Every Room With a View

Ever have a window without much of a view? Now there’s something you can do about it:

Piedmont Triad Apartment Vacancy Rate Dips

The latest report from Real Data shows a slight uptick in apartment occupancy rates in the Piedmont Triad and Real Data expects more improvement in the year to come:

Average apartment vacancy in the Triad was a historically low 8.3 percent in March, compared to 8.7 percent in September, according to a report released Monday from Real Data.

The Triad’s vacancy rate had been 8.4 percent in March 2012…

The market report forecasts that the average apartment vacancy in the Triad will approach 7 percent in the coming year, while the average rent of $699 per month is expected to grow by about 3 percent in that time frame.

In 2009, the Triad had a vacancy rate of nearly 14 percent.

Signature Property Group Staying Busy

The Triad Business Journal has a piece about PTAA-member Signature Property Group’s busy construction schedule this year:

Construction has started on the 216-unit second phase of Signature’s Gardens at Anthony Place multifamily project in southeast Greensboro.

The project at 3211 Pleasant Garden Road will add to the existing 384-unit development, bringing it to 600 units total. Adding the 216 units cost about $15 million when complete by the end of January…

Meanwhile, Signature is moving forward with its planned expansion of the popular CityView Apartments at Southside complex…

Signature’s plans include adding as many as 47 units and an 8,000-square-foot clubhouse on three separate sites along Victor Place and King Street…

And Signature is also at work on a third project, a $20 million, 288-unit High Point multifamily complex. The firm is finalizing approval on that development near the Piedmont Centre business park in north High Point.

Harvest Capital Buys York Towne Apartments for $10 Million

From the Triad Business Journal:

Harvest Capital LLC has purchased the York Towne apartments in Greensboro for $10 million, according to public records.

Harvest, a private investment group based in Wethersfield, Conn., purchased the 314-unit apartment complex at 3601 Lynhaven Drive from BB&T Corp...

“This was not a distressed sale; the property was more than 90 percent occupied at closing,” Frydman said. “The new owner is planning an extensive rehab of the units and will leverage the property’s proximity to the large student population.”

Guilford County’s Sheriff Discusses Delivery Service for Summary Ejectment

The High Point Regional Association of Realtors’ Property Management Council and Chapter 56 of IREM organized a meeting with Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes on April 16 to discuss service of summary ejectment notices, and they were kind enough to open up the meeting to PTAA’s members as well.  You can find a very nice summary of the meeting over at the IREM blog and there really is some interesting information there:

1 – The number of Guilford County Summary Ejectment Case Filings from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012 was 18,363.

2- Currently, the Sheriff’s Department has eight Deputies assigned to delivering service and two supervisors.  Additionally, they have two deputies who are only assigned to deliver and execute Writs.

3 – The Sheriff’s Department says that the actual cost of delivery is $45, but they only charge $30.

The Sheriff did not argue with members’ assertion that perhaps only 10% of summary ejectment paperwork was personally served (leaving a staggering 90% served by posting).  This is problematic for property managers because when wetake people to court we have two possible winning outcomes:  If the Summary Ejectment Paperwork is either hand delivered to the tenant OR the tenant shows up in court, then we can get a Judgment for Possession of the property AND a Money Judgment.  *The Money Judgment will follow a tenant on their credit report. * 

 If the tenant does NOT show up in court OR the Summary Ejectment Paperwork is NOT hand delivered (it is “Posted” on the door of the property), then the Property Manager will only gain possession of the property…

It should be noted that when the cost of service increased from $15 to $30 a few years ago, that the Guilford County Commissioners withheld $7.50 of that increase for their budget.  That $7.50 could have been used by the Sheriff to hire six more Deputies.  Sheriff Barnes is going to meet with the new Guilford County Manager regarding this and other issues.  Hopefully, he will be able to convince him to reallocate this money to the Sheriff’s Department.

Satisfacts Survey Identifies Top 3 Lead Sources Used By Renters

According to this post on Property Management Insider the top three lead sources used by renters are:

3. Internet Listing Services (ILS)

2. Word of Mouth (without social media)

1. Apartment Signs/Driving By/Curbside Appeals

And a frightening paragraph for anyone still peddling news printed on dead trees:

While ratings and reviews are the talk of the industry (and rightly so, as they are becoming the “norm” in the rental decision), it’s important to ensure we don’t neglect some of the old standbys. Some options are quickly becoming obsolete (newspapers, for example, were only cited by 0.8%), but some of the basics still hold true. Ensure your signage is in great condition, is easy to read, and has your community phone number and/or web page listed. A prospect may drive or walk by this morning, look you up on the Internet when she gets home, and call for a tour by the afternoon. Make it easy for her.

 

360-Unit Community Planned for South Greensboro

From the Triad Business Journal:

Triad apartment developer Tom Holderbyhas submitted site plans to the city for a 360-unit, $24 million apartment complex in south Greensboro, the latest in a long list of multifamily developments for the Triad.

The development, named Woodland Heights of Greensboro, will be located on a 27-acre tract about five miles outside downtown off South Elm-Eugene Street, immediately south of I-85 and accessed by Elmsey Meadows Lane.

Construction is scheduled to start in late summer. The first phase of 120 units and a clubhouse is slated to be complete this fall, with the remaining 240 units coming online next summer.

64 Unit Community Proposed in Southern Forsyth County

From the Winston-Salem Journal:

Bradley Housing Developers LLC of Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Halcon Development LLC of Richmond, Va., both multifamily housing developers, have 6.2 acres under contract at 5180 Peters Creek Parkway. A house and a car lot are currently on the site.

The companies want to build Rockwood at Oliver’s Crossing. The development would have 64 units in four, two-story buildings. The project would include a 2,725-square-foot clubhouse and an adjacent 6,400-square-foot recreation area.

The estimated monthly rent would range from $535 to $645 for two-bedroom units and between $611 and $750 for three-bedroom units. The square footage of apartments would range from 974 to 1,310 square feet.

Campus Crest Buys 29 Acres in Downtown Greensboro

From the Triad Business Journal:

Student housing developer Campus Crest has purchased the historic J.C. Price School property and an adjacent parcel from Greensboro College for $3.75 million, according to county property records…

Campus Crest is a builder of resort-style student housing, with a total of 39 properties spread across 18 states in its portfolio including six new projects delivered in 2012, according to its annual report. According to its website, it hasn’t built or acquired a property in North Carolina since its first one in Asheville, where the company was founded in 2004 before moving to Charlotte two years later.

130 SqFt Apartment

Photos on this site show a very creative use of space in a Paris “micro apartment.”

A view from the cooking/eating area.