Current State of the Butte, Montana Rental Market

[Mike S.]

Greetings to Everyone in or invested in Butte,

I'd be grateful for any insights on the current rental market there. I really like the town--grit and all--and have been looking at properties from a distance. When I watch Craigslist, rental property/property management website listings, etc. it seems that there is a tremendous surplus of properties and that places sit vacant for quite sometime. I place an emphasis on "see," as my observations are backed up not by data but antidotal observations.

So for those of you with a horse in the race or boots on the ground, do you have any insights on the current state of the rental market in Butte (especially with regards to single family homes)? Is there a surplus of rental properties at this point and an especially high vacancy rate?

And--as long as we're talking about Butte--do you have any advice or perspective you'd share with a person thinking about investing in Butte and the community?

Thanks in advance for your insights and assistance.

Mike

[Justin Ringer]

@Mike S. I have some friends who moved there a few years back. Last year they started buying rentals themselves and told me to check it out. After doing some research I know that the “old town” area isn’t ideal. There’s the silver bow area that is doing better. I noticed that because half of butte is old and less desirable and half is in better condition it ruins the averages when you are looking for the rents and such. Rentometer tells me a three bed two bath should rent for 1000 and my friend tells me he one rented for 1200 and he believes he should have asked for more.