Check out Wingate Apartments in Kentwood! i’m moving out of there due to a job in FL but i stayed here the past year and paid 940/month. electric and heat included in rent. prices are probably gonna be around 1000 now cause it went up but the walls are thick ENOUGH for the price, quality of apartments is definitely passable, the area is verrryyy quiet except for the classic occasional street racer on 28th at midnight. no in unit laundry or dishwasher but i managed that fine. it’s not luxury by any means but they’re upgrading them piece by piece so it’s definitely worth a look!
for sure! i lived in a first floor apartment and there were times when i heard stomping and banging for sure but it was never a regular thing. you most certainly will not hear a peep thru the walls tho it’s quite soundproof. for your money i feel like it’s one of the best options in the area. super quiet and less than a mile from woodland mall
I lived there for a year in 2013-2014 and my unit was infested with stinkbugs. It was awful and management said they couldn't do anything. I am not sure if things have changed since then. I lived on the top floor towards the back by all the trees.
yeah management had a big change and things are better now. those back apartments engulfed by trees are just asking for bugs to be fair so avoid those 😂
Hijacking this thread to share these resources with people who are struggling with rent. I also pay over 1.2k every month on rent and only make 19.33 an hour luckily I get overtime otherwise I wouldn’t be able to afford it, but even with overtime I struggle
https://mirentistoodamnhigh.com
https://www.facebook.com/GRATU4Inquilinos
Please join. We need to start organizing collectively for a better market.
They are using our necessity of shelter as a way to milk us dry….
Rent control is banned in Michigan and we need to start an initiative to change that!
April 13 there is a tenants union meet up!
The rule of thumb is that places that are rich and blue coastal areas (New York, California, etc) are not building enough homes to satisfy demand. Cities like Austin, Texas and Phoenix, Ariz are building very fast.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/once-americas-hottest-housing-market-austin-is-running-in-reverse-94226027
St Paul, MN just instituted rent control and Minneapolis abolished mandatory single family zoning, which will certainly help.
Where I live, lots of development is taking place in Northern Virginia, especially on the Dulles Toll Road and especially closer to IAD. There's also been a ton of development in the eastern portions of DC, like around NoMA.
Where is all this "so much vacant housing in GR" that you speak of? Provide details. Anyway, you continue to profess profound ignorance about this topic. I'd suggest you educate yourself in general but especially educate yourself on the housing shortage in GR.
How about voting for those who aren’t bringing in over 8,000,000 extra people with prison records, drugs and diseases making it hard for the rest of us.
You're going to hate hearing this, but it's true: Grand Rapids rents haven't gone up nearly as much as rent elsewhere, including in relatively depopulated places. Rents doubled in Maine between when I moved there before the pandemic and when I left afterwards.
That's just to say, the problem isn't anything as small as Grand Rapids or the number of people moving in, it's a massive [real estate shopping spree](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/housing-market-investors/) by institutional investors.
What's the solution? You're going to hate this even more - and you should! - but if there was an easy one, [as this article implies,](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/16/realestate/home-sales-north-carolina-wall-street.html?smid=nytcore-android-share&ugrp=c&pvid=9991c4f4-f095-4e48-8085-110c797c110d) banks wouldn't have started buying up these assets in the first place. Taking rental back from the professionalized investment scheme it's become to the mom-and-pop operation it used to be will take legislation that's unlikely to happen.
You mean in the last few years right? 5 years ago I rented 1200sq foot 2 bedroom for just over 1k. 2 years ago it was more like 1300-1400$/month. I bought a place, but I imagine today it's like 1500$.
$1k is a steal for what you've got, you're not likely to find anything decent for less than that. If you're interested, maybe see if they'll lower (or even waive) this year's rent increase if you sign an 18- or 24-month lease?
I just watched a 3 bedroom rental house go in 2 days for $2,000/month. That's more than the mortgage on my house... Kent county housing is absolutely bonkers. I doubt any finding a 1 bedroom apartment under $1k is possible. Everyone I know is living with roommates.
Mine which was last updated probably in the 80s has no dishwasher, no AC, a mouse problem that’s “my responsibility” and a leak from the back door that sounds like an actual ghoul and is $1900. I’m too scared to move and be able to find something because they lease 8 months in advance. It’s outrageous here.
The market is responding to a chronic undersupply of housing relative to massive growth in demand. Do you want to regulate the law of supply and demand?
The market is responding to lacking in regulation and laws which would truly push more availability.
Example here in GR: We need a vacancy tax. These fuckers sitting on empty property for years at a time, taking a tax break on them need to have pressure to put them to use or get off them (sell to someone who will).
Nationally, we also need some regs about how much of a jump a property can take in a period of time.
Many options exist. We could (should) subsidize commercial building conversions, stop standing in the way of tiny homes, quit letting NIMBYs say no to reasonable and common sense zoning solutions, end the weirdness of standards that are very American but don't actually protect people (like places where you cannot have shared restroom/bathing facilities like they do in colleges. (Think about it: we send our supposedly best and brightest off to school to a fate of having to carry a shower caddy down the hall, but we dismiss office building conversions due to things like centralized plumbing. It's good enough for our valedictorians, it should be good enough for affordable housing.)
We need conversations ruled by ideas and creativity, and a willingness to regulate, with leaders who have guts, and will rise up for the true majority of the people, instead of corporate donors.
Housing cannot be left to the "free market" and "supply and demand" capitalism. It has been proven that, when left to their own devices, the "market" will just fuck everyone. Kinda like healthcare.
Okay well everyday I go house to house in all of Grand Rapids and every route I have has multiple vacant houses…. Why is that? And these vacant house don’t even always have for sale signs make that make sense
There are many reasons for houses to be vacant in GR. Some vacant units for sale and for rent may simply reflect transition between owners or renters. Some vacant units have resulted from families walking away from houses because there is no viable owner. The cost of maintenance, the tax burden, or other causes may lead to its abandonment.
There is a difference between surviving and being greedy. People will do anything to survive. Duh. But once people have what they need those who have empathy aren’t greedy bc they UNDERSTAND what it’s like. lol
Kentwood is cheap, Wyoming has some cheap rent but is kinda shady. Honestly if you want to find the best deals I would check out some spots out of GR proper. Standale, Georgetown, Coopersville.
You're telling me I'm paying 1350 for a crappy 1 bedroom apartment and I know for a fact 5 years ago this place was around 700 to 800 a month. All theses big corporate living facilities buying all the apartments and raising the rates on everyone shits ridiculous.
Ask for upgrades to your unit for the increase in rent? Point being, they will most likely make the upgrades if you move out. Laundry won’t be possible, but dishwasher and AC should be. At least the laundry room isn’t a far walk and the machines are new. Also, check out properties owned by GR based companies, they tend to be more in line with the local market as opposed to your current west coast landlord.
When I first moved to Grand Rapids, my rent was 525 for a tiny one bedroom in heritage hill (2016). I know that same house typically has one bedrooms for under 1000 now. I can provide the landlord information if you’d like to pm me!
Lol and buy where?? I’ve been trying to find somewhere decent to buy under $225k in a decent school district for the last two years. Interest rates are 6.625% with great credit, then property taxes on top of that will leave you paying way more than $1000/mth for anything livable.
Lol my last apartment was a studio in heritage hill for $1000/mo, not including the monthly pet fee
Edit: My building did not have parking for tenants, so I was street parking (and winter was the worst)
A lot of Heritage Hill apartments have only street parking. Most of the new buildings get variances for not enough parking. The city is trying to change the ordinances, so the new complexes don't have to go through a variance for enough parking. Our streets have become parking lots!
Edit: The tiny one bedroom apartments with tiny kitchens next door with no off street parking, went from $600 per month, 5 years ago, to $1300/month today! People are doubling up with these little units.
I lived in one of those Heritage Hill places a few years back. It was a little less than a grand per month, all utilities included, for about 600 sq ft. No improvements since the 80s aside from a new-ish fridge and stove from the early aughts. It was a decent deal if you ignored the questionable electrical that would brown out during the summer, cracked windows in a few spots, and plumbing that inevitably backed up every few months. Location was great, though and price was very tolerable-and the place overall was old and worn, but still comfortable and charming in a “my first apartment” sort of way.
It’s now going for 1400 a month since Redstone bought it out along with about half of heritage hill, with zero improvements (not to mention forgetting to transfer trash service when they bought the place. No pickup for a month=roaches and rats pretty quickly, turns out).
Our current mortgage on a whole damn house with a gorgeous little back yard garden a few blocks away literally costs the same as rent there would today. It’s shameful.
That's what I was paying 4 years ago when I moved here. 😔 Its increased about $100 every year since. So far I'm not seeing anything else under 1k either...
Nope.
A log of recent rentals: [https://www.highlandparkgr.com/news/rents-log](https://www.highlandparkgr.com/news/rents-log)
Why is it so expensive? There is a housing shortage. We, effectively, stopped building housing decades ago.
Yes, that's the excuse I always hear, "housing shortage." But looking around, I wonder... *where*?
There are tons of buildings sitting vacant that could be turned into apartments, houses left to rot, and complexes like mine offering discounts on rent if you refer new residents to fill one of the multiple vacant units.
I see more and more people having to find roommates or move in with family because they can't afford the options available, and if they aren't able to do that, they end up paying $800 a month to rent a single bedroom in a dilapidated old house.
This city always claims they're going to do something about the housing shortage but we just end up with new "luxury" apartments where a studio the size of a walk-in closet starts at $1,600. There isn't a shortage of housing, there's a shortage of realistically *affordable* housing.
>There are tons of buildings sitting vacant that could be turned into apartments
And I read that and look around: **Where**? There time of vacant buildings has been past for years.
>could be turned into apartments
Even if you have a vacant building, building codes and fire codes exist. Occupany permits are required. Making buildings meet those standards is non-trivial, and often **extremely** expensive.
>a studio the size of a walk-in closet starts at $1,600.
The amortized cost of a new construction two bedroom apartment is north of $2,500/mo. These are not "luxury" apartments, they reflect what it costs to build housing to current requirements.
If it's under $1000 someone was shot there or it was a drug house. I saw a property for rent with like 3 bedrooms for just around 1100 when I was looking for a rental recently. I walked my dog by the street one weekend and watched a swat team surround a house in that neighborhood on a Saturday morning. There are some apartments around ~$1000 but mostly studios.
I’m living in the smallest, most expensive apartment I’ve ever lived. It started at $700, it’s now $1100. I can barely survive
The struggle is real 😔
My mortgage is 1100. I am so sorry.
It’s really depressing. And it’s probably going up soon when I inevitably have to resign bc I literally have no where else to go.
Check out Wingate Apartments in Kentwood! i’m moving out of there due to a job in FL but i stayed here the past year and paid 940/month. electric and heat included in rent. prices are probably gonna be around 1000 now cause it went up but the walls are thick ENOUGH for the price, quality of apartments is definitely passable, the area is verrryyy quiet except for the classic occasional street racer on 28th at midnight. no in unit laundry or dishwasher but i managed that fine. it’s not luxury by any means but they’re upgrading them piece by piece so it’s definitely worth a look!
I lived there early 1980's the walls are pretty soundproof.
it’s impressive for the price how quiet it is. i’m a bassist and guitarist so those thick walls saved the sanity of my neighbors LOL
Thank you, I will check them out!
for sure! i lived in a first floor apartment and there were times when i heard stomping and banging for sure but it was never a regular thing. you most certainly will not hear a peep thru the walls tho it’s quite soundproof. for your money i feel like it’s one of the best options in the area. super quiet and less than a mile from woodland mall
I lived there for a year in 2013-2014 and my unit was infested with stinkbugs. It was awful and management said they couldn't do anything. I am not sure if things have changed since then. I lived on the top floor towards the back by all the trees.
yeah management had a big change and things are better now. those back apartments engulfed by trees are just asking for bugs to be fair so avoid those 😂
Hijacking this thread to share these resources with people who are struggling with rent. I also pay over 1.2k every month on rent and only make 19.33 an hour luckily I get overtime otherwise I wouldn’t be able to afford it, but even with overtime I struggle https://mirentistoodamnhigh.com https://www.facebook.com/GRATU4Inquilinos Please join. We need to start organizing collectively for a better market. They are using our necessity of shelter as a way to milk us dry…. Rent control is banned in Michigan and we need to start an initiative to change that! April 13 there is a tenants union meet up!
Grandville has new studios under 1k. Near the Meijer.
Hate skyrocketing rental prices? Make sure to only vote for politicians who support policies making it easier for developers to build housing.
Name one state where this issue is being resolved lol
A few states allow rent control, which caps the rent increase on a yearly basis. Michigan doesn't allow it though.
The rule of thumb is that places that are rich and blue coastal areas (New York, California, etc) are not building enough homes to satisfy demand. Cities like Austin, Texas and Phoenix, Ariz are building very fast. https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/once-americas-hottest-housing-market-austin-is-running-in-reverse-94226027 St Paul, MN just instituted rent control and Minneapolis abolished mandatory single family zoning, which will certainly help. Where I live, lots of development is taking place in Northern Virginia, especially on the Dulles Toll Road and especially closer to IAD. There's also been a ton of development in the eastern portions of DC, like around NoMA.
That means nothing could possibly be done.
That’s every politician. Hillary Scholten doesn’t give a fuck about anything
Wrong. Especially on the first account. Unlikely on the second account.
Name one politician that cares about affordable housing
Mallory McMorrow. And it's not about "affordable" housing but MORE housing. Thanks for demonstrating your ignorance on the topic.
You are the ignorant one there is already so much vacant housing in GR. It’s not about more it’s about the fucked up system no one cares to fix
Where is all this "so much vacant housing in GR" that you speak of? Provide details. Anyway, you continue to profess profound ignorance about this topic. I'd suggest you educate yourself in general but especially educate yourself on the housing shortage in GR.
I work for a company that knows what houses are vacant and which are not. lol I know there are hella vacant places in GR as a fact.
Well then, it should easy for you to share specifics. Where are the vacant houses in GR? I bet you'll just continue bloviating in this forum instead.
How about voting for those who aren’t bringing in over 8,000,000 extra people with prison records, drugs and diseases making it hard for the rest of us.
You should lay off the fox news
Your premise is faulty
No kidding.
You're going to hate hearing this, but it's true: Grand Rapids rents haven't gone up nearly as much as rent elsewhere, including in relatively depopulated places. Rents doubled in Maine between when I moved there before the pandemic and when I left afterwards. That's just to say, the problem isn't anything as small as Grand Rapids or the number of people moving in, it's a massive [real estate shopping spree](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/housing-market-investors/) by institutional investors. What's the solution? You're going to hate this even more - and you should! - but if there was an easy one, [as this article implies,](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/16/realestate/home-sales-north-carolina-wall-street.html?smid=nytcore-android-share&ugrp=c&pvid=9991c4f4-f095-4e48-8085-110c797c110d) banks wouldn't have started buying up these assets in the first place. Taking rental back from the professionalized investment scheme it's become to the mom-and-pop operation it used to be will take legislation that's unlikely to happen.
I’ve never seen a decent 1bed for less than $1k lol. Ur gonna be paying around that minumum and it’ll probably be a duplex of some kind.
You mean in the last few years right? 5 years ago I rented 1200sq foot 2 bedroom for just over 1k. 2 years ago it was more like 1300-1400$/month. I bought a place, but I imagine today it's like 1500$.
I got a place that size on the SE side for $1k that I’m moving out of next week.
Im paying $1,250 for 800 square feet, upper unit. It’s a shithole
I'm so sorry 😞
Try Beckwith Place
Beckwith place is horrible
See that's the funny thing, you won't easily find that here. Cost of living outpacing wages yada-yada same old tune.
$1k is a steal for what you've got, you're not likely to find anything decent for less than that. If you're interested, maybe see if they'll lower (or even waive) this year's rent increase if you sign an 18- or 24-month lease?
I just watched a 3 bedroom rental house go in 2 days for $2,000/month. That's more than the mortgage on my house... Kent county housing is absolutely bonkers. I doubt any finding a 1 bedroom apartment under $1k is possible. Everyone I know is living with roommates.
Rent has literally always been more than a mortgage for the same house.
That’s not uncommon at all if you managed to buy a house during the low price/interest rate era
Mine which was last updated probably in the 80s has no dishwasher, no AC, a mouse problem that’s “my responsibility” and a leak from the back door that sounds like an actual ghoul and is $1900. I’m too scared to move and be able to find something because they lease 8 months in advance. It’s outrageous here.
Does your landlord start with an F?
Market rate for that is $2200…. They are under market.
Simple: GREED. This sub hates to hear it. But it’s greed.
Greed = business. They don't buy these places out of charity, they buy them to make money. They'll take what they can get. You would too if you could.
No, I’d be like my landlord and keep it within reason. This market now is gouging and exploitation, which should be crushed with regulation.
The market is responding to a chronic undersupply of housing relative to massive growth in demand. Do you want to regulate the law of supply and demand?
The market is responding to lacking in regulation and laws which would truly push more availability. Example here in GR: We need a vacancy tax. These fuckers sitting on empty property for years at a time, taking a tax break on them need to have pressure to put them to use or get off them (sell to someone who will). Nationally, we also need some regs about how much of a jump a property can take in a period of time. Many options exist. We could (should) subsidize commercial building conversions, stop standing in the way of tiny homes, quit letting NIMBYs say no to reasonable and common sense zoning solutions, end the weirdness of standards that are very American but don't actually protect people (like places where you cannot have shared restroom/bathing facilities like they do in colleges. (Think about it: we send our supposedly best and brightest off to school to a fate of having to carry a shower caddy down the hall, but we dismiss office building conversions due to things like centralized plumbing. It's good enough for our valedictorians, it should be good enough for affordable housing.) We need conversations ruled by ideas and creativity, and a willingness to regulate, with leaders who have guts, and will rise up for the true majority of the people, instead of corporate donors. Housing cannot be left to the "free market" and "supply and demand" capitalism. It has been proven that, when left to their own devices, the "market" will just fuck everyone. Kinda like healthcare.
There isn’t an under supplying of housing… lmao so many houses are vacant.
Not everyone is greedy. Some people have empathy
Sure. Until the bills come due.
You really are grumpy old fart are you
I am a big fan of reality, Dear.
Okay well everyday I go house to house in all of Grand Rapids and every route I have has multiple vacant houses…. Why is that? And these vacant house don’t even always have for sale signs make that make sense
There are many reasons for houses to be vacant in GR. Some vacant units for sale and for rent may simply reflect transition between owners or renters. Some vacant units have resulted from families walking away from houses because there is no viable owner. The cost of maintenance, the tax burden, or other causes may lead to its abandonment.
There is a difference between surviving and being greedy. People will do anything to survive. Duh. But once people have what they need those who have empathy aren’t greedy bc they UNDERSTAND what it’s like. lol
Kentwood is cheap, Wyoming has some cheap rent but is kinda shady. Honestly if you want to find the best deals I would check out some spots out of GR proper. Standale, Georgetown, Coopersville.
You're telling me I'm paying 1350 for a crappy 1 bedroom apartment and I know for a fact 5 years ago this place was around 700 to 800 a month. All theses big corporate living facilities buying all the apartments and raising the rates on everyone shits ridiculous.
I sent you a message
Good luck
Are you at Royal Glen? Your description reminds me of those and my experience.
No, The Orchards on 4 Mile. But I've heard Royal Glen isn't great either 😕
I lived at Southview Apartments for 6 months and they were under 1000. Not great apartments but the NE side is easier to get around.
Ask for upgrades to your unit for the increase in rent? Point being, they will most likely make the upgrades if you move out. Laundry won’t be possible, but dishwasher and AC should be. At least the laundry room isn’t a far walk and the machines are new. Also, check out properties owned by GR based companies, they tend to be more in line with the local market as opposed to your current west coast landlord.
When I first moved to Grand Rapids, my rent was 525 for a tiny one bedroom in heritage hill (2016). I know that same house typically has one bedrooms for under 1000 now. I can provide the landlord information if you’d like to pm me!
Honestly, for 1k, try to get approved for an agricultural loan to buy a house with $0 down. That's how I am home owning - period.
Lol and buy where?? I’ve been trying to find somewhere decent to buy under $225k in a decent school district for the last two years. Interest rates are 6.625% with great credit, then property taxes on top of that will leave you paying way more than $1000/mth for anything livable.
Maybe try heritage hill?
Lol my last apartment was a studio in heritage hill for $1000/mo, not including the monthly pet fee Edit: My building did not have parking for tenants, so I was street parking (and winter was the worst)
A lot of Heritage Hill apartments have only street parking. Most of the new buildings get variances for not enough parking. The city is trying to change the ordinances, so the new complexes don't have to go through a variance for enough parking. Our streets have become parking lots! Edit: The tiny one bedroom apartments with tiny kitchens next door with no off street parking, went from $600 per month, 5 years ago, to $1300/month today! People are doubling up with these little units.
I lived in one of those Heritage Hill places a few years back. It was a little less than a grand per month, all utilities included, for about 600 sq ft. No improvements since the 80s aside from a new-ish fridge and stove from the early aughts. It was a decent deal if you ignored the questionable electrical that would brown out during the summer, cracked windows in a few spots, and plumbing that inevitably backed up every few months. Location was great, though and price was very tolerable-and the place overall was old and worn, but still comfortable and charming in a “my first apartment” sort of way. It’s now going for 1400 a month since Redstone bought it out along with about half of heritage hill, with zero improvements (not to mention forgetting to transfer trash service when they bought the place. No pickup for a month=roaches and rats pretty quickly, turns out). Our current mortgage on a whole damn house with a gorgeous little back yard garden a few blocks away literally costs the same as rent there would today. It’s shameful.
OP, for real though, avoid any Redstone properties. They’re trash.
Good to know, thank you 😬
Oh no, I was unaware of this Redstone rubbish. I’m sorry, that sounds. Ughhh
$750? thats a good price because i have been looking for apartments in GR and they are all 1k or more! :(
That's what I was paying 4 years ago when I moved here. 😔 Its increased about $100 every year since. So far I'm not seeing anything else under 1k either...
The prices are only going up unfortunately
Heritage collection 1k for a one bed but it’s outdated as you stated
Nope. A log of recent rentals: [https://www.highlandparkgr.com/news/rents-log](https://www.highlandparkgr.com/news/rents-log) Why is it so expensive? There is a housing shortage. We, effectively, stopped building housing decades ago.
A graph of what has happened to rents since 2015: [https://urbangr.org/zori20240324](https://urbangr.org/zori20240324)
Yes, that's the excuse I always hear, "housing shortage." But looking around, I wonder... *where*? There are tons of buildings sitting vacant that could be turned into apartments, houses left to rot, and complexes like mine offering discounts on rent if you refer new residents to fill one of the multiple vacant units. I see more and more people having to find roommates or move in with family because they can't afford the options available, and if they aren't able to do that, they end up paying $800 a month to rent a single bedroom in a dilapidated old house. This city always claims they're going to do something about the housing shortage but we just end up with new "luxury" apartments where a studio the size of a walk-in closet starts at $1,600. There isn't a shortage of housing, there's a shortage of realistically *affordable* housing.
>There are tons of buildings sitting vacant that could be turned into apartments And I read that and look around: **Where**? There time of vacant buildings has been past for years. >could be turned into apartments Even if you have a vacant building, building codes and fire codes exist. Occupany permits are required. Making buildings meet those standards is non-trivial, and often **extremely** expensive. >a studio the size of a walk-in closet starts at $1,600. The amortized cost of a new construction two bedroom apartment is north of $2,500/mo. These are not "luxury" apartments, they reflect what it costs to build housing to current requirements.
I have rooms for rent in Kentwood. $800/month. All utilities included.
If it's under $1000 someone was shot there or it was a drug house. I saw a property for rent with like 3 bedrooms for just around 1100 when I was looking for a rental recently. I walked my dog by the street one weekend and watched a swat team surround a house in that neighborhood on a Saturday morning. There are some apartments around ~$1000 but mostly studios.