Thomasville investor sells homes below average city sales price

THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WALB) - Affordable housing is an issue that impacts most of South Georgia, and in Thomasville, one resident is providing an option to other locals to have access to more affordable housing in an underserved part of town.

Affordable housing has always been a topic of concern for residents and city leaders in Thomasville, particularly on the west and south sides. Now, residents are stepping up and trying to make a difference by bringing affordable housing.

“We are specifically trying to address that problem, and we understand that there are opportunities to make more money in other areas, other neighborhoods in other locations, but we’re willing to take a little bit less in profit in order to provide a service to a place that we call home,” said Rendall Mash, owner of RLM Homebuilders and Properties.

Mash says he’s targeting the south and west side of Thomasville as it is more underserved than other areas.

“At some point in my childhood, I’ve lived on every side of Thomasville, and even out in the county. So I have a connection, and I feel an obligation to help as much as I can in the neighborhoods that I came from,” Mash said.

Around the south and west side of Thomasville, you can see boarded-up homes that have been uninhabited for a long time. That’s why residents say they want to see something done with these homes.

“What I see are dilapidated homes, so many of them. I want people to come in with developers and build income-driven homes for people because affordable homes can be $240,000 - that’s not affordable for everybody,” Thomasville resident and City Council Member Lucinda Brown said.

“A lot of the conditions of the houses are pretty bad, this is an old neighborhood, no one has ever really invested any money or time into it or developed anything,” Antwan Smith, a resident, said.

Thomasville is usually known for its beauty and charm of the downtown area, but it’s a different story for those on the west and south side of town when it comes to housing.

Residents say there is a lack of single-family homes and there is a need right now.

“It is mostly on the west and south side because Black Thomasvillians live on those two sides of town, and you see that just about everywhere, but I call that the other side of the track,” Brown said.

“I want to make it affordable. There is a need in Thomasville for housing in general but more specifically low-income and workforce housing. So that drives my decision in terms of pricing and where and what we put on the lots that we are able to get over here in these areas,” Mash said.

Mash is selling his homes in Thomasville for $200,000 or less, while the median sale price in Thomasville is upward of $219,000.

“You go into the other neighborhoods, it’s better but it’s not that great here,” Smith said.

“As far as the way the houses look here, it seems like there is no concern,” Sammy Fountain, a resident, said.

Pricing homes below average sale prices in Thomasville does raise concerns from other sellers and investors like will these homes bring down home prices around the area.

But Mash says he’s focused on improving underserved neighborhoods.

“There are other people that say that’s too much for the neighborhood, but the problem that we have is that the neighborhood that we’re in is either vacant lots or blighted houses. Something has to happen,” Mash said.

Mash says has a turnaround rate of 3-4 months to build these homes for the west and south side of town.

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