Looking for a rental (Iowa City, Muscatine: for sale, buying, school)

[NewlywedSLP&Teacher]

Hiya!

We're looking for a small 2 bedroom rental in areas such as West Liberty, Hills, Lone Tree and Riverside.

Available July?

Teacher has new job in Letts, Iowa.

SLP is a student at the University of Iowa.

Preferably a house, we have a cat.

Both Iowa raised! This IS heaven!

[SharpHawkeye]

Ah! Took a job at Louisa-Muscatine, eh? Kind of a challenging district, but a nice school overall.

You have kind of a tough one here. A lot of those towns are so tiny, there's not going to be much for sale, let alone for rent. Also, if there are any, they might not even advertise--especially not online. You might want to think about actually buying a cheap, small house. It can actually be cheaper than/comparable to renting sometimes. Plus, you never know--a coat of paint, some DIY work, some plants in the yard and you might be able to turn it around for a profit some years down the road.

I have a favorite professor who lives in West Liberty and commutes to the UI--he likes it for the diversity and small-town atmosphere. The other towns are tiny, tiny, tiny--so you'd probably find yourself driving into Iowa City all the time for things, and that could get expensive quick.

Have you considered Washington? It's a very nice town/city (about 7k) with a lovely square, very safe with a nice small-town atmosphere. It would be a balanced commute for both of you (30 minutes), and all of it on either major four-lane highway or good two-lane highway--so it would get bladed well in the winter, unlike some of those back ways between the other cities and L-M. Plus it has enough stores (chain and other) so one wouldn't need to run to Iowa City all the time.