Grand Rapids has lowest rental vacancy rate in nation! 1.6% (Wyoming: apartments, evictions)

[Republic of Michigan]

Grand Rapids said to have lowest rental vacancy in the country

[Lafleur]

Do you think it's possible for Grand Rapids to overtake Detroit as the largest city in Michigan?

[mjlo]

Saying that it's highly unlikely would be generous. The Detroit area outnumbers the Grand Rapids area by more than 4 to 1. The chances of it being unseated as Michigans Juggernaut would take decades or centuries, if at all.

In the remote scenario that Grand Rapids were to merge with Kent County it would be in striking range of Detroit, if it stayed at it's current rate of decline. Even in that impossible scenario only on paper.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Republic of Michigan

Grand Rapids said to have lowest rental vacancy in the country

We just bought a house recently to rent out and put it on Zillow/Postlets: 15 inquiries, 8 showing requests, rented it to the 2nd people who went through it, in 3 days (they also had pretty good credit).

We were glad because they're getting ready to build a big luxury apartment complex not far from the house, 230 units I believe (near Knapp's Corner Meijer)

[IAmEverywhere]

Does the low vacancy rate primarily affect the City of Grand Rapids proper? Or does it make it difficult to find housing in the suburbs as well?

Is it easier to find housing in less than desirable neighborhoods, or are even those difficult?

What are the practical effects of the low vacancy rate? Waiting lists? Having to look long and hard to find any housing at all? Does it make landlords highly selective about which tenants they will accept?

If it changes anything, I'm primarily interested in studios and 1 bedroom apartments. (Shared housing is not under consideration.)

[magellan]

Originally Posted by IAmEverywhere

Does the low vacancy rate primarily affect the City of Grand Rapids proper? Or does it make it difficult to find housing in the suburbs as well?

Is it easier to find housing in less than desirable neighborhoods, or are even those difficult?

What are the practical effects of the low vacancy rate? Waiting lists? Having to look long and hard to find any housing at all? Does it make landlords highly selective about which tenants they will accept?

If it changes anything, I'm primarily interested in studios and 1 bedroom apartments. (Shared housing is not under consideration.)

Not sure what your time frame is but there are a lot of apartment projects under construction. I think there are 3000 in the works just in the city of GR, but they take a while to get through the planning process.

If you like "urban" apartments, 616 Development is one of the larger apartment developers.

616 Lofts | residential property management in Grand Rapids, MI

These apartments by Rockford Construction seem to be moving right along:

Fulton Place Grand Rapids - Apartments Opening Fall 2016

Rockford also has The Morton:

The Morton: Downtown Grand Rapids Apartments & Condos

The Rowe is under construction:

The ROWE

And the Waters Building is being converted into a hotel and apartments:

Residential - Waters Center

A lot of people rent out their condos at Union Square and The Boardwalk too. There are a lot of other resources to find apartments, but that's a good start.

[IAmEverywhere]

Thanks for the detailed list of leads!

Curious, any read on how selective these properties are?

Long story short, my timeframe is probably months. However, I plan to start networking in the area. Getting offered long-term, on-site work in the area could accelerate this timeframe to a couple weeks. Or it could be never...there are other cities I'd be willing to relocate to if that's where someone offers long-term, on-site work.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by IAmEverywhere

Thanks for the detailed list of leads!

Curious, any read on how selective these properties are?

Long story short, my timeframe is probably months. However, I plan to start networking in the area. Getting offered long-term, on-site work in the area could accelerate this timeframe to a couple weeks. Or it could be never...there are other cities I'd be willing to relocate to if that's where someone offers long-term, on-site work.

No idea how "selective" they are. I believe they rely heavily on credit ratings.

If you're going to be in the area, AimWest has their holiday mixer this Wednesday. They're a big tech based networking group:

aimWest: The Technology Association of West Michigan

[Lockdev]

Originally Posted by IAmEverywhere

Does the low vacancy rate primarily affect the City of Grand Rapids proper? Or does it make it difficult to find housing in the suburbs as well?

Is it easier to find housing in less than desirable neighborhoods, or are even those difficult?

What are the practical effects of the low vacancy rate? Waiting lists? Having to look long and hard to find any housing at all? Does it make landlords highly selective about which tenants they will accept?

If it changes anything, I'm primarily interested in studios and 1 bedroom apartments. (Shared housing is not under consideration.)

I used to live here. It was on short notice:

Home :: The Gallery Apartments

They were great. Even gave me the same rate for a short-term lease while I was waiting for my house to close.

Loved the location.

When I moved, I did have to find an apartment for my ex-girlfriend(ok, didn't have to, but I was trying to be a good guy). The landlords seemed to be picky, but that's what you typically want in a landlord. I would question a landlord that was a "we take just about anyone" type of person.

[IAmEverywhere]

Upscale buildings in central neighborhoods are obviously going to be selective. And you're right that you don't want the opposite extreme of a management company which will rent to absolutely anyone.

My concern is that in boomtowns with tight rental markets, even minor credit issues or being self-employed can mean not finding adequate housing at all. Is Grand Rapids similar?

Where I am now, there are livable buildings in livable areas which will rent to anyone with no felonies and no evictions who earns 2 or 2.5 times the rent. These buildings are not anyone's first choice, but they are adequate housing. Are there similar places in west Michigan, even if it means settling for suburban and/or marginal areas?

I looked at the website for the Gallery Apartments. Unfortunately even the studios are probably out of my price range.

Thanks for the heads-up about the mixer. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it.