Moving from Ann Arbor Michigan to La Crosse Looking for Rental Home (Onalaska: foreclosures)

[calaisands]

Hello,

My husband and I are relocating to La Crosse at the end of July. We actually visited a few weeks ago and are now trying to find a rental home in a nice neighborhood, unfortunately there have not been too many options available (except for student housing). Any help, suggestions, etc. would be appreciated. Thanks.

[huggybear28]

I moved out of La Crosse a few years back but I lived there 15 years previous to that so I will try to help. The best source to look for homes, renting or buying, in La Crosse is in the local newspaper, the La Crosse Tribune. They have a website and I believe they publish the classifieds online. That would definitely be a good place to start. Also, I can kind of give you a good idea of an area to rent in. Starting out on the south side any area east of East Avenue(18th street) would be your best bet. Although if you are near Cass street you could live all the way up to about west avenue(12th street) and still live in a good area. You also want to avoid the area around UW-L meaning any place north of main street or west of 23rd street you want to avoid. The area I would look is where there are some great rentals is on the southern end of town around 33rd street. I would tend to avoid the north side, not because it is a bad neighborhood but because a large part is in a flood plain so your rent will be higher due to flood insurance. Also you cannot go wrong in the newer areas of Onalaska and Holmen but rentals there are hard to find as there is a high demand. I hope that helps you and if you have any other questions feel free to ask.

[calaisands]

Thank you for your reply and for the great information. We have looked in the newspaper, but unfortunately, it mostly consist of campus housing. In Ann Arbor there is a lot of activity on Craig's list, but unfortunately the La Crosse site doesn't seem to get a lot of hits.

What do you think about Vine and 22nd Street? We did see a nicer house for rent in that location.

Again, thank you for your help.

[huggybear28]

I am surprised the tribune did not have more. But 22nd and vine would put you right on the boarder of student housing. It might be hit or miss depending on what block you are on. I wish I could give you more information but it's really in that transition zone between student housing and a more family oriented neighborhood. Although I did know someone who use to live on 23rd between pine and vine and they never had problems with student housing. So you may be alright. Is there any chance you would be visiting the area before you move? If so, you may want to just drive around some areas to see if some renters have put up signs and not advertised in the paper. Tomorrow I will also talk to some people I know who still live in the area and see if they know of any good places then get back to you.

[calaisands]

Thank you again for taking the time to provide information and assistance. After spending more time searching, I did find some more possible homes/townhomes for rent. It is hard to diciper the Tribune as much of the rentals are all student housing. We did spend two days there a few weeks ago, but only one of them was spent walking around downtown. They have the nicest library there which was such a plus. The difference for us is that Ann Arbor has such a large housing market as there have been a lot of people moving out of the area due to the economy, while La Crosse appears to have a more stable housing market as far as rentals go. Which is a good thing, but it makes it a little tougher when you are looking. We are going to come out either this weekend or the next to look at some properties and hopefully that will help.

Thanks again for sharing.

[DSMWXMAN]

Unfortunately, there is not much as far as rental housing in the area. Are you looking for a house or a townhome/condo?

I lived in La Crosse for 25 years and if I have an idea of what you are looking for I can help.

[calaisands]

We discovered that when we began our search for housing. It appears that it is a very competitive as far as renting is concerned. We did find a place on Markle Street (old south side). It is a twinhome and we were lucky to find it. Hopefully the neighborhood is ok. We did drive around and check out the businesses and restaurants in that area and everything was very clean which is a good sign.

[huggybear28]

Sorry I did not get back quickly but no one has got back to me with any places. Thus your point about competitive rental housing has strong evidence behind it. Most college towns are competative but with the housing market right now there seems to be a surge in renters and a decrease in properties due to foreclosures in many areas. Although a smaller town like La Crosse is not affected much but these upswings and downswings in the housing market due to its smaller size.
Nice job on finding a place. I assume you mean markle road behind the walmart. I use to know someone who lived back there on Robinhood Dr. They always enjoyed the location of being near the edge of town yet close to places to shop. It is a good neighborhood and I see you having no problems there. There seems to be a good mix of rentals and family owned homes which creates a safe neighborhood. Hopefully you will enjoy La Crosse. If you have any more questions about the town feel free to ask.

[calaisands]

Thank you again for getting back to me. We are happy to hear that it's a decent neighborhood. We drove around and it seemed very nice and we also like being close to everything, but not right in the middle of it. We also like being close to the Hungry Peddler, which has become our favorite breakfast place.