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Looking To Rent In Minneapolis? Good Luck

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- If you want to rent an apartment in downtown Minneapolis, you're going to be hard-pressed to find one. That's because the rental market is hot.

The demand is high -- and so are the prices. But that hasn't stopped some renters from looking for their ideal place to live.

But if you snooze, you lose in this high-demand market.

"I toured it on Friday and called them back on the Thursday afterwards to sign it and the unit was gone," said Brandon Hernandez.

He's just out of college and is looking to rent an apartment in Uptown. He spent two months looking for the perfect place.

"I thought there would be more availability, in the price range I was looking for and the location I was looking for," he said. "The prices were a lot higher than I was anticipating them being."

According to a recent report by Marquette Advisors, the average rent for a one-bedroom in Minneapolis is about $858, while downtown it's around $1,200. It can be higher if you want a place in the popular North Loop neighborhood.

"One bedrooms have been going for about $1,495 to $1,595 -- that would be 780 to 900 square feet," said Dylan Garrison, a leasing agent for Downtown Resource Group.

They rent out condos.

"The market is so tough sometimes it's kind of a fight to the finish line, just to get into a property once we list it," he said.

The demand is so high, some people are renting apartments without even stepping inside first. They're just going by what they see in the pictures.

Garrison also said it doesn't take long for them to get a call once they've listed an apartment for rent.

"This year, prices are up and we're up 12 percent over last year," he said.

Jenny Noll is the property manager at Heritage Landing. They've got a one-bedroom vacant, but it will probably be gone by the time you read this story.

"Actually today, we've already shown it three times and already and one of the people took an application with them so I'm sure it will probably be rented out by the end of the day," she said.

Most of the demand is coming from people who are downsizing and moving from the suburbs or young people, with jobs downtown.

Sonya Goins, Producer
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