Property management in New Albany, Ohio

What does it cost to carry a New Albany rental that nobody tells you about?

A community development charge. The New Albany Community Authority levies a charge on the assessed valuation of each chargeable parcel inside its Community District, in mills set by the Authority's board of trustees and capped at 9.75 mills. It is currently collected by Franklin County alongside property tax in January and June, and it is in addition to ordinary property taxes rather than a component of them. The statutory machinery behind it is Ohio Revised Code chapter 349, which is what lets a new community authority impose a charge of this kind.

This is the most common underwriting mistake we see on New Albany purchases. An investor pulls the tax figure off a listing portal, plugs it into a spreadsheet, and buys a property whose real carrying cost is higher than modelled from day one. Nothing about it is hidden. It is just not where people look. Before you commit, confirm with the county treasurer whether your parcel is chargeable and at what current millage, then rebuild the model.

And then there is what is recorded against the parcel

Residential New Albany was built out largely under a single master plan, and the architectural consistency people notice is mostly the work of private covenants and association architectural review recorded against parcels, not a municipal ordinance policing the colour of every front door. The distinction matters, because a covenant is enforced by an association rather than a city inspector, and associations vary a great deal in what they permit.

Four things are worth checking in the recorded declaration before you buy: whether exterior changes need architectural approval and how long that takes, whether leasing is restricted, whether there is a minimum lease term, and whether the association charges a fee to process a new resident. Any one can add a fortnight between a signed lease and a move-in, and a move-in that slips is a vacancy you paid for.

We will not state a restriction we have not read.

Who provides utilities in New Albany, and who pays them?

New Albany is a City of Columbus water and sewer contract community. Electricity is distributed by AEP Ohio and natural gas by Columbia Gas of Ohio.

Columbus states that the property owner is ultimately responsible for all charges, even where a tenant billing agreement puts the account in the resident's name. A resident who leaves owing water can leave that balance pointed at your parcel. We put the accounts in the resident name at lease signing and check them again at move-out. On a large house with irrigation, that final read is not a formality.

What does a New Albany rental earn, and what does management cost?

We are not publishing a New Albany rent median. Our managed sample there is below the five-unit threshold we set before we will call a number a market median, and quoting a public rent index as though it came off our rent roll is the thing we criticise other pages for. Across our whole portfolio the median is $1,708 for a three bedroom and $2,450 for a four bedroom. The closest market where we do publish our own figure is Dublin, at $2,637 for a three bedroom.

Flat pricing does more work the higher the rent. Take a house renting at $3,000 a month as an illustration. A manager charging 10% of collected rent takes $3,600 a year and roughly $1,500 again at every turn. Our lowest plan is $1,404 a year and the placement is $0. The gap widens every time you raise the rent, because our number does not move when yours does. If you own several units, Investor pricing is published: 10% off monthly management at 5 to 9 units, 15% at 10 to 19, and 25% at 20 to 39. From 40 units, pricing is custom.

Percentage figures describe common Columbus market rates. They are not a quote from any named company. Photography is not included in the $0 leasing fee and is billed separately at $250 to $450.