Kalamazoo, MI Rentals

[Melissa Nichols]

Hi there,

I'm wondering if anyone is familiar with investing/investment opportunities in Kalamazoo, MI. Would love to hear general experiences. My husband and I live in CA but are WMU grads and are considering investing in Kalamazoo. We've heard that we shouldn't buy in the historic neighborhoods due to high renovation costs. Again, would love general thoughts from anyone with the experience.

Best,

Melissa

[Joshua Clark]

I am originally from the Kalamazoo area and have a couple of friends who invest in student rentals there. One owns three homes and the other is up to about 13 homes now. They never have a shortage of tenants! The homes they buy are typically in the "student ghetto" area and they do the renovations themselves. They purchase the homes typically for under $30k. Hiring out renovations could potentially cost an arm and a leg in the student rental market, as you noted.

The lease for these properties is always executed with the parents of the student renters, so the owners know they will have someone to collect damages from upon move out, and there are typically always damages.

As far as non-student rentals I don't know anyone who currently owns any. I feel that there are pockets where you could tap some pretty steady renters working the local factories, hospitals, or commuting over to the pharmaceutical company in Mattawan.

Best of luck and hope this helps.