The vacancy rate for rental housing in Milwaukee is one of the lowest in the country, leaving many prospective renters paying multiple application fees only to be rejected. | mastersenaiper/Pixabay
The vacancy rate for rental housing in Milwaukee is one of the lowest in the country, leaving many prospective renters paying multiple application fees only to be rejected. | mastersenaiper/Pixabay
With rents rising and vacancies dwindling, a growing number of Greater Milwaukee area tenants are finding it harder and harder to secure suitable dwellings.
"I don't know what to do," Michelle Pruitt told FOX6Now.com. She noted that the process of bagging an acceptable apartment for her and her three children has become like a second job.
All told, Pruitt, a federal government worker, said she has spent upwards of $500 on application fees in inquiring at over 100 apartments over a month’s time; the FOX6 report said. She has even been the victim in a rental scam.
"I’m paying all these application fees, $20 and $25 here and there, filling out applications left and right for nobody to ever call."
After renting a house in West Allis for six years, Pruitt now finds herself on the move after her landlord decided to sell the property. The landlord told FOX6 that Pruitt has been a "wonderful tenant."
Pruitt, who is also putting a child through school at Marquette, said her frustration grows knowing she is being denied apartments that cost less than the one she’s currently renting. She's already told her children they may have to give up their pets to find a place to live.
"I pay $1,150 in rent,” she said. “Plus, I make sure there’s food on the table. Plus, I make sure there’s clothes on my kids’ back. Plus sports or whatever else they want to do. I make a way."
With CoStar defining the vacancy rate as the total number of unoccupied units compared to the total inventory in the market, the vacancy rate in Wisconsin currently stands at 3%, well below the national average of 5%; the FOX6 report said. A CoStar data provider added that vacancies have been on the decline for several years, peaking at 6% in the Greater Milwaukee area at the end of 2017, making Milwaukee home to the fifth-lowest vacancy rate in the country among the largest 50 markets.
Low vacancy rates tend to mean landlords can afford to be picky about prospective tenants.
Pruitt noted that she might be homeless by the end of the month, the report said. But she will keep looking for a home and pushing forward so that her kids see her independence and know she isn’t giving up.
"I'm still gonna keep looking, even after that,” she said.
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