Making Rent Work For Greenville - People Working In Greenville Often Can't Afford Rents; Affordable Upstate Provides Options

If they follow conventional budgeting advice, two-thirds of the working residents in Greenville County – including new teachers in the public school system – should spend no more than $1,000 per month for rent.

But the median rent is $1,750 per month in Greenville, $1,695 in Taylors, $1,800 in Mauldin, and $1,495 in Spartanburg, according to recent data from Zillow online real estate marketplace.

“It's the best of times and the worst of times,” says Mario E. Brown, co-founder and principal of Affordable Upstate. “It's the best of times for folks relocating from other markets. They discovered my hometown, the place where we raise our kids and run our business.

“But it's the worst of times for folks who are here, who see the demand for apartments, the limited supply, and the high rents.”

Whether it’s 1969 federal legislation called the Brooke Amendment, pop-finance guru Dave Ramsey, or online tips from Chase personal banking … people are advised to spend no more than 25% to 30% of their income on housing.

This year the starting salary for a Greenville County Schools teacher with a bachelor’s degree is $47,738. So, the teacher’s rent should not exceed $995 per month (at 25% of annual income).

But teachers aren’t alone.

According to Affordable Upstate, most firefighters, auto mechanics, police officers and electricians in the area earn $54,000 or less per year. Administrative assistants and those who work in retail, food service or construction likely make less, closer to $27,000 per year.

All need housing at rents that mostly don’t exist.

Only 2% of apartment rents listed online are $1,000 per month or less, says Brian Albers, also a founder and principal at Affordable Upstate.

Albers and Brown decided to address the need for affordable apartments after meeting in 2016 during Leadership Greenville, a 10-month program of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce that explores issues facing the city, the county and the Upstate.

Brown had invested in real estate, including an eight-unit multifamily complex. Albers was a certified financial planner with Raymond James.

Leadership Greenville challenged them: “How do my skills align with the community, and how do I connect the two? How do I connect heart and mind?” Brown explains.

“We had a desire to build our own businesses,” Albers says. “We thought it would be good to do that by serving a community need – to do good while doing well financially.”

Together they decided to purchase properties, improve them, price them reasonably and manage them well.

In 2017, the pair renovated a 36-unit apartment complex in Pacolet, Albers says. “Then we bought another 27 units, by pulling equity out of our own homes.”

Two years later, they identified multiple properties they could improve. To do so, they needed investors. Affordable Upstate is not a nonprofit. “We partnered with like-minded, local, mostly entrepreneurs, people who were used to investing in LLCs rather than the stock market,” Albers says.

“We can do good for both the community and our investors. We are at the intersection of profit and purpose. Leadership Greenville helped us understand that there was a need. And we parlayed that with real market skill,” Brown says.

The company has raised $55 million from investors, he says. “We believe that for-profit interest is the engine of social impact. Things need to be profitable to be sustainable.”

When a property is purchased, Southeast Affordable Housing Administration – a nonprofit partner – manages governmental regulations, affordable housing incentives and other programs.

The company now owns 1,500 apartments in Spartanburg, Anderson and Greenville counties.

Rents are from $900 to $1,100, Brown says. A teacher’s salary fits in that range, and that was the goal, he says.

The area median household income in Greenville County was $89,000 in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In Greenville County, about 9% of the total workforce earns less than a third of that amount ($29,000 or less annually). And 55% of the workforce earns between one-third and one-half of the area median income ($45,000 annually or less).

Added together, that means “two-thirds of all Greenville County is at 50% or below. And at 50% AMI level, you can't afford more than $1,000 a month in rent,” Albers says.

A relatively small percentage of people who rent from Affordable Upstate use federal housing subsidies, he says. Most do not.

“The core group that we serve is people who make between 30% of AMI and 70% of AMI. And that's the teachers, firefighters, the baristas,” he says.

The company also addresses the challenge of searching online for housing with an affordable rent, Brown says.

“If a community member can't find a unit through Google, does it even exist?” he asks, rhetorically. “If I've got to take off work to drive around and look for an apartment, then it might as well not exist.”

At NOAHpm.com , apartment hunters will find Affordable Upstate listings that look like any other rental listings – along with prices, layouts, photos, addresses and amenities. NOAH Property Management is a spin-off of Affordable Upstate that oversees leasing, repairs and maintenance, and communication with residents.

All apartments have digital locks, so potential renters can view properties at any time. Most renters have at least one child. Some complexes allow pets.

Affordable Upstate improved the appearance of properties after purchasing them, Albers says, and installed better mechanical systems, green spaces, dog parks, a bus stop at one property, and more efficient appliances at others.

Residents can use flexible payments for their rent; if they receive paychecks twice a month, they can pay rent in two installments, Albers says. An alternative security deposit plan is also pay-as-you-go; residents don’t have to produce a first month’s rent, a last month’s rent and a deposit. Subsidized cable television and internet are also available.

Nonprofit organizations “come alongside” to provide resources and activities, Brown says.

“We don't have to pick between being good neighbors and good businessmen. We can do both at the same time,” he says. “We're trying to help the folks who are working hard to make ends meet. We are trying to infuse pride into where they live.”

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Making Rent Work For Greenville - People Working In Greenville Often Can't Afford Rents; Affordable Upstate Provides Options