Changes in my apartment building

[MegA]

This doesn't have anything to do with RVing but it seemed worth sharing.

My apartment building was sold yesterday. The previous owners were two sisters, I believe; the new owner is a company that has 2200 properties. We all got a letter informing us of the sale and saying nothing would be changing. *Except* -

- No more on-site manager, so the current (actually, previous) one and her husband are moving out at the end of the month because they can't afford both rent here and the mortgage of the place they own in a neighboring state. So they're going back there. (Which means they have to close their office-cleaning business here; the manager job was part time.)
- Starting February 1 the rent needs to be paid exclusively online. There will be no charge for this as long as it's a straight transfer of funds from the tenant's bank account.

This is an old building and a lot of the tenants are seniors; the (previous) manager is guessing about half have computers. It also occurred to me that they might not have an account with a bank that has online services. Or have a bank account at all. (My next-door neighbor told me he has only a savings account, and he's not giving his account information to anyone.)

The manager seems OK with the move, even with how sudden it is; her husband is over 70 so I think they may be retiring. And the rent payment requirement doesn't apply to me because I'll be gone by then (although it wouldn't be a problem anyway). I do feel sorry for my neighbors, though. We've not been contacted by the new "community manager" and I have a feeling things here will be getting much more impersonal. And the new rent payment system - I wonder if it's a sign of the times.

Meg

[Mike]

Probably a sign of the times. I'll bet the ultimate end will be turning it into condominiums at some point.
I live in Southwestern Ontario, and it's been that way for a least a couple of decades around here. Some
older buildings are being sold to developers. They try to sell the units to the tenants over time, or wait until
they leave and then renovate with a view to turning them into condos, assuming the original building is
in salvageable condition. Many older buildings are in prime locations, and the condo units must sell pretty
quickly, or they wouldn't do it.

[MegA]

(Sorry Mike, I just found this; forgot to subscribe to this thread when I started it.)

Yes, I think it is a sign of the times. For one thing, with the economy as bad as it is small owners like the previous landlord are having a lot of trouble keeping these buildings; a big company like the new owner can afford the upkeep. And yes, this is a good location; it's close to downtown, with lots of commuting options and a big park across the street for recreation. There used to be a hospital about a half mile west of me; it was torn down and replaced with condos which, according to the sign outside, are "in the 270s." And that is very close to the price I found on a flier for a house about a half mile in the other direction (I walk for exercise every day). This building almost doesn't fit in with the rest of the neighborhood.

But renovating it I think would be a lot of work. It's old, most of the fixtures are outdated, the outlets are all 2-prong (really fun if you have grounded plugs, like on computers and surge protectors)... But what's worse, the walls and floors are really thin; I can hear a lot of what my neighbors are doing (no privacy here). I just can't see how they would fix that short of tearing the whole thing down and rebuilding. But without renovations they would never be able to attract different tenants - the kind with more money.

There are already vacancies, though. My downstairs neighbor and I are both out at the end of the month, as is the former manager, and her leaving will free up two or maybe three apartments. Plus, if they don't change the rent payment requirements they will lose several other people - all the older folks without computers. I do feel bad for those people; it's so hard to find anything affordable when you're on a fixed income. And with everyone on month-to-month leases they wouldn't have much time; the rent payment change goes into effect February 1. But the owners probably don't care; they can start renting to different people - assuming they can find any that want to live in a building like this. They probably will renovate each apartment as it comes vacant. (Or maybe fix the place up and flip it; there's a lot of that going on around here too.)

I didn't know the building was going to be sold when I gave my notice; the sale happened a few days later. But it seems like good timing; the first thing I thought when I found out was, "they'll raise the rent." I can't afford it now so I guess it's a good thing I'm leaving. (I just wish I had been able to afford a decent RV. Oh well. I'm lucky I have something to live in; I know lots of people don't.)

Meg

[Mike]

Many will see the value of the location of your building as a cash generator, and I expect the building renovation
costs will be dwarfed eventually by the price condos or apartments will fetch when it's completed.

There's always someone worse off, isn't there?
I try to remember that every day of my life.
We are all mortal, after all, but it seems we only become painfully aware of it later in life.
Sorry, some days I spend way too much thought, on thought.