FORBES...America's Emptiest Cities (Memphis, Collierville: real estate, rental, landlords)

[Anongmous]

Interesting:


America's Emptiest Cities - Forbes.com

[Osito]

Some of these cities which revolve around tourism don't surprise me. Nevertheless I always say, you'd think the rent would go down a bit in some of these cities as an incentive for people to take the risk of moving there.

[Johnny Ryall]

Well, at least they actually give some clarity to situation by stating that this is a distortion caused by the formerly relaxed code & blight enforcement. The properties that cause this distortion are now being reinvested for occupancy or torn down at an astonishing rate. It's like the article itself tells you that this type of category is virtually worthless trivial knowledge.

"There are several pockets of blight around the city, and as a result, absentee property owners have responded by boarding up their properties," said Mark Fogelman of Fogelman Management Group, a closely held property firm with 5,000 units in Memphis. Those blighted areas exaggerate the Memphis vacancy rate, Fogelman says, which has been stable at 7% to 8% in most of the city's other submarkets."

[80sKid]

Originally Posted by Johnny Ryall

It's like the article itself tells you that this type of category is virtually worthless trivial knowledge.

No, it doesn't. The article quotes the Fogelman Group. Of course they will sugarcoat the situation. Living in downtown Memphis is too expensive for the crappy amenities.

[maximus10]

Ah, I see what the Heist is doing. He's just going to post all these old articles that cast Memphis in a negative light and call them good reads. Heist, we know it's you. LOL

[ColliervilleMom]

Originally Posted by maximus10

Ah, I see what the Heist is doing. He's just going to post all these old articles that cast Memphis in a negative light and call them good reads. Heist, we know it's you. LOL

Or is it goat?

[REPBOY]

Is there a difference? Maybe it's the dreaded Multi-Screen name creature!

[Cosmicstargoat]

Originally Posted by ColliervilleMom

Or is it goat?

Nope, I'm right here

[80sKid]

Originally Posted by Cosmicstargoat

Nope, I'm right here

Hey, 'Goat!! Good to see ya, bud!!

[simcity]

I don't consider March, 2011 an old article. These are recent statistics as I doubt sufficient time has passed for us to climb from 3rd to 2nd emptiest city. It is rather alarming that Memphis makes the top 10 list in virtually everything negative though. I mean, I do like it here, or so I've convinced myself, and I won’t be moving anytime soon, but it makes me wonder if living somewhere else would be a slice of heaven in comparison.

About the high vacancy rates, and why rent prices aren't dropping: Not surprising because property taxes keep climbing. Landlords are being squeezed dry so they either hold rents steady and take a deep loss or bump them to take a lesser loss. We go through the only nationwide real estate crash in US history and yet local government inflates property assessments to the point of absolute MAXIMUM PAIN.

The property assessments are outlandish to the point of being comical. On one particular rental property, they have literally QUADRUPLED my taxes over the past 3 years. It went from an already INSANE $2.5k per year at the height of the real estate bubble to currently $10,312.67 per year (city + county) at what is the current trough of our housing depression. Right, so $860 per month in property taxes for a 1950s Amityville style duplex with zero improvements. That’s a BIG A$$ chunk of rent that sets a high floor for rent prices. Seriously, it’s absurd to see your property values tank year after year while your government assessed values rocket to the moon and beyond. Feel free to bump my reputation if you share the same sentiment.

Gawd, I’d sure hate to see what happens if real estate prices were to tank further from here. As a result of the even higher government assessed property values, rent prices may rise to the point that we skip a couple spots to rank #1 for the emptiest city in the nation.