“The housing market in Butte was so cheap that they thought they could make money off of it and help me out,” said Dickson.

Overall, Graa said, some families choose investment over renting because they believe they can make a positive return on Butte’s affordable housing stock.

Matt Stout, an agent with Homestead Real Estate and the president of the Rocky Mountain Association of Realtors, also describes Butte housing stock as affordable.

He says that making a positive return in Butte’s rental market is well within reach because the properties here cost a lot less than in other cities.

According to an annual report put out by the Montana Association of Realtors, the average sale price of a single-family home in Missoula, Billings and Bozeman is $280,268, $242,101 and $401,306, respectively.

A single-family home in Butte, meanwhile, goes for $145,924.

Stout added that if a landlord is struggling, it could potentially be that he or she paid too much for the property. However, he said the most likely scenario is that the rental is in a poor location or the landlord is pricing the rent too high.

However, Edwards of Silver Bow Property management would tend to disagree.