If you own a rental home in College Station

3,943 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by Brian Alg
bloom
How long do you want to ignore this user?
The city council is trying hard to destroy your property value and income, but they are helping the apartments/developers so it is all good, right? Let them hear from you. Additional info on Tex Ags Real Estate board



ETA part of my Real Estate post. : It also sounds like students can forget finding affordable housing if they would like to live in a single family home. That may be what angers me most. Total disregard for the fact that they are removing options and price points for students and families, many of who are struggling financially.
chickencoupe16
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Hell, the house that I own and live in violates this proposal. This is ridiculous.
betadawg1
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Apartment complexes have high vacancy rates. Probably banded together and gave some nice campaign donations.
AgsWin2011
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
[If you post your opinion again without the vulgarity it will remain on the thread. Thank you. -Staff]
Drilltime
How long do you want to ignore this user?
It's too late at night to get into this but here goes. I dont think the proposed 2-unrelated restriction will have an immediate impact on many 3-4 unrelated rental owners. First, existing operations are grandfathered. But much more importantly few subdivisions where students actually live can get the required 58% (its not 50%). If you want a good idea of what will happen with your property go to Brazos CAD and zoom in on the map and count the number of total properties in your development phase.(It's done by phases). Then open each property and count those with homestead exemptions. Unless more than 58% have exemptions the ordinance doesn't have a prayer. Every property that is not homestead is a rental owner and no rental owner will vote for it. In reality there needs to be 60-65% homesteaders to get 58% to sign because many don't want to reduce the potential value of their homeaid if they ever sell

So I did this the old fashion way and plotted it up on a GIS map and what you see in the student rental houses east to Hwy 6 or south to Fitch are relatively few subdivisions with enough permanent residents left to get 58%. The neighborhoods that can and will actually go for this are those like Pebble Creek, Emerald Forest and Amber Lake where they don't have any 4-unrelated to start with., and dont want the 4-unrelated business model mixed with families and children.

The proposed ordinance is patterned after Bryan's. They've had this for 14 years.
Brian Alg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I love that the best thing even drilltime is willing to say in defense of it is that it hopefully won't be effective.
Brian Alg

Brazos Coalition for Responsible Government
RGRAg1/75
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Brian Alg said:

I love that the best thing even drilltime is willing to say in defense of it is that it hopefully won't be effective.

While I agree it PROBABLY won't be effective, our voices need to be heard on the subject. Left unchecked, the overreaching just gets worse in my experience.
Orlando Ayala Cant Read
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Wow, this is bad and a serious over reach.
Drilltime
How long do you want to ignore this user?
In fact, the 2-unrelated ordinance will be very effective at what it is actually intended to do.

It's purpose is not to immediately retake any of the of subdivisions that have been overtaken by rentals. It's primarily to stop even more from being taken. What I think of as College Stations single family "student rental" area now includes most of the land east of the campus to Hwy 6. To the south it's a huge area bounded by Wellborn and Hwy 6, all the way down to Fitch. There are some small pockets of resistance in there, but about 70% of the city's single family acreage appears to belong to the students now.. The other day I heard someone say, "where do you think the students should live?". The answer is exactly where they are living right now. But the question now really is, where do you think starter families with children should live?

HIgh occupancy rentals (3-4) have two effects on young families, depending on where you are. One is that the high cash flow from 3 or 4 unrelated increases all property values in the neighborhood (what a willing buyer is will pay a willing seller) and that gets passed on to every single family as a higher purchase price, higher land evaluation and tax, or higher rent. That makes College station a more expensive place for entry level employees, entrepreneurships, or tech companies that depend on entry level tech workers. There was a young lady that spoke to city council last year just to tell then that she and her startup company were leaving. The rent her workers had to pay to live here was whatever four-unrelated would pay in the house next door.

Other areas are not being gentrified by students but are in decay simply due to age and prices are falling. This is the natural market for starter families in a normal city, and it is the mechanism by which old neighborhoods get renewed. But young families in College Station are not buying. They will not invest their life's savings because they will not chose to live on a street with a high density of students if they ever plan children. If you've ever had children you wouldn't either. This is a very big deal.

We have enough single family student housing for the foreseeable future, and there's nothing wrong with it. In fact, if a city plans to put students in single family houses instead of apartments (which is a stunningly inefficient use of land) you should hope for 3-4. What we are really coming to grips with is that students and young families want different things. Full stop. That probably means they belong in different zonings. Bryan recognized this 14 years ago and literally created a new zoning district appropriate for families (RN-C), not an overlay process. This CS ordinance essentially allows those subdivision who have streets with children and families to ensure they will continue to be good places for that and it's critical to the long term future of the city that we have places like that. We should all see the need for those neighborhoods It will not turn back the clock on the "student rental area".
Brian Alg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
[We have made it clear on this particular forum that posters may give their opinions but that they must be respectful to other posters and refrain from being insulting. -Staff]
Drilltime
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I'm not an expert, and should make that clear. I've spent a couple of hundred hours studying this but if I've learned anything it's that it's complicated.

If you can be specific about what you disagree with I would be glad to think about it. But there's not much in this type of note I can respond to. I guess opinions vary.
Brian Alg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
It isn't my favorite, but the standard Intro to Microeconomics textbook by Mankiw will give a good primer on markets, prices, etc. An older edition will do. This stuff hasn't changed much.

It looks like your convoluted analysis has somehow led you to the conclusion that reducing the supply of housing or increasing the demand of housing is going to lower housing prices. That should be a big red flag that you took a wrong turn somewhere.
Brian Alg

Brazos Coalition for Responsible Government
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.