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Renters in Greeley Face Tightest Market in a Decade

June 28, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

For months, Mitzi Williams has been searching for a house in Greeley.She doesnt want anything extravagant just a rental with two or three bedrooms and a yard for her dogs.

Just Friday, hours before she had hoped to walk through a potential home, she got the call.

They called back and told me they rented it already, said Williams, who is living with her oil-field-working fiance in his fifth-wheel trailer in a Greeley campground. Shes been looking for months for a more permanent home.

Im online every day looking, Williams said.

But she and several other potential renters these days are caught in the middle of the tightest rental market the area has seen since 2002.

Real estate officials believe its a product of not only the high foreclosure rate in Greeley in the past few years that has kicked former owners back into the rental market, but the lack of people qualifying for home loans, and new employees to all of northern Colorado who are finding Greeley the least expensive place to rent.

All of those things together are definitely an issue, said Ryan McMaken, spokesman and economist with the Colorado Division of Housing. Its definitely connected to the overall strength of the economy in northern Colorado, even if you dont see excellent job numbers in Greeley right now. But you have a fair number of people living in Greeley who work in Fort Collins and making the drive.

An influx of oil and gas workers also could be putting a little pressure on the market, as the industry grows more stable, but officials say theyre more apt to stay in short-term housing.

Williams said shes heard of a number of oil and gas workers opting for campground living, while still others have made local hotels their homes while the oil and gas activity heats up in northern Weld County.

I have heard talk that theyre getting tired of staying in hotels, said Ron Randel, who has sold several industrial properties to oil and gas firms in the past year and has heard some officials suggest buying a home for their crews to lease out.

The addition of employees from Noble Energy, Pilgrims Pride, JBS and Vestas also is helping to push the Greeley rental market to a level not seen in many years.

Property management and apartment complex officials say they have waiting lists and are leading group showings of rentals to save time.

I can put an ad in Craigs List and I have so many people who want to see it, Im overwhelmed, said Jana Pickett, a property manager with Scott Realty, 1212 8th Ave. They go at the snap of a finger. I have zero one bedrooms in apartment . If its cheap it goes really quick, and two bedrooms go quick. Theyre fighting over them.

In the first quarter of this year, the multifamily vacancy rate was at a 10-year low at 3.8 percent, McMaken said.

Northern Colorado, especially, is particularly tight, he said.

Vacant single-family homes arent even included in the state surveys on vacancy rates.

But the number of vacant homes on the market for sale is unheard of, said Lori Jarrett, owner of Take Me Home Real Estate, which deals in real estate throughout northern Colorado.

Theres so much property on the market for sale right now, and 32 percent of property on market is vacant, Jarrett said. To me thats unheard of. If theres that many properties vacant and so many people needing housing, it would make sense for so many properties to rent until the market turns around for the sale.

Steve Baker, a real estate agent with Sears Real Estate, 2021 Clubhouse Drive, said hes noticed more calls to see whether sellers would be willing to lease.

We get inquiries weekly to see if someone would consider a lease option or just renting, Baker said. Some sellers are really firm about not leasing, but at some point, some of these that have sat there for really lengthy amounts of time may want to think about that.

Pickett at Scott said shes seen 35 percent to 40 percent more renters in the last year and a half.

It all remains good news for a change for property owners who used to have to use incentives such as free rent to lure once-elusive renters.

Its getting better for the apartment industry because people cant buy homes, so consequently, we dont have as many vacancies. People arent leaving and trying to buy a home now, said Tricia Morris, manager of Creekstone Apartments, 3775 25th St., who added that her complex has quite a number of oil and gas employee rentals and only 18 percent students.

Weve had a few more apartments available at this time than we normally would, but theyre getting filled up very, very quickly, Morris said. Someone came in today, and the apartment they looked at was gone.

That surge will eventually drive up rents in the market, officials predict.

It will have an impact on our rents, Pickett said. Ive done it on some of the apartments and people didnt even blink.

At the same time, the city of Greeley has been seeing a lot more potential multifamily development activity, said Becky Safarik, community development director. Not counting a Denver company tearing down the former Villa to make room for more than 200 student housing apartments, calls are picking up.

Were getting all sorts of inquires about the multifamily market, Safarik said. Weve had some inquires on the edge of downtown, maybe some mixed-use development. Part of that is being spurred by the lofts in downtown. Theres no vacancies, they are all gone. That is spurring some interest of maybe some commercial on the main apartments above. A bunch of different things are happening.

Diane Quigley, president of the Weld County Apartment Association, said more multifamily will be the answer in the future throughout the state.

I talked to Colorado Apartment Association, and they feel that theyre going to see a lot more apartment complexes being built because of this, she said.

Williams will continue to trudge away, hoping her luck turns from watching others swoop in under the radar to rent her next home. But she remains upbeat: It gives me something to do during the day.



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