After an announcement about affordable homes in Warner Robins, 13WMAZ asked a real estate expert what is considered affordable housing in the city.
WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — What price range do you think of when you hear “affordable housing?”
Earlier this week, we told you about a new development that’s bringing 300 rental homes to the city of Warner Robins.
When we reported the price range from $1,800 – $2,300 a month some people called that far from affordable.
People took to our Facebook comments sharing thoughts like,
“It’s way too expensive for people to afford, military or not,” and “The price of the new home rentals is what I paid years ago in Atlanta.”
So on Thursday, 13WMAZ worked to find out what is considered affordable in the city of Warner Robins.
Walter Chambers has lived in a Warner Robins rental property since 2017.
“I’ve been to three different apartment complexes since being here and they were fairly easy to find,” Chambers said.
However, he says with each new year, finding a new place has gotten harder due to complexes becoming more expensive.
“I would definitely say they’re on the higher price side. Based off the standard pay and the different jobs around in the area, it’s not equaling out what they charge for rent,” Chambers said.
Coldwell Banker Access Realty Property Manager, Bea Barnes-Otts, says Warner Robins is in a large market area.
“It’s very active right now,” she shared.
Barnes-Otts says the Warner Robins area has 85 rental properties offering units. She says most are sold at an affordable rate too, depending on the person.
She says right now she would consider affordable to mean, “Anywhere from $950 to $1725, $1750, $1795.”
However, some folks may have a harder time depending on what they’re looking for.
“In our inventory of available renters we only have a couple of them that I’m gonna say are less than $1000 or right at $1000,” said Barnes-Otts.
She says the best room availability is for a three bedroom two bathroom.
“We have very few two bedrooms one bath. Those are very hard to find,” she shared.
She says these properties exist in the city, but many aren’t available right now.
“It just kind of depends on what time of year it is. Different properties come up at different times,” she said.
She says young professionals are not the only ones looking to rent, but people of all ages.
A 2021 National Low Income Coalition study says Warner Robins is in the top five most expensive places to live in Georgia.
