413 S Front St

Belding, MI 48809

$219,900D

3 bd · 1.0 ba · 1,184 sqft · Built 1900 · SingleFamily · Pending · 6 DOM

Cashflow @ list (25.0% down · 7.5%)

• Estimated rent: $1,544/mo
• Mortgage (P&I): −$1,153
• Tax + insurance: −$259
• HOA: −$0
• Vac / Maint / Mgmt: −$324
• Net cashflow: $-192/mo
• Annual: $-2,307/yr
• Cap rate: 5.55%
• Cash-on-cash: -2.67%
• DSCR: 0.88
• 1% rule: 0.70%
• Cash to close: $61,572

Investor read

• This is a 3-bed/1.0-bath single-family listed at $220k.
• At list price, monthly cash flow is $-192 ($-2k/yr) — negative.
• To cash-flow at today's rent, offer at most $186k (15.4% below list).
• To meet the 1% rule (rent ≥ 1% of price), the offer needs to be $154k (29.8% below list).
• Only 6 days on market — expect competitive offers; lowballing is unlikely to land.
• Recommended offer: $154k (29.8% below list) — sets the bar for 1% rule.
• In year one you build about $24k of equity ($2k loan paydown + $22k appreciation (10.0% local appreciation)).
• Location reads 74/100 on livability (#169 in MI, #4,436 nationally) — a middle-class / working-renter tenant base. Strengths: cost of living A+, housing A+, health & safety A+; Watch: employment D, amenities F, commute F.
• Belding Area School District (town): math 23% / reading 31% proficiency, ranked #398 of 540 in MI (top 74%) — low school quality limits family demand, transient renter base, plan for 1-2y turnover.
• Zoned schools: Ellis Elementary School (394 students, 59% FRL); Belding Middle School (math 20% / reading 34%, grade F, #372 of 493 statewide, top 77%, 325 students, 50% FRL); Belding High School (math 17% / reading 37%, grade F, #462 of 713 statewide, top 66%, 557 students, 48% FRL) — zoned schools at 53% FRL track the district average.
• Watch-outs: flood insurance adds $56/mo; built in 1900 — expect roof / HVAC / electrical / plumbing capex.
• Market conditions: 73 active listings in the ZIP; 94 units permitted in Ionia County in 2024 (0 in 5+ unit buildings).
• Ionia County population projected to shrink 8% by 2050 — rents likely to lag national; underwrite the cash flow, not the appreciation.
• 3 sale attempts with the ask held roughly flat each time — persistent listings suggest the price (not the market) is what's stuck; bring a comps-based counter.
• By year 2, paydown + projected appreciation supports a ~$38k cash-out refi (75% LTV) — recoverable capital for the next deal without selling this one.
• Climate carrying-cost: severe flood risk — expect insurance premiums to compound above CPI over the hold.
• Cap rate 5.5% vs local median 4.5% in Belding — meaningfully above typical; check what's discounted (condition, days-on-market, listing class) to confirm the premium yield is real.

Questions for listing agent

• What do current leases actually rent for vs. the listed asking? Can we see a recent rent roll and the last 12 months of T-12 income?
• Built in 1900 — when were the roof, HVAC, electrical panel, plumbing, and water heater last replaced?
• What's the actual annual flood-insurance premium (NFIP or private), and is the property in a SFHA with mandatory coverage?
• Is there a deadline driving the sale (1031 exchange, divorce, estate, relocation)? That informs how much negotiation room exists.
• Schools are D-rated, which usually means shorter tenancies and higher turnover. Who's the typical renter profile here, and what's been the actual vacancy rate?
• The area grade is low — what's the realistic commute time and amenity access for the typical tenant pool here? Any planned neighborhood developments (good or bad) we should know about?
• What's the average days-on-market for RENTAL listings here right now (not sales)? A rising rental-DOM trend means longer vacancies and softer asking-rent achievability than the comps imply.
• What's the recent tenant-quality profile in this submarket — average credit score on applications, eviction rate, late-payment / NSF rate, and stable-employment percentage? A property-management company in the area should have these aggregated.