It’s hard to find a house in York County that rents for just $400 a month.
But county officials said that was the best offer they got for a county-owned house at 619 Cook Road. Then again, they didn’t try the classifieds.
The county advertised the house rental to county employees through the county’s in-house newsletter, but it didn’t place ads in any outside publications, county spokesman John Carl said Thursday. There’s no law requiring the county to advertise such rentals to the public, he said, and county Administrator Daniel Stuck suggested targeting the ads to county workers.
“It’s sort of a benefit, but also we thought we would have somewhat better control” with a tenant who worked for the county, Carl explained.
The county bought the 70-year-old wood-frame house and the 4.7-acre lot it sits on for $143,000 in the fall. It’s between York High School and the Colonial National Historical Park, and officials intend to use the land eventually to expand the school or its athletic fields. The house alone is assessed at $62,800.
On Wednesday, the county Board of Supervisors voted to rent the four-bedroom house to Thomas Fakner, a county structural inspector, for one year at $400 per month. The lease requires Fakner to maintain the house and pay for any repairs that cost less than $500.
Fakner’s was the best of three offers the county received, said Robert Kraus, the county’s director of general services. Two of the three offers came from county workers; the third came from a friend of a county worker, Carl said.
Kraus said the rent is fair market value, considering that Fakner will have to do repairs.
But others questioned whether the county could have gotten a better price if it had advertised more broadly.
“If they’re going to lease property – and I don’t think the county should be in the leasing business to begin with – they should certainly have opened it up to the public,” said Carolyn Harris, a fiscal watchdog who regularly attends county meetings.
The housing rental market in York County is so tight, the house might have fetched $700 per month, said real estate agent Harry Mulder of Mulder Realty.
“If you’ve got anything in York County, it will rent,” he said.
– Meredith Kruse can be reached at 247-7892.
