Market Rents for Rental Homes in Whatcom County
Posted Dec 6, 2007 @ 10:58 pm, Viewed by 380 Visitors, Read 400 Times.For those of you interested in purchasing rental homes in Whatcom County, you need to be in tune with the local rental rates. When determining if a rental home will create cash flow you need to know if the current rent is at, below or above the current market rate. Windermere Property Management recently put together statistics for market rents in Whatcom County. The current rents are below.
Bellingham Rental Rates
In Bellingham 3 - 5 Bed - 2 Bath homes (with a garage) are currently renting for $1,200 - $1,350. Older homes that are dated tend to rent closer to $1,100 - $1,200. For college rentals and homes near the WWU campus, rents are typically dictated by the number of bedrooms. The current rental rate per bedroom near WWU is $350 - $400. The current vacancy rate in Bellingham is between 3% - 5%. Vacancy Rates for rental homes near the WWU Campus are even lower.
Ferndale Rental Rates
In Ferndale 3 - 5 Bed - 2 Bath homes (with a garage) are currently renting for $1,200 - $1,300. Older homes that are dated tend to rent closer to $900 - $1,100. Ferndale has a different type of rental market than Bellingham because there are no Universities or colleges nearby. Occasionally students will commute from Ferndale to Bellingham, but this is not common. Because there is less of a demand for rentals in Ferndale, we tend to see a higher vacancy rate and lower rents than Bellingham. However, Ferndale is still a popular location and homes do rent well in and near the City of Ferndale.
Blaine and Lynden Rental Rates
Blaine and Lynden have similar rental rates to Ferndale. Both cities are much smaller than Bellingham and therefore have less of a demand for rentals. Blaine does tend to have a lower vacancy rate than Lynden.
What is the Best Rental Investment in Whatcom County?
Bellingham is the best location in Whatcom County to purchase a rental home at this time. You should expect to put 20% down or more to cover your debt service. You will end up paying a premium price for a rental homes near the WWU campus, but these often end up being the best investments. Most students will need their parents to co-sign the lease, which will provide you will additional security. Rental homes near the WWU campus are also very easy to rent and typically have a 0% vacancy rate.
Ryan Martin, e-Pro®, Realtor® - 360-319-0040
Windermere Whatcom County Real Estate | Bellingham Real Estate
Ryan Martin, e-Pro®, Realtor® - 360-319-0040
Windermere Bellingham | Bellingham real estate | Bellingham condos
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Social Bookmarking9 Responses to “Market Rents for Rental Homes in Whatcom County”
Morgan, Thanks for catching that. I started a REW account a couple of months ago, but hadn't posted anything.
Hey not a problem 
- So what do you think of the new format?
Morgan, I don't know REW well enough to know the difference. I would like to see a spell check function on the comments. It would also be nice to have the ability to edit comments. I am used to ActiveRain, so it will take me a bit to get used to REW.
Actually, there is intentionally no edit function on comments - the reason behind this, is so that a user cannot "edit in" verbiage, or change the perception or tone of another's comment (Or completely change it) - This would be a form of impersonation. For this reason, we only allow the approval and deletion of comments.
In terms of a spell checker - there is actually a spell checker in the wysiwyg editor for when you make posts
SVRPaul
What are the price ranges of some of these investment properties in Bellingham?
Morgan, Okay, I understand why you don't want people to edit their comments. I did see the spell checker while posting the blog.
Paul - In Bellingham, you can find rental homes in the $240k - $260k range. In Ferndale, you can find rental homes in the $220 - $240 range.
superhomerentalscom
i think for your first time on here it is a greatpost -keep it up as a new blogger my self i have been making huge mistakes too lol i forgot i could post my blog here and been using my blogspot -but will start posting on here more -i have sent a copy of this to my blog would like to see your other blog at active rain -my blog is superhomerentalscom.blogspot.com hopes its ok to post that -allan
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Ryan Martin, with a B.A. in Economics from WWU has focused his career within the residential division of Windermere. Ryan is among the top real estate agents in both Whatcom County & Skagit County. Read More
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Ryan, you might want to consider spell checking your blogs before you post them, grammar and spelling can be the difference between you landing a customer reading your articles - phrases like "If you are looking for a home that cash flows, you best bet is going to be Bellingham" are likely not going to impress picky consumers. PS welcome to the NEW REW Blogs