OWNERS NEWSLETTER - JULY 2020

 OWNERS NEWSLETTER – JULY 2020

RENTAL MARKET UPDATE – High demand for rental housing and limited supply continues to fuel our current landlord’s market. Fort Hood presently has over 6,000 soldiers deployed, which unlike past years, seems to be having no discernable impact on the present housing market. As of the writing of this letter, we have only one property available. We are experiencing multiple applications on properties the day they become available. Prospective renters can often be seen waiting out in front of our office an hour or more before we open for business. We are now beginning to see an increase in property turnover due to the military ending its travel ban for soldiers that are relocating, but these properties quickly rent once make-ready repairs and cleaning are complete. 

EVICTIONS – The federal rule that placed a moratorium on evicting renters for failure to pay their rent has expired. However, landlords must still deliver a thirty-day notice to vacate prior to taking legal action. August 25th is now the earliest date that a landlord can actually initiate legal proceedings with the court. In spite COVID-19 and its impact on the economy, peoples’ jobs, incomes, etc., we have had excellent success in collecting rents for the past five months. 

NEW MILITARY MUSEUM – The Secretary of the Army recently approved the construction of the National Mounted Warfare Museum, which will be located on seventeen acres just outside of Fort Hood. Groundbreaking on phase one of the $10.9 million, 28, 700 square foot museum is anticipated to begin this September with a projected opening date of 2022. The initial phase of the museum will include 13,000 square feet of interactive and immersive permanent exhibit galleries and over 7,000 square feet of temporary exhibit space. The museum will include an additional five phases, which will be projected once phase one commences. 

According to the National Mounted Warfare Museum Foundation’s web site, the museum will “represent the history of mounted soldiers – the ones that rode into battle on horseback, as well as the tankers and infantrymen, the artillerymen and aviators, the logisticians, engineers, military policemen, signal soldiers, and intelligence soldiers who fought alongside. This is the story of the mounted soldiers’ combined team efforts, a force for freedom so many times in our nation’s history.” It is anticipated that the museum will draw hundreds of thousands of visitors annually and have an economic impact on the area in the millions of dollars.  

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