Covelo is a very remote and isolated area and there are few, if any, rental properties under professional management. The one local real estate company in Covelo does not manage rentals. Most property owners manage rentals on their own. This makes obtaining rental data for this area extremely difficult. The appraiser was able to obtain a short list of properties which are tenant occupied through MLS listings and interviews with the local Realtor. The data is very dated but there has been no change in the rental market. Rental comps 1 and 2 are rural properties on acreage parcels with multiple single family dwellings. Rental rate is for the primary residence on these lots. Rental comp 3 is a modest SFR on a much smaller half acre parcel on the highway in town. Based on interviews with local real estate agents there is a shortage of rental housing at this time. Properties like the subject are seldom rented and when they are the rent is often often heavily discounted or no rent charged in return for watching over the property and light maintenance.
There is insufficient verifiable rental data to develop a reliable opinion of market rent for the subject expressed as a single point. Over the years it has been my observations that rental rates range from about $600 to as much as $1,000 depending on property characteristics and location. The region is very isolated and major employment centers are 1 to 3 hours distant. Many renters rely on government housing assistance (referred to as "Section 8") while others rely on relatively low wage jobs available in the community. The subjects location is remote and it's likely that it would be difficult to find a well qualified tenant able and willing to pay more than minimum rent in terms of cash. Range of market rent for the subject is $730 to $1,110 with the lower range being most probable.
