Metro Atlanta embraces growing trend as single-family home subdivisions pivot to rental market
Build-to-rent is a growing housing trend looking to find a market between homeownership and renting an apartment.
This trend is increasingly taking root in metro Atlanta. Builders are constructing single-family home subdivisions not to sell, but to rent.
Before Thanksgiving, NexMetro Communities will begin preleasing the South Pines subdivision, which is still under construction, in South Fulton.
There will be 193 two-story two- or three-bedroom townhomes with one-car garages and backyards. The square footage ranges from 1,332 to 1,483 square feet.
NexMetro has similar build-to-rent projects in Phoenix, DFW, Austin, Denver, and Tampa, with more in store for metro Atlanta.
The managing director for its Atlanta-area projects says the company hopes to attract young professionals and empty nesters.
"We have a lot of single women looking for the privacy we provide with gates," said Jason Flory, managing director NexMetro Communities Atlanta. "We're providing all the maintenance inside and outside the home."
Across much of metro Atlanta, you will find more of these build-to-rent neighborhoods. Georgia State University geography professor Taylor Shelton sees the BTR trend as similar to the established, decade-long trend he has studied—corporate landlords buying large numbers of single-family homes in established neighborhoods to rent out.
It's often the same companies operating in both spaces," says Taylor.
According to his research, which is as of January 2022, in the five core counties, there were a total of 32,028 single-family rental properties owned by the 10 largest corporate single family rental landlords. Five thousand five hundred ninety-three of those properties were located in Fulton County.
Taylor's findings have been concerning to some.
"We see that these companies tend to raise rents and add what's known as junk fees and significant rates," says Taylor." We also know these companies are the most frequent subject of complaints to code enforcement in Atlanta and nationwide."
Taylor says there is more to study, and he would not go so far as to say there is proof that this trend causes neighboring homeowners to see property values decline.
"I don't know if we have enough information that this is causing a devaluation of other people's property
Flory insists scattered sight single family projects are more likely to have upkeep issues.
"The main difference is the fact the fact we have on-site maintenance, onsite professional management team to make sure these homes stay well maintained," says Flory. " If we're going to charge $2,000 a month, we need to be able maintain it and give them (clients) the quality they deserve."
