Number of Renters on the Rise
A common trend in today’s residential migration is the movement of families from the suburbs to the cities. Recently married couples and families of three or four are flocking to urban areas looking for places to call home. However, given the economy, they don’t necessarily want to own that home. That could be risky. They’d rather rent - it’s a safer, less financially consuming act, that, in Texas at least, is proving ever popular.
In the Fort Worth area, for example, residential renting has increased dramatically over the past few months. In the past 12 months, rental rates for Class A spaces has risen 3.9 percent. And while vacancy rates have increased a bit, too, most properties are nearly entirely full.
For the most part, it’s the apartments that have filled. Housing development is down; housing sales are slow; and houses just aren’t what people can afford. They are turning to the big yet smaller apartments in buildings, old and new, throughout Texas cities. They are taking what would have been a mortgage payment and turning it into a security deposit. They are renting for all it’s worth, which means right now is the ideal time to be a landlord.
If you have the property or the money to secure the property and have been considering renting, do so. You have nothing to lose, at least not while the residential real estate market stays where it is. Take a chance, clean up the apartment or cottage in the back, contact a realtor and see who responds. More than likely, you’ll have more applications and offers of rent checks than you’ll have ever imagined.
Joe Cline is the broker & owner of Affinity Properties in Austin, Texas. Joe currently manages his Austin Real Estate website and his Austin real estate blog. Be sure to visit and let him know what you think about them.
