How much is that rent, really?

5 Comments

1. 

   CitizenWill

    /  September 12, 2016

   As far as added excessive fees, when I joined the OWASA Board I was able to get a review of local sub-metering practices which resulted in the identification of some excessive charges throughout our service area.

   Specifically, a sub-metered property can only charge a maximum of $3.75/month above an beyond the cost of water/sewer which is typically sold to an apartment/condo complex at bulk rates.

   Anyone who believes their sub-metered water bill is excessive should read this

   http://www.owasa.org/private-billssubmetering

   and contact OWASA for further assistance.

2. 

   Plurimus

    /  September 12, 2016

   Nancy,

   Wouldn’t sharing a one-bedroom plus den, violate heath codes that are meant to govern the capacity of water and sewer infrastructure? How do the taxes work, by bedroom or by square footage?

   Advertising rent at a lower price then tacking on mandatory additional fees is a form of coerced trade and should be illegal. Sadly we know it’s not. Social media word spreads fast, however and the true cost usually gets out.

3. 

   CitizenWill

    /  September 12, 2016

   Plurimus, that’s a very good question. Seems like the Certificate of Occupancy should be based on actual expected occupation patterns instead of the sales brochure fig leaf.

   Along those lines, I’m going to ask the OC tax folks at next weeks public hearing ( http://orangecountync.gov/news_detail_T4_R709.php ) how they planned to modify the current income capitalization formulation for apartments like Alexan to more closely align with the steeper rent curves that these kind of units have.

   I’ve been looking at a range of apartments within Chapel Hill and it seems – based on spot checking – that rents increase more slowly for units that are really 1 bedroom versus units like the 1+den configuration at Alexan.

   If this is true, it appears that a one size fits all approach to capitalizing income for tax valuation purposes is biased to under-taxing something like an Alexan.

   With the rapid increase in properties that will use capitalized income formulations for tax purposes, it’s really critical that OC gets this right. As it stands now – again based on preliminary work – it really looks like the tax basis for these type properties are quite favorable leaving local residents to pick up the slack.

4. 

   Plurimus

    /  September 12, 2016

   Will,

   I posit the same goes for impact fees.

   Gotta love those one bedroom two bath apartments (with a den of course).

5. 

   CitizenWill

    /  September 12, 2016

   Kind of like all those one room additions to Northside “caterpillar” homes – each addition coming with an exterior door, individual bathroom and, sometimes, illegal front-yard parking spots 🙂