House prices are rising and buying a home might not be a possibility for most people. That’s why build to rent communities are popping up in places like Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia. The communities are housing developments exclusively built to rent.
Capstone Communities is bringing a build to rent community to Warner Robins. Its Executive Vice President, Amanda Wallis, explains why the communities are growing in popularity.
“If they maybe want to experience an area for a short period of time and they don’t want the homeownership,” she said. “Or they don’t want to buy. There are also people moving into these communities who are looking to save for a down payment.”
Matthew Griffin, Principal for At Home Macon Realty Consulting, says more people are looking for rentals in Middle Georgia due to the increase in industry. He says renting makes sense in the short term, but not the long term.
“If you’re looking for the flexibility to leave whenever you want renting is great,” he said. “But if you want to build equity in your own home and pay $800 for a house that you would be paying around $1600 to rent: I mean buying is a great option as well.”
Capstone Communities isn’t the only group looking to invest in Middle Georgia. Griffin says Macon is seeing an increase in house flippers and hedge funds buying investment properties. He says it could be contributing to the rise in housing prices.
“The conversation used to be okay what do you have coming up in Atlanta, West End, East End, Panthersville,” he said. “Now you hop on these phone calls and they say only Atlanta but we’ll look at Macon too.”
We asked Wallis what the price range would look like for the Cottages of Warner Robins. She said it’s too soon to know, but it will be a competitive market rate. So we searched what the rates are for their property in Alabama. According to Apartments.com, units can range from $1200 to a little over $2000, depending on the type of unit.
Wallis says their build-to-rent communities see a range of people from young professionals, to families, and even those looking to downsize.
“Each unit has a private backyard which is really amazing and nice, all of the amenities are state of the art. We have a resort style pool, a car washing station, and a dog park as well,” she said.
The Cottages at Warner Robins are expected to be ready by the beginning of next year.
