Have You Got These Affordable Housing Facts Straight?

It's not how big the house is, it's how happy the home is.

All sorts of disinformation, misinformation and myths surrounding affordable
housing have been circulated for years to the disadvantage of many.
From blaming it for generating more traffic and overburdening public
infrastructure to lowering property values and spawning crimes, affordable
housing has been at the receiving end. This article strives to put all of these
baseless allegations to rest, and focus on what really affordable housing is.

On Traffic

Study after study goes on to demonstrate that affordable housing residents own fewer
vehicles and drive 20-30 percent less than those in the neighborhood. The National
Personal Transportation Survey found that low-income households in such housings
make 40 percent fewer trips than other households. The former mostly depend on
public transportation for daily commutes. Hence, there’s no question of affordable
housing causing traffic congestion.

On Crimes

Until now, there is no correlation between increased crime rates and affordable housing.
Studies show that what does cause crime are factors such as lack of jobs, lack
of community services, community disinvestment, and overcrowding. Affordable
housing in inner cities saves people from living in slum conditions, which breed crimes.
Thorough screening of residents, proper management of property, and round-the-clock
security measures ensure that no illegal activities take place in the premises of affordable
housing.

Useful read - 3 Notable Reasons to Pre-Plan Multifamily Construction Projects

On Infrastructure

Traditional single-family homes have 2-3 times the number of school-going kids than those
residing in high density but affordable apartments. The U.S. Office of Technology Assessment
revealed that it costs $10,000 more per unit to provide public infrastructures to
a lower density suburban than to a more compact urban neighborhood.
Infrastructure construction costs per housing unit decline drastically as density increases.

On Property Values

Wayne State University, Michigan tracked property values nationwide both before
and after the coming of affordable housing, and it found that affordable housing
has no significant effect on property values. Similar research by another entity
found that affordable housing doesn’t impact negatively on the sales of neighboring
homes. Affordable housing does not reduce the desirability of surrounding properties.
Property values are affected by other factors unrelated to such housing.

Last Word

According to several leading multifamily housing contractors in the USA, affordable
housing plus support services present the most cost-effective way of extending
help to vulnerable members of our society. Generally built through public-private
partnerships and provided at subsidized rates, these housings are a blessing for
low-income sections of the community who want to lead a decent life. Construction
of such houses create jobs and generate revenues for the federal and state governments.

5 Reasons to Invest in Multifamily Energy Efficiency Housing

Designed to offer affordable housing, multifamily properties represent a promising avenue for investors. However, to drive optimum returns, it is crucial for property owners to provide energy efficient affordable housing options. Multifamily energy efficient apartments are not only easy on the pocket, but are also eligible for tax rebates. It is, therefore, important for multifamily property owners to an implement energy efficiency housing plan and hire a reputable redesigning contractor. If you are skeptical about investing in energy efficient multifamily housing, this blog post gives you five reasons to go ahead with a multifamily energy efficiency housing plan.

1. Reduced Environmental Impact

One of the biggest global problems today is greenhouse gases. World leaders are pledging to reduce emissions of GHGs and energy efficiency housing plan gives you an opportunity to do your bit. Improving the energy efficiency of a property can also help lower air pollutants by reducing the consumption of fossil-fuel-based energy. You can even contribute towards resource conservation and pollution prevention by purchasing energy star labeled equipment.

2. Improved Indoor Air Quality

Installing proper insulation system and sealing air leaks in home’s envelope and duct system can improve indoor air quality, as it restricts dust infiltration and odor intrusion from the outside environment and keep the air inside fresh. Adequate ventilation system is a must for every home, particularly the ones with senior and children. Ventilation is necessary to maintain indoor air quality and provide a healthy habit to occupants.

3. Lower Energy Costs

Energy costs is one of the major expenses that renters have to bear. Investing in energy-efficient appliances can help reduce energy consumption and make the units more affordable for prospective renters. According to federal government’s Partnership for Home Energy Efficiency (PHEE), improving energy efficiency can help households can save upto 30 percent on energy bills.

Related read - 5 Multifamily Property Design Trends to Keep Energy Consumption in Check

4. Improved Comfort

Every renter looks for a comfortable abode. Several conditions, such as cold floors, damp basements, and moisture on windows result in poor indoor comfort. Damp basements can lead to mold proliferation, structural damage, and increased indoor humidity that may, in turn, create moisture on windows, resulting in mold formation and damage to the sills. Investing in insulation and duct sealing can help owners improve indoor comfort. These measures help control the air entering the home, ensuring better air quality and controlled moisture levels.

5. Increased Home Value

Implementing multifamily energy efficiency housing plan can increase the property’s market value and rentability as most people prefer renting a home with energy-efficient features that keep the energy bills on the lower side. For investors who are looking to sell their asset in the near future, investing in energy efficiency improvements is a failsafe way to draw a high return on their investment.

Final Few Words

The highlighted factors give a clear indication why investing in multifamily energy efficiency housing plan is win-win proposition for multifamily property owners and investors alike. Before introducing any energy efficiency method, investors need to chart out a detailed plan about the resources and timelines required to execute the changes. In addition, investors need to hire experienced renovation professionals. Multifamily contractors can not only suggest suitable energy-efficient changes, but also ensure that every stage in executed according to the plan.

4 Reasons Periodic Multifamily Property Renovations Make Sense

Multifamily Renovation Contractor

As an increasingly large number of people move to cities in search of employment, better business opportunities, and improved standard of living,the demand for multifamily properties is on the rise. The number of new multifamily projects is also increasing. As these new projects offer more advanced facilities, old multifamily property owners are not left with any other choice but to give their old properties a facelift and make them more livable for the tenants. If you haven’t given it a thought, here are four reasons maintaining a periodic renovation regime makes sense for your multifamily housing units.

1. Attracts More Tenants

Renovating a property makes it more appealing to the target audience. When getting your property renovated, make sure you are aware of what’s in and what is it that attracts tenants the most. It is advisable to hire a multifamily housing renovation contractor who can advise you on the changes that you should be making to your property so that more number of prospective tenants are interested in your property.

2. Increases Rentals

A person looking for of an apartment on rent would rather pay more for a well equipped and contemporary housing unit than for an obsolete and unattractive one, no matter how cheap the latter is. Renovating your multifamily property not only helps ensure that it gets rented sooner, but it also allows you to ask for more rentals.

3. Increases Age of the Property

Most property owners focus only on cosmetic changes done to the exteriors and interiors of the multifamily property. They don’t do much for the structural repair and maintenance of the property. As a property owner you must also focus on the periodic structure repair as it reinforces structure strength, and enhances the life of the property.

4. Prevents Bigger Expenses

Replacing inefficient HVAC units and conventional windows with energy-efficient ones can bring down your energy bills. Similarly, getting big building structures such as roofs and floors repaired on time, helps prevent any major repairs that may arise because of lack of timely maintenance. Similarly, there are several other repairs and replacements which if done on time can save you thousands of dollars.

Wrapping It Up

Periodic multifamily housing property renovation is not an option but a necessity to ensure business sustainability as well as profitability. Lack of periodic maintenance not only lowers the visual appeal of the building but also renders the units uninhabitable. It is, therefore, advisable to seek the assistance of a professional multi-family renovation company that takes proper care of your multifamily property.

Answering 3 Important Questions About Pre Construction Planning Services

Pre Construction Planning for Multifamily Properties

As multi-family/commercial facility construction projects are both cost and labor intensive in nature, availing professional pre-construction planning services can help you achieve a streamlined execution. The purpose of pre construction planning is to help you design the blueprint for the construction project. The process involves defining the project scope, determining time and cost requirements and identifying potential issues. The service provider studies various variables associated with the projects to come up with measures to put the available resources to optimum use, thereby minimizing wastage. Most importantly, the provider will determine the feasibility of the project and will help you come up with a plan of action. Pre-construction is not a new concept in the real estate industry; however, many property owners overlook the need of availing professional pre-construction planning services owing to their limited knowledge about the subject.

To help such building owners, the blog answers three important questions about pre-construction planning.

Take a look.

1. What are the benefits of the program?

Pre-construction planning projects take out the risk of working with unknown/unpredictable variables by defining the project outlay. The service provider prepares a detailed procurement plan, equipment list, execution plan, different risk analysis and site evaluation reports to help you decide on the plan of action. Based on these findings, the provider can suggest you ways to save money and will make you aware of the different scenarios and define the best possible plan of action.

2. How long does a pre-construction planning project take to complete?

Planners take anywhere between 2 to 12 weeks to come up with projection and feasibility analysis reports. The actual timelines, however, depend on the project scope and requirements. For example, the timelines for a green building project that requires the provider to come up with a plan that conforms to a green panel’s recommendations will exceed as compared to that for a normal project as the planner will have to undertake a detailed study to evaluate the impact of adhering to these guidelines on the construction project.

3. What are some of the problem areas you can expect to address?

Pre-construction planning can help you get answers to some of the most common yet important questions related to site selection, soil evaluation, and value engineering. The provider will evaluate various factors to answer questions such as whether you should manufacture raw materials or procure them, plan to expand the existing facility or design a new construction project and what should be the work schedule and workflow pattern.

Conclusion

Availing pre-construction planning services is the first step to planning a construction project. Talk to your provider about critical success factors that determine project feasibility to ensure the program’s success. Last, but not the least, choose a provider who has several years of experience in handling multi-family renovation projects and can offer a range of renovation and rehabilitation services on demand. It is always advisable to do a background check of the provider by going through their previous client reviews and market reputation.

Amenities that Millennials Expect in a Multifamily Property

Millennials look beyond basic facilities when they move to a multifamily property on rent. Multifamily investors and property owners, therefore, need to innovate ways to ensure the attention of the millennials. As low cost is one of the primary attractions of multifamily apartments, the investors and owners should also ensure that the multifamily building plans don’t put too much weight on their pockets. They can raise the rent only by a certain percentage and high renovation cost may offset their profit.

To help multifamily investors extract maximum ROI of their investments, here is a list of five amenities that makes sense to millennials.

Let’s have a look

1. Gates and Bridges

The millennial generation is often looking for out of the box ideas to rejuvenate. Whether it’s about taking an evening stroll or just sky watching, they are searching for outdoor havens. So, thinning the line between indoor and outdoor spaces can help investors attract millennials to their multifamily outlets. To start with, investors can include building decks, patios, small gates and bridges inside the multifamily property where millennial tenants can take a morning jog, relax or just plug into their workstation.

2. Hangout Areas

As millennials are getting more inclined to the residential lifestyle, multifamily building plans need to include cyber lounges to outdoor dining spaces to smart cubicles. The millennial generation is increasingly social too, so equipping them to hold cocktail parties, cook-outs and casual meetings can enhance their interest in multifamily outlets.

3. Smart Home Automation

Smart home automation enables the tenants to control a few features of the home, even outside. This mainly includes security, electronic appliances, temperature and lighting that can be controlled by a single device, usually a smartphone. Combining these features or including only a few provides a better living experience for the tenants, and should be an integral part of multifamily building plans.

4. Open Spaces and Fitness Amenities

Millennial  tenants consistently strive for open spaces and fitness centers to suit their lifestyle. Next to the list are in-house amenities such as dog parks, pet wash areas, vehicle repair centers and relaxation areas. A multifamily property that includes these essentials is known to attract more millennials , resulting in fruitful returns for the investors.

5. Maintenance Facilities

More often than not, millennial  residents are busy people and seek rental properties that are well-maintained. On-site maintenance services that can take care of issues such as leaky faucets to squeaky hinges, HVAC maintenance, and pest control are only one of the things that deserve a place in a multifamily building plan.

You may like: Key to Maximizing Renovation Returns

The Way Forward

Multifamily innovation, rather than renovation is the key to attract millennial tenants. While renovating a property, investors need to bring in innovative ideas that goes along with the lifestyle of the millennials, in order to extract maximum output from multifamily building plans. Therefore, before implementing a multifamily building plan, investors must brainstorm creative ideas to appease millennial tenants with renovation contractors followed by effective execution of the plans.

A Handy Guide to Find a Multifamily Housing Contractor

The US is experiencing an increasing demand of affordable multifamily housing. Going by the current market trends, real-estate investors consider investment in multifamily units to be a safe bet. Though, if you have the required finances, investing in a multifamily property may not be a challenge, for stakeholders, there are still many other concerns such as renovating the multifamily property while keeping it affordable. Renovation usually incurs a significant amount of investment, which usually results in an increase in rentals. On the flipside, if investors are able to hire the right multifamily housing contractor, they can meet the market needs and have an affordable solution for their renovation needs.

Searching an affordable housing contractor is not an easy task, as you need to qualify them on several accounts. In this article, we discuss some basic tips to find a reliable multifamily housing contractor.

Avoid Single-family Contractors
Multifamily housing is different from single family housing on various accounts, such as  renovation and maintenance requirements. Many a time, investors fail to understand the difference between single family and multi family renovation contractors, and reward the contract for a “multifamily” renovation to a contractor specializing in single family renovations. These contractors have little to no experience in the renovation of multifamily units, and usually change more than actual multifamily experts. The investors have to bear the burden of inflated renovation costs, as they can’t afford to increase the rent beyond a certain limit, as it would desert many of their patrons.

Thorough Research is the Solomon’s Key
While searching for a multifamily housing contractor, investors face several challenges, and often curtail their research. These challenges include issues related to affordability, experience and reputation of the contractor. To find a competent multifamily housing contractor, you need to conduct a thorough research on potential candidates and go through as many client reviews as possible.

Discuss All of Your Expectations
Before you proceed and hire a multifamily housing contractor, it is imperative to clearly speak your mind and lay down all of your expectations. The factors to discuss include energy efficiency solutions, specific repairs, quality control protocols, material grades, project timeline, and post delivery support. Once you lay down all the expectations, the contractor would be in a better position to estimate how much money you need to invest and how much time the entire renovation process may actually take.

Things to Remember
Investors need to look into several factors before they sign on the dotted line. Here are few essential practices to follow.

• Request documented estimates from three to five contractors.
• Check customer feedback and testimonials.
• Gain completely clarity on the project delivery date.
• Check recognition from state authorities.

Conclusion
Renovation plays an important role in keeping multifamily housing units profitable in the long run. The above-mentioned steps will not only help you hire the right multifamily housing contractor, but may also cut-down your investment by a notable margin. By going for a cost-effective renovation, you may not even have to increase the rent of your multifamily unit and risk upsetting your tenants.

3 Preferred Roofing Materials for Multi family Properties

The primary source of revenue for multi family property investors is rental income from the tenants. Naturally, any increase in rent means increase in revenue, or in other words, increase in return on investment. It is possible to increase rent without losing the tenant when you improve the property by making it user friendly. This is where professional multifamily development companies come in the picture. They help in giving a competitive edge to multifamily properties, by renovating or repairing the roofing system, redesigning the interiors, and other similar revamps. In this brief post, we will look at three roofing materials that help reduce energy bills of multifamily properties, thereby enhancing their profitability.

Solar or Photovoltaic Systems
Though, a new trend in the roofing material market, solar or photovoltaic systems not only help you keep the heat of the sun from entering the living space of the building, but also trap it for further use. By capturing the solar energy, these systems convert the heat into electricity that you may use for other purposes. Available in traditional shapes and sizes, they provide a better curb appeal than older and bulkier rooftop panels.

EPDM or Rubber Membrane Roofing
A type of thermoplastic covering, rubber roofing is one of the most preferred materials used by most commercial builders. Known for its capability to deter wear and tear for long, this  technologically advanced material consists of weather-resistant thermoplastic or a synthetic rubber that is strong, and available in rolls or sheets in the market. When used with white-cool reflective coating, they are weather- and wear-resistant to a good extent.

Terra Cotta and Clay
This roofing material has been used for long in many parts of America, Spain, Mexico and Italy. The light color of terracotta and clay tiles helps the roofing system inhibit any kind of heat, and keeps the living spaces beneath it cool and comfortable. Contemporary terracotta and clay tiles not only provide an expensive look to your property, but also come with reflective and waterproofing capabilities.

Conclusion
As builders look for more and more innovative ways to make their multifamily properties user-friendly, and load them with latest amenities, construction companies are coming up with newer roofing materials to help them. Among other efficient roofing materials, include white metal roofing, white flat tiles, green or living roofs, slate tiles, and many more. While there is no shortage in the availability of roofing materials, finding the a professional, yet, affordable multifamily development company providing renovation services might not be easy. Consequently, you need to do a good research before selecting a roofing service provider.