The market here for rental property is very, very tight right now. The occupancy rate was already pretty high, but Katrina and then Rita have displaced so many folks that the government has leased up a ton of vacant units to provide some of these people with a place to live. It's gonna be hard to find anything for awhile!
Bad News: Rental Market in Austin
- Thread starter Durkee
- Start date
durkee, i was looking around and would agree. several places we looked at had 98%+ occupancy rate.
ended up going to the preserve at travis creek off southwest parkway. this place had everything we wanted and fortunately had alot of openings. we lucked out and got a great rent plus everything we wanted (and great location). that said, they were only ones who had that. most others (in part due to smaller properties) had very few if any openings.
ended up going to the preserve at travis creek off southwest parkway. this place had everything we wanted and fortunately had alot of openings. we lucked out and got a great rent plus everything we wanted (and great location). that said, they were only ones who had that. most others (in part due to smaller properties) had very few if any openings.
Like I told you in my PM, you made a good choice in Preserve! I am a little surprised that they had openings, since they have been pretty full for a while even before the storms, and were getting close to market rent last time I was there. I'm glad you got a good deal, though!
The tightening of the market will have several effects. Since supply is so slim, a lot of the "free rent" specials and stuff like that will disappear in the lessors' market. Things will get like they were about 5 or 6 years ago, when people looking for a place to rent will pretty much have to take what they can get or risk not finding anything at all. Ever seen those signs in a leasing office that say something to the effect of "The apartment you looked at 30 minutes ago might not be available anymore 30 minutes from now.?" That's no bs in this kind of market.
In my work, our commissions are drastically cut by full properties who don't need our services as much, but on the good side a lot of the locators who just jumped into the business or the shady ones who use illegal payoffs to steal business will not like the extra hard work they will have to do to get by in a rentor's market and will look for a different line of work!
The tightening of the market will have several effects. Since supply is so slim, a lot of the "free rent" specials and stuff like that will disappear in the lessors' market. Things will get like they were about 5 or 6 years ago, when people looking for a place to rent will pretty much have to take what they can get or risk not finding anything at all. Ever seen those signs in a leasing office that say something to the effect of "The apartment you looked at 30 minutes ago might not be available anymore 30 minutes from now.?" That's no bs in this kind of market.
In my work, our commissions are drastically cut by full properties who don't need our services as much, but on the good side a lot of the locators who just jumped into the business or the shady ones who use illegal payoffs to steal business will not like the extra hard work they will have to do to get by in a rentor's market and will look for a different line of work!
What there's REALLY a shortage of are three- and four-bedroom units. Those are in short supply already, but there were a lot of families with lots of kids that were displaced by the storms, so now they are almost impossible to find. Lots of students choose those floorplans so they can split the rent more ways and save money, but luckily for them the storms came after school had already started and very few students hadn't already found places to live.
I hate to see what the final bill for all of these apartments that the government is paying for is going to be.
I hate to see what the final bill for all of these apartments that the government is paying for is going to be.
durkee, we just sold our house, and while we're waiting for our new place to be built, we're renting a 3 BR house that's about a year old near Lamar/Bluebonnet in 78704. There is another house on the same street -- it's a new culdesac that Hammonds Homes developed with a bunch of 2-story zero-lot-line "executive homes" -- and it's going for $1850/month. I imagine it's also a 3 BR. That's probably a bit steep compared to most apartments, but it is a house, after all.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the percentage of evacuees doing that is very, very small. However, I have heard that there have been a lot of evacuees getting evicted from their government-bought housing for a variety of reasons ranging from public disturbances and assaults to the properties learning that they are felons and throwing them out.
I helped place a ton of these people. First 90% were genuinely good people. That is to say that it wasn't without some bad apples. 10% of the people seemed a bit ungrateful/unlikely to stay where they were.
There were some people with money and some with money, with added govt assistance who could easily swing that kind of money. 3+ kids, you need that kinda room.
There were some people with money and some with money, with added govt assistance who could easily swing that kind of money. 3+ kids, you need that kinda room.
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