Friday, March 11, 2005

Finding a home in Midland: A serious concern

I mentioned this once before, my growing conern for people looking for a place to live in Midland, but my concern is begining to grow.

Last Wednesday, I got several calls from people looking for a rent house. People moving to Midland, or even returning, coming from Amarillo, Ruidoso, Hobbs and parts unknown... all moving to Midland.

In just the last week, I had 3 vacancies come up. In less than a week, I have them rented back out again... just that quick. I hardly have to advertise, properties move so fast.

With all the work that the MDC is doing to bring in new busineses, not to mention the natural growth taking place in Midland, jobs are being created right and left. The Midland Reporter-Telegram posted an article today mentioning the fact that Midland has reached an all-time record for Midland's population. And despite all the new construction going on for new homes, demand is still high!

People need a place to live!

The number of houses avaliable on the multiple listing service for Realtors is continuing to drop... and we're at the cusp of our peak sales season! And if you think Midland has it bad, Odessa is even worse. They have fewer homes on the market right now than Midland does, and they are running out of places to build.

A lot of attention is being place on Gardendale right now as a new place to build. Development along F.M. 1788 is taking place, a North/South Road between Midland and Odessa has been on the rise and is seeing continued growth. With a new municiple water district going in sometime later this year (early next year at the latest) even more development will be taking place.

But the demand is Now! The need for new homes and rental properties is high and... just like the price of oil, I don't expect to see it drop for many years to come.

It would be a GREAT interest story for the MRT to look deep into this situation and put more attention on it. Builder's are needed right now to get busy and keep up with the demand. And not just for the $200,000 houses in Grasslands, but also for neighborhood improvement in the East side and South Midland. Development can take place in North Midland just East of Holiday Hill Road. East Midland, near the loop is another possibility but it would take developement.

There are many opportunities for areas of Midland to be developed, but we need to strike now before the new businesses show up, find nowhere to live and then move on to another city due to... SIMPLE lack of support!

This is a serious issue. I hope people look into the matter, consult a Realtor on what they can do and how they can help. Midland needs this assistance like never before!

1 comment:

Papa Ray said...

Hey,

I agree with you. But most people coming to Midland (or at least the ones I know about) are not wanting a hundred thousand dollar house.

They can't afford it. They need a house in the 40 to 50 thousand range in order to qualify for it.

They are coming out here because there are jobs opening up out here. But they are not jobs that pay enough to get loans for hundred thousand dollar homes.

If I had the money, I would build small modular homes, energy efficient, nothing fancy and sell them for around fifty thousand each.

I think that I would not be able to build them fast enough.

But, you know how it works.. that will never happen.

Oh.. Because of my daughters (no credit history) and my bad (bankruptsy) credit history, we couldn't get a loan on even a used house trailer. My small retirement check and her income from two part time jobs do not offset these hard facts.

So, we live in an old (1972) house trailer, paying the man for lot rent with no hope of doing any better.

The VA even says I don't qualify for anything that is available around here.

(I had to sell my house in Andrews, because of back taxes and need of cash, sell= give away, because almost half the houses in Andrews are vacant or rentals).

I remember back in the day, when I could get a loan on any amount at any bank for any amount of time.

Oh well, falling from grace is a bitch, but thats life and we can handle it.

Papa Ray
West Texas
USA