Missoula Real Estate Meetup- March- Josh Plum

[Keith Miller]

Our next Missoula Real Estate Meetup will be on April 16th, at the Highlander at 6 PM. Our speaker is Tyler Gernant, who is the Missoula County Clerk & Recorder/Treasurer. Tyler will be sharing his insight on property taxes and how to challenge them if you would like to. In addition, he has extensive information on the development pipeline in Missoula County, and will share what is coming in the near future. Hope to see you there! Notes from our last speaker, Josh Plum, are below. We have a new sponsor for the Missoula Real Estate Meetup, Burnich Cabinets! Burnich Cabinets sources from national cabinet manufacturers to meet project budget and finish requirements. They also have a range of countertops from post-form laminate to custom tops. They've installed cabinets for projects ranging from high-end custom single-family to 600 units. Feel free to visit our showroom at 200 Raser Dr. https://www.burnich.com/

Josh Plum Presentation Notes- 3/23/2024 Notes taken by Keith Miller, all mistakes or omissions are my fault alone. Started Plum Property Management in 2009, now has a team of 23. Was part of the MOR data team for the Annual Housing Report, which tracks 3,000 rentals. Working on doubling that number for next year. They collected data and reported on trends for the entirety of 2023, which are below: Vacancy spiked to 7.5-8% at the end of the year, from a lot of new units hitting the market. 4% is the current vacancy rate, but it’s actually 2% if you take away the new units that recently hit the market. Most new units are 1-2 bedrooms. The demand is highest for 2 bedroom units. For single family homes, there was a 15% reduction in homes for rent. There were a lot of “Accidental Landlords” from the COVID years that either sold the homes or moved back into them. It’s hard to find tenants for single family homes during the winter, that’s historically normal. There are very few developers actively developing single family homes for sale in the Missoula Valley. The subdivision timeline is just too long, three years is about the minimum timeline, which dissuades developers. There was a 0.95% vacancy rate in January. 65% of applications were for two bedroom units. Average rent for single family homes: One Bedroom: $1,189, Two Bedroom: $1,550, Three bedroom: $2,049, Four Bedroom: $2,478. Average rent for Multifmaily: Two Bedroom: 1,446. For more statistics, check the MOR annual report here. Landlords: Make sure you have a written policy for screening renters. HUD requires screenings to be standardized. Kitchen table screenings should be a thing of the past, there are too many chances for bias to creep into the decision. Evictions- It’s usually beneficial to the landlord to pay cash for keys, rather than go through with an eviction. The cost of maintaining older properties is rising. Many investors are selling them and building new units. April is usually when there is a local spike in inventory. For more statistics on the Missoula Housing Market, check the MOR annual report here.