Racine’s current Zillow ZHVI is $221,388 and its ZORI is $1,180 a month, implying a 6.4% gross yield before vacancy, management, maintenance, taxes, insurance, utilities, financing and capital work. The typical value equals 3.8x the ACS median household income, while annualized ZORI equals 24.5% of that income. This is a screening frame, not a property return: achievable rent, purchase price and expenses can differ materially.
The city has 34,848 housing units; 39.8% of occupied units are renter-occupied, and the citywide vacancy rate is 8.3%. ACS reports a $166,500 median value for surveyed occupied owner housing and $1,033 median gross rent, including selected utilities, for surveyed renter housing. Those ACS measures cover different housing and periods than Zillow’s typical market value and observed market rent, so they should not be averaged or treated as competing appraisals.
Direct city evidence shows 53.3% of renter households are rent-burdened. Single-family structures are 68.4% of all units, large multifamily structures are 8.8%, and units classified as for rent account for 36.3% of vacant units. Population was 77,633 versus 77,081 in the baseline ACS vintage, a 0.7% change between overlapping surveys; this is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $57,740, while poverty is 18.2% and unemployment is 6.1%. These describe citywide demand and stock, not rentable inventory, tenant quality or property lease-up speed.
In Racine County, listings had a median 29 days on market and 14.8% showed price reductions, useful county liquidity context rather than city performance. In the Racine metro, jobs declined 0.8% and for-sale supply was 2 months, combining a metro labor-demand constraint with a metro inventory reading, neither a city measure. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate was 6.58%, a national financing benchmark that does not state any borrower’s quote.
Underwriting is constrained by city aggregates, overlapping ACS samples and mismatched Zillow and ACS definitions; none identifies property condition, legal rent, concessions, utility responsibility, tenant turnover or operating costs. Before acting, verify parcel taxes, insurance and hazard terms; inspect the roof, structure, systems and deferred maintenance; confirm zoning, unit legality and code status; obtain leases, ledgers and utility bills; benchmark truly comparable rents and sales; and price vacancy, management, repairs, capital reserves and financing from actual quotes.