Opinion: Finding a Good Rental in Quincy is a Nightmare Right Now

I grew up in the Hannibal/Quincy area. My parents built a house here. I've seen the market change a lot over the years, but I've never seen a more difficult time to find a good rental than right now.

As I shared recently, my family is thrilled to be back in the tri-state area after nearly 8 years away. We hope to find a home to buy eventually, but for the short term we needed to find a home to rent. Little did I know what a challenge that would be.

My quest started on Realtor. I was alarmed that almost all of the search results in Quincy came up with commercial business locations and very few apartments. Even worse was the fact that of the apartments/homes available, most were already pending and had several applications in ahead of me. Yikes.

I enlisted the help of multiple friends including several real estate agents. They advised that I ask to join the private Facebook group Quincy Rentals. Many of the posts in that group showed that I was not alone in my desperate search to find a landing place for my family.

I had several real estate friends tell me that the inventory problems make buying a home harder than usual now, too. They mentioned several homes that had cash offers above asking price the same day they came on the market. Listed, pending and then gone.

CNN shared a story a few months ago about the housing inventory crisis of 2021. I can confirm that it's real and it's local and there's no clear end in sight.

My family was fortunate to finally find a rental on the outskirts of Quincy. For others, the search continues. If you haven't had to deal with this, you are fortunate. For many including my family, the struggle is very real.