The Expert Podcast

So, is this the future of real estate to save money for workforce housing in Lake Worth, Florida, which is part of Palm Beach, one of the most affluent areas of Florida? They're looking at creating micro apartments to help with storing rents in Lake Worth. Micro apartments will include total square footage of between 250 feet and 700 feet with a fully functioning kitchen and bathroom. They're doing this to try to get housing for workforce, whether they're police, fire, teachers, food service, that kind of thing.

And this is what their solution is. What do you think about this? Put your comments below. Would this work in your part of the country? Think about it: 250 square feet is the size of, you know, a large master bedroom in some houses. Even 500 square feet is the size of a large living room in some houses or a family room. Granted, if that's what you need to do to get the rents low, then you have to do that. These apartments are supposedly going to rent for about a thousand bucks, maybe 1,200 bucks. In reality, even with mortgages the way they are, you could probably buy a 200,000-dollar house for rent or for a mortgage payment, not much more than that, and own the house. The house is probably a little bigger too, at least a thousand square feet.

You can check out our channel for some previous videos. If you're going to spend that much anyway, why not have a house? Now granted, if you move a lot and you're going to switch to another city, maybe buying a house isn't the best thing in the world, but these micro apartments, are they good for the area? Are they good for consumers? Are they good for investors? What do you think?

If you were going to live in one of these micro units, is that going to help the economy of the area? Will these people spend money in the area? Will it help the tax base? It may help employers, but do we need more workforce for that type of industry? Right now, we probably do for first responders and teachers. The question is: is this the answer, and is it going to work financially? Is it going to be a viable financial model for whoever builds this, whether it's the government or some private company?

Will this model be sustainable for income and also for the condition of the property in the long run? Will we have that pride of ownership that will keep it in good shape, and will the management cost be higher than what it takes to run a normal market-rate apartment? Put your comments below, let us know what you think.