in a 7-10 year old building compared to those in progress today? This involves like-to-like comparison such as five floor stick built to five floor stick built for example. Those with comparative experiences would be helpful to hear from.

[KJHburg]

10 minutes ago, tarhoosier said:

Thinking about the housing situation generally and the apartment component specifically, with the demand for housing and the increase in rents for the same apartment year over year, then for the new apartment construction what is the motivation to maintain quality compared to existing buildings? 

In other words, if I were searching for an apartment home today might I find a better quality (generally) in a 7-10 year old building compared to those in progress today? This involves like-to-like comparison such as five floor stick built to five floor stick built for example. Those with comparative experiences would be helpful to hear from.

I think older apartments complex can have just an updated features but maybe less amenities than the newer ones.  And the rents would be better in the 5-10 year old apartment complexes compared obviously to the brand new ones. 

I do think older complexes are better built if they have been maintained.  With construction materials increasing so much I am sure the cheapest components are being used.  Plus I have seen many recently built apartments do exterior renovations only after a few  years. 

Edited January 27, 2022 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

Axios did a big story on affordable housing and the shortcomings.  I would add this Charlotte is serious about the problem now and there is no city in the country that does not have this problem.   But I think Charlotte is trying very hard.  Even very affordable cities have problems with affordability too. (because incomes are usually lower) 

https://charlotte.axios.com/285908/charlotte-isnt-building-enough-affordable-homes-for-the-poor/

[urbanlover568]

On 1/27/2022 at 12:47 PM, KJHburg said:

Corporate landlords are buying up most of the homes under 300K in Meck County and renting them out.  From Mecklenburg County officials.

I wonder what percentage of those are Zillow owned. 

[KJHburg]

1 minute ago, urbanlover568 said:

I wonder what percentage of those are Zillow owned. 

Zillow is selling off their inventory of homes here after getting out of the "flipping" business.  Many will be sold at a loss for them as they believed their own Zestimates.  When the inevitable happens and I believe it will be this year that price growth of homes slows down many more of these I-buyers will find their business models shot and will leave the market.  A few will survive but the growth in home prices locally and nationally will be slowing down this year due to several factors but rising interest rates being the first one. 

[KJHburg]

This is interesting from San Francisco.  Not saying it should be done in Charlotte but I can't believe we would have a problem as big as this here.  Most older homes are being renovated to sell or lease out. 

from the San Fran Biz Times

""City studies taxing vacant homes
A new vacancy report released Monday by San Francisco’s Budget & Legislative Analyst said that taxing some of the city’s approximately 40,500 vacant homes could spur the owners of up to 10% of those homes to begin renting them out within two years. A tax on the others would also generate between $13 million and $61 million a year in revenue, depending on the tax rate, the report stated. Oakland has tried it out and collected $7 million in new vacancy tax revenue in 2020, though many properties are exempt from the $3,000-to-$6,000-a-year flat fee on vacant units approved by voters in 2018, a tax structure that the report stated as "the most feasible for San Francisco.”""

[KJHburg]

this is a great map to see where concentration of corporate owned homes are and I know many  of these neighborhoods.  

https://meckgov.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/minimalist/index.html

One of my old houses in the University is now a corporately owned property.  I sold it to an owner occupant but they must have sold it to an investor.  

Edited February 2, 2022 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

this is great Habitat in Gaston County is doing 28 home subdivision some will be regular Habitat owners and some they will sell as affordable housing.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2022/02/02/habitat-for-humanity-gaston-county-belmont-project.html

""Habitat for Humanity of Gaston County unveiled a new project this week.  Leaders for Habitat Gaston held a groundbreaking for Dixon Village, a mixed-income community north of Belmont, on Jan. 31. The project will include 28 homes at a 7.5-acre site near Hickory Grove Road. The nonprofit organization says one-third of the homes there will be for Habitat homeowners, while the remaining homes will be geared toward entry-level, market-rate buyers.  Habitat Gaston has completed the first phase of its fundraising for the project, which included $1.5 million for the project's infrastructure. The second phase of fundraising, which has a goal of $1.2 million, began after the groundbreaking. Each home at Dixon Village will cost an estimated $150,000 to build, according to Habitat Gaston.""

[KJHburg]

this tv news report tells the situation of large Wall Street backed investment firms buying so many homes under $400K in the Charlotte market.  I am selling one of my rental homes in this price range and I am hoping to sell only to an owner occupant even if it is the not the highest offer.

https://www.wcnc.com/article/money/rental-companies-own-thousands-homes-charlotte-north-carolina-housing-market/275-08d0d412-b66d-4519-8554-412fc547d4ec

[KJHburg]

60 Minutes does story on big Wall Street backed investors buying homes and this mentions Charlotte specifically.  (My moms house in Concord got an offer from Tricon and 14 other investors but we sold it to none of them)  (and still got top dollar) 

Would-be home buyers may be forced to rent the American dream, rather than buy it - 60 Minutes - CBS News

I have seen this first hand with a home I had previously rented I fixed it up and now under contract to an owner occupant.  But I got plenty of investor offers on it  but refused as I believe in home ownership. When I bought this home over 15 years ago there was no large institution investors in the single family home rental market.  Now they are starting to dominating especially here of late.  In the zip code of Charlotte where this home was sold over 40% are sold to corporate buyers so found the Washington Post.  That leaves less homes for first time buyers or anybody for that matter. 

[urbanlover568]

This is so scary!

 

 

[kermit]

Finding a solution to the problem of affordable housing aint rocket science.

Edited March 27, 2022 by kermit

[videtur quam contuor]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/27/us/mobile-home-park-ownership-costs.html

Investors buying mobile home parks. The only way to afford a place to live for many people is now in the hands of capitalists (my gentle term).

Edited March 27, 2022 by tarhoosier

[KJHburg]

If I had lots of money I would develop a large nice mobile home park.  the need is off the chart.  I think our local counties should have some land zoned for mobile home parks and that  includes Mecklenburg County.   MH Parks can be nice and affordable.  There is a super nice one in Concord off Hwy 49. 

[davidclt]

4 hours ago, KJHburg said:

If I had lots of money I would develop a large nice mobile home park.  the need is off the chart.  I think our local counties should have some land zoned for mobile home parks and that  includes Mecklenburg County.   MH Parks can be nice and affordable.  There is a super nice one in Concord off Hwy 49. 

Moving from Central Florida where mobile-home parks were ubiquitous in the 70s-90s and coming to Charlotte in the early 90s, I was surprised at the dearth of them in Mecklenburg County.

[KJHburg]

Charlotte considers some of its home buying incentives and I think they do need to change as the market has changed.   And I think the city should look into helping neighborhoods put in some rental restrictions if the neighborhoods need help doing so.  In 28215 east Charlotte zip code 45% of ALL home  purchases were investors.  Now a few maybe to flip but the majority was investment purchasers to rent out the homes.  We can not allow all of our for sale housing to be snapped up by investors.

https://ui.charlotte.edu/story/facing-more-investor-purchases-charlotte-considers-tweaking-housing-programs

and another story from the Washington Post shows how some Charlotte neighborhoods are fighting back...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/03/31/charlotte-rental-homes-landlords/

[KJHburg]

Charlotte recommends approving  these affordable housing projects.  City council votes 4/11

https://media.bizj.us/view/img/12231870/housing-trust-fund-recommendations.pdf

Edited April 5, 2022 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

affordable housing project in Concord which is 75% ownership 25% rental. 

https://www.fox46.com/news/u-s/north-carolina/cabarrus-county/concord/webuild-concord-asking-for-1m-for-housing-plan/

[KJHburg]

about NOAH  naturally occurring affordable housing.

https://www.wcnc.com/article/money/charlotte-affordable-housing-trust-shortcoming-investment-money-local/275-4613de85-f104-4b93-9ede-f9a58e517385

[rancenc]

I have read several recent articles on this trend of corporate buyout of single family housing throughout the country.

https://ui.charlotte.edu/story/local-leaders-are-worried-about-corporate-landlords-find-their-‘hands-tied’

[KJHburg]

here is another story and these stories keep mentioning all the corporate buyers in Charlotte.

https://therealdeal.com/2022/04/18/homeowner-associations-look-to-box-out-investors/

One thing that really irks me is that corporate buyers say they are providing rentals for people because of high demand but they are buying up so many homes in affordable neighborhoods all over Charlotte it forces people to rent.  It is a vicious cycle and more and more neighborhoods are fighting back in this area with rental limits and waiting periods like 1 year before you can rent a home.   In one neighborhood I examined over 50% of the home sales were to investors and this is a neighborhood in east Charlotte from 300s to just to 500K. 

[kermit]

So... Minneapolis abolished single family zoning in 2018. Two years later this happens:

 

 

The city needs to stick to its plans to do this same thing with the UDO.

Edited May 9, 2022 by kermit