Practical-Intern-347 t1_jdhdast wrote on March 24, 2023 at 12:27 PM

Reply to comment by Galadrond in Is there a time frame for the Brattleboro Museum Expansion to move forward Looks Beautiful! by The_Idealist_Realist

Interesting. That'll be a tough expectation to carry. If you bought a duplex with 2x 2 bedroom apartments in cash (so purchase price doesn't matter), it would cost ~$500/mo/unit to pay the taxes and insurance, much less set aside any extra to repair the roof in the future, maintain the HVAC, etc. Add a mortgage and you're bust. Going to include utilities for your tenant? Where does that get paid?

Also, the state's formal definition of affordable is for all housing expenses not to exceed 30% of the gross income of a household making 80% of the area median family income (MFI). For 2022, Windham County's MFI is $80,400. The maximum allowable rent (including utilities) for a household earning 80% MFI under that regime would be $1,286 for a one-bedroom, $1,544 for a two-bedroom and $1,783 for a three bedroom. The maximum These are the HUD-provided numbers by which all state and federal programs operate.

For your $1200/mo 2-bedroom, the MFI table would put you at 60% MFI (or less.)

I don't mean to argue with what you believe is affordable or reasonable, but these are the economics and demographic data.

edit: typos were confusing

Galadrond t1_jdu5qpi wrote on March 27, 2023 at 5:33 AM

I’m just stating what things are actually worth based on the income available to most people in Windham County. Also Landlords are charging about twice as much as what the state would indicate as affordable. A three bedroom apartment in Brattleboro usually goes for over $3000 a month.