Huntington Village near Robins may be area's best-kept real estate secret
9 months ago | 341 views | 0 
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Club house at Huntington Village
In a manicured, well-maintained, gated setting are 670 two, three and four-bedroom homes. Some were built in 2001 and others were extensively renovated the same year. And they come with neighborhood pools and recreation areas, community and youth centers, complementary lawn maintenance and a crew of on-call maintainers.
Surprisingly, more than 100 are vacant, partly because---as Lella Morse points out---civilian families are not aware that they are eligible to live there.
Morse is the local housing director for Hunt Building Corporation of El Paso, Texas. Hunt is the privatization contractor for Robins, controlling 251 on-base housing units and the 670 homes in Huntington Village.
The on-base accommodations are 97 percent occupied and are dedicated to military families or key and essential individuals. The 670 homes off base are a different story. Members of the reserve components, civilian employees at Robins, military retirees and the general public are all eligible.
“We get phone calls throughout the day from people asking if we rent to families other than military,” Morse reported, “and the answer is that we absolutely do.”
Rent varies from $725.00 to $1,100 a month in the older – but extensively renovated – Huntington Hills. Rent in the remaining parts of the village – essentially new construction in 2001 – is similar, with the larger homes going for $1,300 a month.
Morse said she did an unofficial market survey recently in the surrounding community.
“We shopped a few properties,” she said. “I actually went to some for-rent-by-owner homes and they were quite a bit higher than what we ask – about $150 to $200 a month more – and they did not have the amenities we have.”
Some of the vacancies are a result of the recent government stimulus incentives.
“When they were offering $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers, we had a lot of people cash in on that,” she said. “Then Georgia added an $1,800 incentive and more people left. But generally, the only reasons people move out of our homes are to buy a house or the military transfers them.
It’s not because they are unhappy.”
The director said she plans to step up local advertising, particularly focusing on retirees.
“We have all the amenities of most retirement villages and we’re close to Robins and the downtown area,” she said.
The focus of the advertising will be to remove what many people visualize when they think of base housing.
“This is not your typical base housing,” Morse stressed. “People need to get rid of that idea. It’s much better and people should give it a chance. We have so many amenities and the neighborhood is secure.”
Two Warner Robins Police Department officers live in Huntington Village. “They patrol the area and are on call all the time,” she indicated. “We’ve also upgraded our gate access to a card swipe system that is a lot more secure.
“People just need to give us a chance.”
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Huntington Village near Robins may be area's best-kept real estate secret
9 months ago | 341 views | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 | |
Club house at Huntington Village
In a manicured, well-maintained, gated setting are 670 two, three and four-bedroom homes. Some were built in 2001 and others were extensively renovated the same year. And they come with neighborhood pools and recreation areas, community and youth centers, complementary lawn maintenance and a crew of on-call maintainers.
Surprisingly, more than 100 are vacant, partly because---as Lella Morse points out---civilian families are not aware that they are eligible to live there.
Morse is the local housing director for Hunt Building Corporation of El Paso, Texas. Hunt is the privatization contractor for Robins, controlling 251 on-base housing units and the 670 homes in Huntington Village.
The on-base accommodations are 97 percent occupied and are dedicated to military families or key and essential individuals. The 670 homes off base are a different story. Members of the reserve components, civilian employees at Robins, military retirees and the general public are all eligible.
“We get phone calls throughout the day from people asking if we rent to families other than military,” Morse reported, “and the answer is that we absolutely do.”
Rent varies from $725.00 to $1,100 a month in the older – but extensively renovated – Huntington Hills. Rent in the remaining parts of the village – essentially new construction in 2001 – is similar, with the larger homes going for $1,300 a month.
Morse said she did an unofficial market survey recently in the surrounding community.
“We shopped a few properties,” she said. “I actually went to some for-rent-by-owner homes and they were quite a bit higher than what we ask – about $150 to $200 a month more – and they did not have the amenities we have.”
Some of the vacancies are a result of the recent government stimulus incentives.
“When they were offering $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers, we had a lot of people cash in on that,” she said. “Then Georgia added an $1,800 incentive and more people left. But generally, the only reasons people move out of our homes are to buy a house or the military transfers them.
It’s not because they are unhappy.”
The director said she plans to step up local advertising, particularly focusing on retirees.
“We have all the amenities of most retirement villages and we’re close to Robins and the downtown area,” she said.
The focus of the advertising will be to remove what many people visualize when they think of base housing.
“This is not your typical base housing,” Morse stressed. “People need to get rid of that idea. It’s much better and people should give it a chance. We have so many amenities and the neighborhood is secure.”
Two Warner Robins Police Department officers live in Huntington Village. “They patrol the area and are on call all the time,” she indicated. “We’ve also upgraded our gate access to a card swipe system that is a lot more secure.
“People just need to give us a chance.”