Victoria apartment complexes undergo hurricane repairs
In mid-December, she expects to return to her home. She's been waiting for
"That's home. This is just a way station," said Hamilton, 73. "I'm anxious to get back. I've been there for so long."
Hamilton will move back into a one-bedroom unit like she had before with new appliances and interior and with a rent increase of about
Her unit was one of more than 400 apartments damaged badly enough by the hurricane that tenants had to move. More than 30 percent of
So far, about 140 units in
"Everyone is working as hard and as diligently as we can to get these units back online and get back to business as usual," she said.
Moore said about 1,000 of members' 6,800 units were damaged by the storm. The association has 115 members in
Market impacts
Occupancy spiked to about 95 percent after the hurricane because the damages and displacement of tenants created demand, Moore said. Now, occupancy averages between 92 and 93 percent.
She said she didn't observe rental rate increases because of the hurricane, but complexes quit offering move-in specials because of the demand.
Moore said not many units have come back online, but apartment officials are working as quickly as they can to make units available. They have to wait for insurance claims to come through, which is a difficult and tricky process. She said she expects more units will come back online starting next year.
"I don't know if anyone got exactly what they estimated to be able to do the repairs," she said.
Rental rates will probably increase for units as they become available because the units will be renovated with new interiors, she said.
About 20 units damaged by the storm at
"The demand pushed up the rental rates," he said. "The rents are going to go up any way you work it."
The repairs to rental properties managed by
About 90 percent of
Leasing has started at
Repairs are expected to be finished in the first week of December at the
"This a relief, and it's exciting. Some of these properties were older," she said. "There are a lot of things that have been upgraded and changed or new. They're greatly improved. It's not without a lot of sweat there and a big investment."
Dealing with insurance
It took
Insurance officials inspected damaged roofs owned by Woolson several times. Each time, the roofs had to be re-tarped.
"It was at least more than six times in over a year," Garner said. "It was many thousands of dollars every time we had to re-tarp."
Negotiating with insurance companies was a long, difficult process that included mediation. Eventually,
"In some cases, the property owner is having to spend more, and they lost equity," Garner said. "They're having to pay out of pocket to finish repairs properly."
The owners of The Villas --
The owners' adjuster came up with an estimate of about
Raffin and Gathercole are still fighting with their insurance companies and have not been able to start any work after replacing the roofs. They're considering getting a lawyer.
"Dealing with Harvey and insurance, I never would have dreamed 14 months later we would have not gotten the place up and running," Raffin said. "The adjuster with the insurance company told our adjuster that we won't be getting any more money."
According to city building permits, other complexes undergoing hurricane repairs include
With many apartment units to come back online next year, the rental market in
"There were people who wanted the newer cabinets and granite but maybe the newer properties were a little bit more than they wanted to include in their budget for housing," she said. "Hopefully (the older renovated properties) fit this market."
___
(c)2018 Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas)
Visit Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas) at www.victoriaadvocate.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
MF Loan Service
VISD Superintendent talks tax increase, hurricane recovery
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News