Houses for Rent in San Joaquin Valley with Move-in Deals
Houses for rent in Northern San Joaquin Valley in California are being offered at discounted rental rates and with lots of move-in incentives because of fierce competition among landlords.
A lot of apartment rentals in Modesto are being offered at only $400 per month, with the first months free for renters signing one-year lease agreements.
According to RealFacts, the apartment vacancy rate in Modesto over the past three months was 10 percent, among the highest rates in California. The average apartment rent in the 28 biggest apartment buildings in Modesto has gone down to $816, not including further discounts given such as free rent.
At the Meadowlakes Apartments, two-bedroom apartment units are being rented out at $695, a 19-percent drop from their usual rate of $830. Wanda Francek, manager of the 196-unit Meadowlakes, said she had to offer deep discounts because of the rising vacancy in the complex.
There is also another trend being observed in San Joaquin – tenants are now moving out of apartment rentals and moving into rental homes. Because of plenty of cheap foreclosures purchased and turned into rentals by investors, there are now a lot of houses for rent in the area.
Over the past 3 years, over 16,400 homes in Stanislaus County were foreclosed, including 7,800 foreclosures in the Modesto area. Many of these homes were sold by banks and other lenders to investors who converted them into rental homes.
In Stanislaus County, the number of rental units has risen by almost 6 percent from around 57,500 units in 2005 to over 60,800 rental units in 2008.
Ben Sweet, manager of Sweet Properties in Modesto, said that apartments and other multifamily properties have suffered because of the increased number of single-family homes that can be rented for the same amount.
Sweet said that he has reduced the rent for a two-bedroom house to $575 and a three-bedroom house to $950 and offers a 50-percent discount on the rent for the first month.
According to Sweet, rates for rental homes have gone down by five to 10 percent over the past year. A three-bedroom house with two bathrooms now rent for only around $1,100, down from around $1,250 during the boom.
Bigger houses are even tougher to rent out, according to rental managers. Houses for rent offered above $1,350 are not being rented. These big houses were easily rented out at $1,600 during the boom.
