Hi I’m Michael.  I recently relocated back to Daytona Beach after a 15 year stay in Manhattan, one of the most expensive rental markets in the country.  I am not some millionaire developer or someone who wants to change the fabric of a neighborhood, just the living conditions in some forgotten neighborhoods for low-income residents.  I have a background working in accounting environments in Corporate America.  I’ll admit, at first my intentions for getting involved in real estate was to profit, buy and sell properties after fixing them up.  But that all changed once I began researching the low income rental market in Daytona Beach… I found conditions that were run down, dark and depressing.

 

It reminded me of my Manhattan apartment building on West 22^nd Street, a rent controlled building, which means, people pay rent based on how long they have lived there and rents can only be increased a small percentage per year.  So families that have lived there 30 years, pay a few hundred dollars a month and an apartment on the same floor can rent for thousands a month to a new tenant.  When you walk into an apartment where a family has lived there a long time, it is like walking back in time 30 years.   Since the landlord can’t charge market rent, he hasn’t done anything to improve the place, everything is old and in need of replacement, but that does not happen.

 

I want everyone that lives in one of my apartments to be treated with respect.  All tenants deserve to have working clean appliances, modern fixtures, a roof that does not leak, etc. in short, a safe comfortable place to call home, even on a fixed income, low income, or Section 8 assisted living.  Just because someone cannot afford modern amenities, does not mean they do not deserve them. 

My homes are designed with the single parent in mind, always brand new appliances and included washer and dryer are mandatory, it’s hard enough to find time to do laundry, yet alone have to buggy-lug it to another location to do it.  With on premises washer and dryers, parents have more time to spend with the kids.