At Zillow’s typical city home value of $423,173 and typical observed market rent of $1,474 monthly, Greeley’s implied gross yield is 4.18% before vacancy, management, maintenance, insurance, taxes, utilities and financing. The value is 6.06x ACS median household income of $69,881; annual Zillow rent equals 25.32% of that income. Zillow value fell 1.61% year over year while rent was nearly flat, leaving entry economics dependent on asset-level income and costs.
The city has 41,784 housing units, including 39,551 occupied; renters hold 39.09% of occupied units, and citywide vacancy is 5.34%. ACS occupied-housing surveys report a $402,500 median home value and $1,388 median gross rent, which includes selected utilities. These ACS measures differ in universe and period from Zillow’s typical city value and observed market rent, so they should not be averaged or treated as estimates of the same property.
Direct city depth is mixed. ACS shows 59.90% of renter households are burdened at or above the reported threshold. Single-family structures represent 63.36% of all units and large multifamily structures 9.06%; among vacant units, 46.35% are classified for rent. Population rose 4.64% between overlapping ACS five-year vintages, a comparison that may also reflect boundary changes and is neither annualized nor a five-year event count. The city median household income noted above, a 15.13% poverty rate and 5.59% unemployment rate describe demand constraints rather than causes. These citywide surveys cannot establish a specific asset’s condition, achievable rent, tenant quality or leasing speed; structure and vacancy-reason shares are not purchasable inventory.
County market context for Weld County reports a median 46 days on market and price reductions on 26.16% of active listings, evidence of negotiating room at county scope rather than a city measure. The broader Greeley metro shows jobs up 1.63%, 3.3 months of supply and a 30.60% price-drop share, combining supportive labor movement with visible metro resale competition. The national Freddie Mac mortgage rate is 6.58%, a financing benchmark, not Greeley borrower pricing.
Underwriting remains limited by citywide typicals, survey sampling, mismatched periods and broader-geography indicators. Before acting, verify the target’s purchase price, legal use, unit count, current leases, concessions, utility responsibility and realistic comparable rent; inspect roof, foundation, mechanical systems and deferred maintenance; and quote taxes, insurance, flood and hazard exposure, management, repairs, turnover, capital reserves and financing. Recalculate cash flow and break-even occupancy from those property-level inputs, and test lease-up against current competing listings rather than treating city vacancy as a promise.