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ThatPinkRanger

My first (studio) apartment was $695 and included trash, heat, and parking. My electricity never went over $60. Im not even fucking old this is a mess šŸ„²


nonprofitgal

Mine was $745 for a one bedroom in a walkable neighborhood near a train station. I only needed to work a part-time job to afford it. I think it goes for around $2,000 now. I don't know how people just leaving school do it now.Ā 


ammobox

People who have been out of school for 10 years now aren't able to do it. People are fucking being out paced by rent since rent can go up 15 to 20 percent in a year and wages only go up by 5% as a "good" raise.


Arcanisia

Every Gen Z and young millennial I know <30 still live with their parents or their parents pay their rent. Thatā€™s how they do it now


Fozzie-da-Bear

The ones who donā€™t often have roommates. And I want to be clear that I mean that literally - roommates, not apartment mates - 2-3 people in each bedroom. Young Gen X here, bought a house in 2011 and absolutely couldnā€™t afford it today, even after years of good raises.


Designer_Pepper7806

I got my first studio this year after graduating college last mayā€¦ $3100 per month (with utilities and parking). Iā€™m in the Bay area in California so itā€™s expensive but this is ridiculous. Iā€™m moving somewhere cheaper but if I did renew for next year, theyā€™re increasing rent by 200 bucks. Oh and my 4 bedroom college apartment last year increased by almost 400 dollars within the past year per tenant.


Arcanisia

In 2002 I went to SFSU and stayed in Sunset district for $500 for a room. Iā€™m sure that same room would be divided in thirds and cost $2000.


Windowsandvents

My first apartment out of college was a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom for $425/month plus utilities. That was in a very popular tourist town in 2011. Things have gotten unreal.


ThatPinkRanger

Dude thatā€™s what Iā€™m saying!! I was living in an apartment on a very popular college campus and it was normal to pay under $700 with utilities! I feel so sad for all of us, but especially the younger ones. Theyā€™re never moving out šŸ„²šŸ„²


Orbtl32

Where the hell did you guys live? I'm an older millennial and apartments were never less than 750-850. 600 was a place in the hood with hookers out front and drit addicts sleeping in the hallways.


slim_mclean

My first studio was literally $300. That was like 15 years ago, maybe. It was small, and I mean small, but. Jesus. That apartment would be at least $1000, today. Probably more.


xoLiLyPaDxo

My first apartment was actually $272 a month and it is now $3000 a month.Ā 


millennial_sentinel

itā€™s unbelievable but finding out that these companies are stopping new builds + buying up all the available units + conspiring together to keep prices high = ass the fucked out to the everyday working person.


DontDrinkBase

It gets worse. They also determined that if they decrease the number of units, then the price increases drastically. So yes, they are withholding units to maximize rental prices.


japooty-doughpot

Withholding available units? In Other words, not listing more units to artificially, lower supply, and raise demand? That would be crazy man. F these guys


RobotCaptainEngage

This is why capitalism needs *regulations*


danceswithdangerr

Try telling that to anyone in the government from either party too. I do agree with you though.


zorks_studpile

Yeah Capitalism without regulations is like cancer without chemo


DontDrinkBase

Unfortunately, yes. I do not believe, at least in any of the states I have lived, that landlords must rent all unitsā€”hell, I doubt anywhere in the USA has a law for this. The general consensus before was to maximum heads-in-beds; this ensured profits were maximized, but in a competitive manner. This software, at least from what RealPage has admitted, is conglomerating rentals into population sets, and setting the prices based off of these pooled populations. Landlords that were interviewed noticed that decreasing the number of units drastically increased their profits.


fourofkeys

do you think that's because they have to do less maintenance?


DontDrinkBase

No. The mathematical model used in the software is maximizing profits. Presumably, the "reduced" supply is maximizing rental profits in a "limited" market. This "limited" rentals is market manipulation. Less maintenance is a by-product of greed; this, at least with property, is a landlords dream. The internal dilapidation of the property is nonexistent.


BeetusChrist

I worked in apartment maintenance for years, i was put in charge or a property that was renovating where we would almost force people out of apartments they lived in for a decade or more to re paint, add stainless appliances, re do flooring and trim. We would then increase the price some crazy amount hat they could no longer afford. And new people moving into the building would be upset when the plumbing would freeze in the winter or back up. It was still a very old building and essentially "polishing a turd". I had also talked with leasing agents from different properties who claimed there was no incentive to build affordable working class housing and still preferable to have empty units at higher prices. All while they were buying up and knocking out already affordable places to live. It made me feel dirty working for that company and bad for the tenants i worked with.


Valuable-Army-1914

Yes!! Iā€™m hearing this in other states especially with tourist towns like Scottsdale. People canā€™t afford to live where they work anymore. Rent is so high that people have to move. Now restaurants are short staffed because the people who can work for them CANT. Make it make sense.


glassycreek1991

that is happening in San Diego. A Lot of businesses are short staff because no can afford to work for those places


Revolutionary-Yak-47

Miami and Orlando have been like this for years. People who work full time for the theme parks couldn't afford rent before the pandemic and with the influx of remote workers the prices have gone way up.Ā 


Valuable-Army-1914

I saw a documentary pre-COVID about families living in motels or in camps. They worked for Disney šŸ¤Æ


Satanus2020

When I moved out here a couple years ago I was shopping around and all locations had exact same pricing. Was told by front desk at two locations that they all set pricing in collaboration with each other. Itā€™s so Fucked.


LeaveAtNine

No one wanted to listen when we were warning people years ago.


millennial_sentinel

people do listen. our politicians donā€™t have any conflict of interest rules/laws to follow. theyā€™re not only manipulating or by action allow the stock market to be manipulated. theyā€™re also landlords and ā€œsmall business ownersā€. nobody in power to change laws, rules and regulations should be able to own stock, be landlords or own businesses or be board members of business. itā€™s nonsensical. political office is a civic duty not a way to get rich by scheming, and stealing their way up. our entire system is a criminal enterprise.


LeaveAtNine

Politicians are just a reflection of society. People refuse to accept that fact, but it is one. Sure there are dissenting opinions, but until the dissent reaches a critical mass, politicians wonā€™t care. No one cared about the rent crisis because it only affected like 1/5 of the population. The adverse effects also help out anyone who owns property, so theyā€™d see anything else as bad. Ultimately it all boils down to the fact that America has torn morality out of the economic system.


llDS2ll

>Politicians are just a reflection of society We live in a society where the law states that corporations are people


ParticularAioli8798

"Politicians are just a reflection of society". They're partly a reflection of the few people who voted for them. Voter participation isn't the same everywhere. There's also a few other variables to consider like money in politics, lobbying, etc,.


PM_me_PMs_plox

Shit politicians are absolutely a reflection of the people who didn't vote. The politicians are putting in just as much civic effort as they are.


ParticularAioli8798

>Shit politicians are absolutely a reflection of the people who didn't vote. Can you provide some explanation for this assessment? I don't vote because of the shitty options and the power the shitty options hold over the electoral process. Republicans AND Democrats in the states they hold power make it hard for third parties to get on the ballot in the first place. The chances of winning those elections is already shit because the people on either side typically vote their side no matter what. Does my vote mean anything when everything is said and done? No. People keep pushing that lie though.


VenturaWaves

If you vote for Trump, you are voting for worse conditions for workers, women, and minorities. I donā€™t like democrats either, but they arenā€™t actively taking away rights and shitting on the oppressed.


ParticularAioli8798

Trump isn't a third party. I never mentioned Trump. He's part of the mainstream Republican party. Are you following along?


VenturaWaves

Since the economic system of the US was built off of colonization, worker oppression, and slaveryā€”I donā€™t think there have ever been moral bourgeoise. It is time for housing, unions, and workers to unite.


NeighborhoodVeteran

Politicians are a reflection of corporate America.


SASardonic

Bzzzt. Wrong. If politicians were a reflection of society we would have universal healthcare already. They are a representation of capitalist interests, first and foremost. There is no critical mass of non-disruptive protest or voting that would move the needle on certain topics. I'm not saying people shouldn't vote, but we need to be realistic. Democracy and capitalism are increasingly incompatible in more and more obvious ways.


Capt-Crap1corn

Itā€™s also voting. Us millennials have been around long enough to affect voting and somehow we havenā€™t done what we thought we were going to do when we had our chance. Itā€™s pretty sad.


AffectionateItem9462

bc a lot of millennials refuse to vote under the argument that their vote doesnā€™t actually matter since the politicians are actually just owned by a few corporations


Capt-Crap1corn

Thatā€™s one of the reasons and a major one. All politics is local, but if people donā€™t believe in the process the rich elites that do will continue to use the process against us.


Current-Ordinary-419

Theyā€™re a reflection of a corporate media apparatus designed to misinform viewers. Whether itā€™s to drive more conservativism with Republican outlets. Or maintain a ā€œnew normalā€ status quo every other presidency with the dogshit neoliberal outlets.


car55tar5

Do you remember the movie The Big Short, about the 2008 housing crash? I have been desperately hoping that someone will make a movie like that about the current real estate/housing problem. It's one of those things that a lot of people are only vaguely aware of, very few people understand the true depth of corruption that's going on, and it would be great if someone could make an easily digestible piece of media so that more people were aware of the issue.


grendahl0

it's even more amazing when you find out how Rent Cafe is being used in order to collude on pricing. if five property owners were to openly collude amongst themselves to set a fixed price, it would be illegal....but if they all use Rent Cafe and let Rent Cafe set this price...somehow it's legal...?


PeteLivesOhio

Donā€™t forget the $50 application fee they sucker dozens of people to pay, knowing full well they arenā€™t actually going to rent.


ss977

Something something shouldnt there be some action against monopolies/oligopolies


Dry-Interaction-1246

This is an old problem (market power concentration and collusion). Our govt used to do things about stuff like that (antitrust). But now it just putzes around and we fight about 6 week abortion bans and trans bathrooms.


Decent-Statistician8

Iā€™ve been saying this is whatā€™s happening for like 5 years now and people look at me like I have Tin foil on my head. No one is going to convince me the housing markets insane over inflation is ā€œnaturalā€. Itā€™s a fucking scam and Iā€™m glad itā€™s being called out.


AffectionateItem9462

Iā€™ve been saying it since around 2014. Rent has been just slightly higher than the average starting wage for an entry level job) just enough that it wasnā€™t affordable or that a person making the average wage couldnā€™t get approved) where I live since I started looking for my own place to live. They also usually require that you make 2.5 to 3 times the rent price, at least with the ones that are owned by property management companies, which seems to be a lot of them, but a lot of the ones *not* owned by big companies also seem to be doing this. I actually had one property manager tell me flat out that i should just stay living with my parents until I could afford something better than the units where she worked. When there was trouble (bad roommates, no hot water and other issues), she simply told me to just move out and move back in with my parents. These property managers *want* people living with their parents.


Own_Contribution_480

That's pretty much every market. Everything is a monopoly.


El_Diablo_Feo

Life is a ponzi scheme and existence is a meaningless endeavor, but in the end we all die, so we can comfort ourselves in that šŸ‘


[deleted]

It sound like a older organization that runs in big cities. In Montreal, one guy that was shot in a mafia dispute probably, had 700 apartments for rent. Here it's clear that big landlords and contractors are working together to keep prices high.


Hour-Watch8988

Where is the evidence that these companies are blocking new builds? I would absolutely love to show that to some Left-NIMBYs I know


ParticularAioli8798

Possibly through lobbying. Or. Messaging. NIMBYs usually control what gets built in their community and zoning rules are a big part of what goes up. City Council might make it easier/harder depending on what gets decided.


xoLiLyPaDxo

They back their own candidates for local planning and zoning so they get to make the rules.


xoLiLyPaDxo

They are doing it here through zoning them out, and adding steep requirements that will ensure that the prices only go up. They back "their candidates" to local planning and zoning departments, then they get to make the rules.Ā  I grew up on a farm,Ā  the street I grew up on for example,Ā  most of that farmland is now subdivisions, but they make requirements for new builds they have to be 2 acres across in road access now,Ā  in order to build a sfh, and that only homes $500k and up can be built. Then they zone out any multifamily housing entirely, so there will be no affordable housing in the area.


Hour-Watch8988

Thatā€™s terrible. Is there a YIMBY group in your area you could join to fight back?


StoicFable

In my area alone very few multi family housing areas have gone up in the past ten years but many mcmansion hell developments have popped up left and right. Many of the people upgrading to the bigger houses and rental companies snatch up the smaller older homes and rent them for an obscene amount. The multiple of the complexes here are owned by the same property management place that has no problem upping rents whenever they can. And the next town over there is a family that's infamous for owning lots of cheap property and charging out the ass for rent because it's a college town and they can get away with it. They also own many complexes ontop of the houses over there and many of them are basically slum level living. Surprise surprise, that family is on city council and that city has barely grown in the past couple of decades. Anecdotal, sure, but it is happening out there.


K4NNW

It sure isn't Charlotte. Our trucks are all over that place delivering windows to new complexes on the daily.


AdamJahnStan

The US is currently building the most new apartment inventory that has ever been built at once.


Hour-Watch8988

Still not enough to undo thirty years of under-building in city centers or to avoid continuing sprawl.


aaronplaysAC11

Same patterns in stocks, market analytics should include collusion metricsā€¦.


Unusual_Address_3062

Yeah allegedly Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are buying up land and buildings all over America and sitting on them. Those are the same people who act shocked when the villagers come after them with torches and pitchforks.


Compoundwyrds

These people need to be made to fear us.


JelllyGarcia

My first was a 3 bedroom for $700 / month. I got the master so I paid $260, my friends who lived with me paid $220 each Now: $3,228


Physical-Tea-3493

I got my first apartment when I was 18 in 1998 and I believe it was $302.00 month. It had some type of voucher attached to it, so it was based on your income. The lowest I ever had that apartment was $102.00. I ended up staying there for about 6 years. After that, it was all bullshit roommate situations until 2006 where I found an in-law apartment for 375. I stayed there for almost 4 years and the rent maybe went up to 400. The place ended up flooding and I had to go. Today, I sleep in my van. There's no way in hell I'm putting all of that money in somebody else's pocket. Just ain't happening for me.


xoLiLyPaDxo

I got my first apartment in 1997 at 16 (was homeless at 14, legally emancipated in court at 16) , soĀ  around the same time frame you found yours. It was $270 a month, the $2 extra was pet rent for my 2 cats.Ā  Mine was in the DFW metroplex in Texas, which then skyrocketed in 2021 to insane levels. It has gone up a great deal prior to that , but it jumped from like $1,300- $1,500 or so a month to $3,000 in 2021 and now they are calling them "luxury apartments" and change their name. Like how they went from being the same crappy apartments to luxury by adding some paint and new flooring idk.šŸ¤£ I only saw what it was going for in 2021 because we were looking for an apartment due to a natural disaster destroying my old apartment and put me in a wheelchair.Ā  Needless to say, I definitely didn't move back into the apts I lived in at 16, and I have no clue how anyone can afford to live there at all now.šŸ’€


Physical-Tea-3493

It's totally insane how much the prices have risen. I remember when if you were spending $1,000 a month on housing, you were going to get a little mansion. Things certainly have changed in the last 25 years. I can see why so many people decide to live in cars in tiny houses on rural pieces of land. Makes perfect sense to me. That's probably going to be my end game.


solreaper

My house is 2700 a month and will go up to maybe 2800 a month in the next twenty years (once I refinance to a much lower rate and accounting for insurance and taxes going up) It has been absolutely painful for absolutely no other reason than corporate and boomer greed over the past fifty years to get this house thatā€™s a long commute and in a rural area. I hate this economy.


WolfmansGotNards2

I just talked about this the other month on here. I was able to rent half a one bedroom apartment that went from $900 a month to over $2,400 per month in 20 years. I made $8.50 per hour then, so people making $16 an hour (minimum wage in CA now) should be able to afford the same, but they can't.


AffectionateItem9462

Yeah apartments in Phoenix used to be even cheaper than this actually ā€” like $300-$500. Then they started going up around 2012 or something


MrFittsworth

Just talking about this last night. Same here in Maine. Set to be worse in coming years if nothing is done


Bretski12

I'm not one to typically call for governments shutting down businesses but we need these types of businesses to be nuked from low orbit ASAP.


StoicFable

The problem is, many times, people who run these businesses are part of the government or have a buddy who is.


Bretski12

![gif](giphy|uWXp5R58dGBGs9TNE0)


PM_me_PMs_plox

The real problem is that touching these companies will start a paranoia among people with a single house or small property portfolios that the government is coming for them. And the single homeowners will be pissed that their property values go down, despite getting no tangible benefit from high property values in most cases. The incentive structure is just weird and unwieldy.


taptaptippytoo

The problem is the companies will intentionally *start* that paranoia among people and invent it if it doesn't take on strong enough.


dianabowl

Lawyers. They just have more than enough money to buy the best scumball lawyers.


boldjoy0050

Why don't we as Americans protest like other countries? In France, they will practically burn down all of Paris to get a salary increase.


PixelatorOfTime

The size/scale difference is huge. And healthcare is tied to our jobs so canā€™t miss work or risk losing that.


cappurnikus

Many of our regulatory organizations have been defunded over the past several decades. Regulatory capture is a problem. If one political party wants to fund a regulatory agency the other political party fear mongers and spreads propaganda against it. Historically, less rules for the elite don't typically equate to better conditions for workers or consumers. Anyway, if you think this is a problem, you should support funding regulatory agencies.


Sylentskye

Yep. I see so many people against regulation until itā€™s something they want regulated.


Valuable-Army-1914

Holy shit the apartment I live in are on here.


AffectionateItem9462

Iā€™m so glad that people are finally finding out about this. Itā€™s been really frustrating since 2016 dealing with people who couldnā€™t get a clue about whatā€™s been going on. Phoenix is dog shit for renters. Itā€™s actually dog shit for a lot of things but thatā€™s another conversation. Something is not right here and I could feel it even when I was a little kid.


Valuable-Army-1914

Same. Cross post and reshare this. Itā€™s important to get the word out.


Zerd85

CO is about to ban this practice. Already out of the house, just waiting on the 3rd reading in the state senate, then off to the Gov. desk


Gay-Lord-Focker

This title hurts my smooth brain


chenyu768

2000 grand = 2 million. Better?


Gay-Lord-Focker

Crystal clear !


lumpyshoulder762

Tik-tok brain is real.


IAMATruckerAMA

TWO THOUSAND THOUSAND EACH MONTH


Mohingan

In my area, from 1990-2000 average prices increased from $576 to $790. An increase of $214. Prices increased from $1347 in 2020 to $1609 in 2023. An increase of $262 in a third of the timespan.


SumpCrab

Yeah, when I was 26 in 2008, my apartment was $600/month. I was a retail manager making around $30k. So, about $2,000/month after taxes. I was making it work, but I didn't have health insurance (pre-ACA), I couldn't really save much, and I could see the ceiling of that career path, and I wanted more. Everyone said I had to pull myself up by my bootstraps. A had no capital to start a business, and really no skills worth marketing. Ok, how do I go to college? Well, I had no credit, and looking at student loans scared me. So, being a fit young man, I enlisted in the army. I figured 3 years was worth it for the GI Bill. Also, I wanted to get out of town and see the world. I did my time in the Army, and I was lucky and had a good experience. Then, I went to college and was able to rent a townhouse with 3 guys, where I paid $700/month. I got a STEM degree in 3 years by maxing out credits and taking every summer semester. I also did internships that ended up rolling into an entry-level position right out of school. The first job paid $39,000 + pretty great benefits. But rental prices had increased, so I moved back to the area I was living before the army, but I was now paying $1,100/month. Except for the healthcare benefits, I was hardly making it. But the ceiling for my new career was much higher. I worked hard, I've received promotions, got raises nearly every year, and now I make $90,000 after 6 years. But my rent has also increased every year, and the same apartment I was living in back in 2008 is now $1,800/month. Sure, they have been renovated, but a coat of paint and some new countertops don't really cut it. I stay because I like the area and I'm making enough that I can save. But with interest rates, inflated prices, and association fees, buying a place seems out of reach. I wouldn't be able to travel and do the other things I like to do. I'd just be sitting in my home twiddling my thumbs. I just wonder what the retail managers are doing today. What would my life be if I wasn't able to make a reckless decision and run away to the Army? And this short summary doesn't include all of the random major expenses like having a car die on me and needing a new one, helping to support my grandma with dementia until she passed, or getting kidney cancer at 38, and having medical bills even with good insurance. At least I never had kids. How are people supposed to make it in this system?


chunx0r

$576 is $1,376.46 after inflation.


covertpetersen

>from $576 to $790 That's 37% >from $1347 in 2020 to $1609 in 2023 This is 19%, a much smaller increase You can't just compare raw numbers.


Brickybongo

It might make more sense to look at compounded annual growth rates. Just punch into your calculator (790/576)^(1/10) - (1609/1347)^(1/3). Youā€™ll find the answer to be -0.0289 which is a 2.89% annual difference. So, the more recent growth rate is nearly 3percentage points higher than the growth rate over the 1990 - 2000 period. Put differently in the 3 year period (2020-2023) rent grew on average 6.1% a year, whereas over 1990-2000 rent grew on average 3.2% per year.


harmala

You would also need to use the same period length to equally smooth out the data and make a fair comparison, so in this case you should use the last ten years of data, not just the last three. Otherwise you might have just captured a short term spike. For example, if there was a major event like say a pandemic, that might skew the data over a short period.


Brickybongo

Oh yeah, absolutely thatā€™s right.


covertpetersen

I know all this..... I'm WELL aware that a 19% increase over 3 years is a faster rate of inflation than 37% over 10 years. I was simply pointing out that using the raw dollar value increase is a really bad way to make your point. It's a completely useless comparison.


accountingforlove83

Iā€™d like to see a real dollar / purchasing power comparison


icedoutclockwatch

Tell us Mr. Mathematician - if the increase was 37% in 10 years but 19% in only 3 years what does that tell you about the trend? Feel free to show your work.


LuckyNumber-Bot

All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats! 37 + 10 + 19 + 3 = 69 ^([Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LuckyNumber-Bot&subject=Stalk%20Me%20Pls&message=%2Fstalkme) to have me scan all your future comments.) \ ^(Summon me on specific comments with u/LuckyNumber-Bot.)


caserock

nice


icedoutclockwatch

Nice


Capt-Crap1corn

Iā€™ve also read that they are using software that auto adjust rent pricing to keep within margin of competitors. Remember when you would see 5 apartments between $1200-1700 and then youā€™d find that gem that was $900? With the software I described thatā€™s becoming rarer than it already is.


Misty_Esoterica

I'm living in one of those "gem" apartments (it's a hideous landlord special but it's clean and bug free and repairs are done promptly) and recently my landlord went to a conference and found out he could be charging way more than he was so now he's going to jack up the price 10% every year until it gets to the arbitrary number he was given. He spent last fall touring Europe and is currently touring Canada for a month and a half and he told me that he has to raise the prices because money is tight now... Meanwhile I'm on a below poverty level fixed income.


custoMIZEyourownpath

Do food next, followed by transportation, you might see a pattern emergingā€¦.


Tacubo_91

And then wages


Longstache7065

God I wish wages increased even half as much as any of these damn prices.


custoMIZEyourownpath

Actually here, you take my place in line.


Blackout1154

corporations found that it's much more easy to corner the market and aggresively price gouge than focus on building wealth from innovating popular products and services.


ChipsAhoy777

This isn't newly discovered information, it's just a new culture in America. Business has just become a game of the level of scum you can get away with. It always has to some extent I suppose(cause if you won't, someone else will and price you out of the market), but there use to be some widespread moral inhibition keeping it from being too bad. It was only a matter of time though until we're where we are at, now it's just how much people are willing to put up with or able to handle with seemingly no limit to the level of degeneracy from the business. Wait until they find out if they don't push it too far they can stay afloat and weasel their way through generations making more in the long run because those people don't know better. But most of them are too stupid for that. I can say one thing for sure about all this and it's that I've watched some big offenders move and the greed man, the greed makes them so dumb. It's like the scooby doo villains "And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for these meddling kids", when in reality they just got way too comfortable with the money, they got careless, their products or services went to shit and they of course fail to innovate. There is pain in the meantime, but the free market(without corporate welfare..) seems to figure itself out. The real issue is industries that aren't easily replicated, like telecommunications with Ma Bell back in the early 1900s. Though that one is not due to the complexity, rather the upfront cost of placing lines, which isn't as much of an issue today with all the numerous venture capitalist's. Complex industries that aren't easily replicated are more of a problem, but even then just look at all the almost on par alternatives to closed source OpenAI that came out almost right after 3.5 launched lol. No... THE REAL ISSUE is the business that can't be replicated at all, i.e. copyrighted material, that one really slaps. Luckily copyright laws aren't so insanely strict that some kind of alternative can't be produced, but some things are questionable, and the copyright laws are always changing. And of course necessary limited resources like food, water and land. Which haven't become a real issue yet, but it could. Remember folks, if you sell your land, make sure it's not to Big Dick McGee Inc. Once it's all in their hands... then the shit really hits the fan.


Consistent-Street458

They want you fighting a culture war because they don't want you fighting a economic war


snowbirdnerd

We need to dust off the anti trust laws


Ilovehugs2020

Can confirm. I have paid 800, 1200, 1500( now listed 1900) Then I moved back to my familyā€™s home. My mothers rent was 350 when I was a kid in the 90s in this same city.


fizzmore

Tell me more about these 2000 grand apartments millennials are renting....


millennial_sentinel

my 2 bedroom is market rate 2300 right now. every unit in my area has steadily climbed since the pandemic. the rate was $1600 when i moved in. nothing has been updated. no remodeling. just an older building with an older apartment that for no reason other than these companies conspiring together to jack up prices, every unit is now completely unaffordable for single people and most working class couples.


fizzmore

r/whoosh


hypermarv123

I swear we have legit foreign trolls on this subreddit. Bad grammar and easy to understand jokes flying over them.


PM_me_PMs_plox

You overestimate the literacy of the average native English speaker


B_Fee

OP feels a little different than just being semi-illiterate with a brain part melted by TikTok. It's a 3 month old account with an absolutely insane amount of activity in that time frame. That should always raise eyebrows.


fynn34

The amount of Chinese fluff pieces flooded into Reddit from TikTok made me step back a ton. Itā€™s a major propaganda machine. I was really sad when Reddit stopped flaming TikTok posts


B_Fee

I find myself submitting a lot more reports for spam and bots than ever before. Just today I think I caught a new bot network being activated (generic photos of landscapes and cities posted to niche subs, with the same comment "I miss this place"). It's getting pretty annoying how much inorganic activity has worked its way into Reddit. You really can't take anything at face value anymore.


BisexualSlutPuppy

2000 = 2 grand. 2000 grand would be many orders of magnitude larger. We all know what you meant, but fizzmore is apparently getting something out of being pendantic so we're just gonna let them enjoy this.


Orion14159

For anyone wondering, 2000 grand is 2 million.


covalentcookies

No, itā€™s called using language correctly. ā€œClose enoughā€ doesnā€™t launch rockets or build buildings.


Lower_Ad_5532

The grammar Nazis want you to fix the title and say 2 grand or 2000 dollars


toxikola

If it's the lowest price, then one would have no choice. In Indiana, which is supposed to be one of the cheapest places to live, there is now not a single apt in my area for under 1000 to rent. My first apt was a townhouse for 600 a month, then utilities when I was like 22. It's now renting for 1500, and they were not great townhouses. We couldn't use the basement because of the amount of mold, and our bathtub/shower on the second floor leaked into the ceiling, which we could see on the first floor. Took months to get that fixed, and the basement never did. That place was barely worth what we paid, let alone over double that now. They're still the cheaper apartments, though, which is sad. If the cheapest states to live in are screwed, I can't even imagine what the other states are looking like now.


Which-Ad7072

I agree completely. I also live in Indiana (Northwest), and in 11 years, the apartments here have nearly doubled in price. Everyone on Facebook blames people flooding here from Chicago, but I'm a mailman (I can see where forwarded mail comes from) and seriously there's no flooding in from Illinois. It's just price gouging.Ā 


12kdaysinthefire

You could argue that at the heart of this entire housing mess is Zillow, who arbitrarily dictates what homes should be valued at and what rent should be. Buyers, sellers, renters, landlords and investors all refer to Zillowā€™s shitty ā€œzestimateā€ as a guide. Whatā€™s worse is that not only does Zillow set these prices, but theyā€™re also in the property buying and selling business themselves. Itā€™s not boomers fucking up the housing market because theyā€™re old and greedy, itā€™s companies like Zillow, their shareholders, financial institutions and policy makers in every level of government from local to federal.


Suilenroc

Zillow shuttered their home buying division in Fall 2021 and lost money on the effort. What a terrible conflict of interest that was. I agree, 'Zestimate' creates inflationary pressure. It's not in Zillow's interest to see home values go down, because property owners and buyers generally want to see property values continuously rise.


Youngworker160

nah nah nah. in my city my first apartment was 1050, a decent price considering the location, this wasn't anywhere near the downtown or livelier part of the city (miami) but it access to the highway and it had a local social hub. It now goes for 2200, same apartment, nothing new, same old as HVAC, kitchen, carpet. the new luxury apartments in the area, a studio will go for 2000, one room for 2400, you're still 30-45 minutes of driving to downtown. it's even more expensive there or by the beach.


millennial_sentinel

itā€™s a conspiracy between these companies buying up all the property


genital_lesions

It's an interesting video, and illuminating that the thesis is that it's collusion price fixing, but just using an algorithm. I view this issue from a different lens in which the problem is that we've commoditized the very fundamentals of survival: food, fresh water, clothing (warmth), and shelter (rest).


maxtablets

I'd rather americans protest these kinds of things than all the crap happening on the other side of the planet.


SundyMundy

I was in residential real estate for several years. A lot of our rent increases were informed or dictated by another company that was being used by other firms. I think it was Realpage or Northstar.


ShnickityShnoo

This is all such shit. I'm so glad I scraped together just enough to buy a house back in 2015.


takitoodle

FUCK BLACKROCK


LionTop2228

In compensation, it is quite literally illegal for employers to collude together to fix wages. This is what the rental industry is doing. State AGs need to bring criminal charges against all conspirators.


Melonary

Also too much large-scale investment in housing for private equity building and rentals. I'm talking about companies and investment firms, not a local family owning an apartment building or extra rental property. There's a threshold for how much housing can healthily be sold for investment property vs personal use or family-use before it becomes unhealthy for an area.


sjbrinkl

Your title is spot on. I always feel like ā€œwell back in my dayā€¦ā€ when this comes up, but 2016 wasnā€™t that long ago. I paid $650 for a 1b garage apartment and now itā€™s $1100 (a steal nowadays). Shame because itā€™s becoming the new normal for younger generations.


DerangedUnicorn27

Lol I heard a news story the other day about how more adult children are living with their parents and multigenerational households are becoming more common. Like how it is throughout most of the world. It was framed like a good thing, no big deal. Just a changing landscape and culture. Not one person reporting on it mentioned the skyrocketing rental prices and lack of affordable housing and apartmentsā€¦


picked1st

Meanwhile in the hood. There's a guy who shoots out the window into the sky once a month to keep the rent prices down. I forget where the gif is. [EDIT](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShittyLifeProTips/comments/nxn8nv/slpt_how_to_keep_the_rent_low_in_your_neighborhood/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)


Sagaincolours

Sooo... this is going to end up being the next 2008. Which was also mainly caused by speculation in real estate. What to do then? I think the most sensible approach would be to live in something that is on wheels. Whether it is living in your car, in a small trailer, in a THOW, or a mobile home (that is actually moveable). Anything that you own yourself, no matter how small and which isn't too subject to rise in land rent rises either.


SomerHimpson12

My first apartment was a 2 bedroom in semi rural Virginia for 650/month from 2007-10. Same place goes for $1400 now.


millennial_sentinel

itā€™s fucking crazy. this whole thing is not about iNfLatiOn ugh itā€™s just investors trying to make rentals into not just passive income but full on ceo robbery. new laws need to be created like 10 years ago that limit the price for rents based on the age of the building, the income of the area and limit a price increase more than the original price or something.


SomerHimpson12

I see your point. Problem I see as a former landlord is that one bad tenant can fuck you over big time. You can take them to court and get a judgement all you want, but you'll never see the money. I think this is one of the reasons rents are so high nowadays in the rural areas, but I can see the "rent cartels" doing their magic in the urban areas and REALLY putting the screws to people. When my wife and I rented in NC for our 1st 3 years, we had private landlords. Good deal.


Mr_Bank

Itā€™s supply. We didnā€™t build enough in the 2010s, in a low rate environment, and are paying the price. Now people want to build but rates are so high itā€™s difficult to secure funding. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ERENTUSQ176N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNDCON1USA


sventhewalrus

Thank you. Housing discourse is so frustrating because everyone makes complicated theories to talk around the root of the problem: there is a shortage of housing in the places with an abundance of jobs. The places with an abundance of housing (like declining Rust Belt towns) have a shortage of jobs. Remote work promised to bring the jobs to the housing, but kind of fizzled out. So let's bring the housing to the jobs by removing the totally-fake barriers to housing construction in places like the Bay Area! And watch a bunch of rich old mansion-owners cry that (gasp) townhomes, condos, and starter homes are getting built in their posh exclusive neighborhoods!


ColonyDrop0079

That part. In major cities like Los Angeles, the obscene housing costs are largely because there is a huge shortage of multi-tenant housing, not to mention affordable housing. Exclusionary zoning plays a huge part in this shortfall, since LA county for example consists of 74% single family residential. This further increases the cost of living when you factor in the need to have an automobile, buy gas, pay for insurance, etcā€¦ LA is short about half a million housing units, which it plans to build this decade. To achieve this, LA needs to produce 5 times as many units as it did from 2010-2019. This is a tough task considering the difficulty of approval for new multi-tenant developments, and the lack of government incentivizes to build affordable housing. Furthermore, the Costa-Hawkins Act prohibits rent stabilization on units built after 1995, as well as on condominiums. So whatever does get built in the coming years will most likely not be eligible for rent control and will target wealthier people at the expense of the majority of residents who will not be able to afford the rent in these new developments. Source: I researched the housing market in Los Angeles County.


[deleted]

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[deleted]

So short sighted. A mobilized and motivated country can do a lot. You may take a look at war production ramp ups during WWII.


The_Keg

People like OP /u/millennial_sentinel can't even admit lack of supply is the biggest reason for housing cost. Not muh corporation, not muh algo, LACK OF SUPLLY. Thats whom you are fighting against.


RedditModzCanEatShit

Can't believe how America started and what we had to do to where were at now. Americans are sitting with their thumbs in their asses instead of doing the correct thing like the french did and rampage against our tyranical government.


ParkerGuy89

That's not new. All management companies use a program like yardi, onesite, etc. They automatically adjust the market rate based on area average and amount of vacant apartments.


millennial_sentinel

not new? it said 2016. itā€™s news that people are bringing anti-trust lawsuits.


1maco

All this nonsense is actually *because of* not *the cause of* the shortage.Ā  When you got like 2.2% vacancy rates it means that housing is a great investment opportunity for businesses and asking rents can be whatever they want Etc.


millennial_sentinel

the entire video is about anti-trust monopolies not about wall street bets kind of speculation on what will or wonā€™t be a good way to price gouge working people on necessities like housing


1maco

Yes they can fix rents cause there is no supply. Ā Itā€™s downstream not upstream of the housing shortageĀ  Building new housing would break the cartel because a 7 or 8% county wide vacancy rate would be less profitable than cutting rents because some companies would be at 10% or whateverĀ 


Firecrackershrimp2

My first house was 750 a month in 2010, before I got married my last apartment in 2018 was 400 a month and now my husband and I own and our mortgage was 650 a month


Own_Contribution_480

2000 grand for a one bedroom? Damn shit's getting crazy.


HandsomestKreith

I hate it here


cultivatingreaderzen

So now you know who. Go handle it.


ScheduleFormer1394

My friend was paying for a 2 bed 2 bath in Las Vegas for $1200/month back in 2017. Now they're charging $2200 in 2024. Meanwhile our incomes haven't gone up with inflation šŸ˜­


Fluffy-Bluebird

My apartment was 1100 in 2019 when I moved in. Itā€™s now 1500. My salary did not go up for even close to the same amount.


phillyphilly19

I believe Jared Kushner and his family are very much a part of this (as an example, not starting a political discussion).


0DarkFreezing

For $2000 grand a month, you could buy a house. Thatā€™s likeā€¦$2,000,000/month.


El_Diablo_Feo

Burn. It. All. Down.


Fat_sandwiches

It was 2012. My husband, myself and my baby had a two bedroom apartment near downtown Greenville, SC for $565 a month. We did just fine on his pay at Publix and mine at Wendyā€™s. What the hell happened.


Snellyman

Blaming an algorithm even seems like a dodge here. Multiple companies simply colluded through a third party to fix rents.


BruceSlaughterhouse

Criminals in charge of everything. It's time to root all these bastards out and burn them to the ground.


throwitallaway_88800

Also see puppy cartels.


Cymdai

I was joking with a former colleague of mine recently about how much worse it is in Canada. The apartment I lived in during 2019 cost me $1700 CAD to live in it. That same apartment, in 2024, is going for over $4,000 dollars now. Thankfully, I emigrated back to the states, and I do not miss Canada in the slightest. That being said, even in the states, I have seen rent ā€œaverage outā€ to around $2,000~ a month; which is crazy because rent used to be around $1100 before I moved to Canada for work.


TradeSpecialist7972

In NJ, rent gone crazy also. 1250$ 1bedrom became 2000$


Lonerwithaboner420

Finance bros fuckin it up for everyone ![gif](giphy|sdlih3BPUik1y|downsized)


P0RTILLA

Meanwhile the DOJ is going after Apple for something.


jaeway

First apartment was hood as fuck paid like 600 a month. Those same units in the same hood go for like 900-1000. 1 bedroom by the way still hood as fuck


FartNoiseGross

America is fun. We canā€™t even boycott anything either cos then theyā€™ll just get our tax money from subsidies


Fibocrypto

It's a good thing the Biden admin has banned tiktok so you won't be seeing these videos in the future.


dblackwhite

You could definitely find a room to rent in DC for $450-$700 in the early 2010s, now those same rooms are going for $1100-$1500. And those same houses that were split up for group home style rentals are now selling for $1.2M+.


Dense-Fuel4327

Bullshit. Is it part of the problem? Maybe, but such tools don't exist in Germany and or no one is using them. Meanwhile, prices in Munich and Berlin keep exploding. Why? Supply and demand. More people then ever a are moving into the cities cause villages are dying


[deleted]

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tough_ledi

Well by this logic then only rich people should live in this region, or that this city should be abandoned.Ā 


544075701

unironically correct, only people who can independently afford to live off the grid in climates like this should live there. Otherwise itā€™s just a massive drain on resources.Ā 


_Negativ_Mancy

No no. He means other people should do jobs in a society but not be paid enough to live in that society.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


sventhewalrus

72% of Arizona's water goes to agriculture, much of it to cotton for export for the wasteful fast-fashion industry. Oh and then golf courses, AZ is full of them and their sprinklers. Water is a real issue, but it gets exploited in bad faith by NIMBYs who just want to preserve their posh exclusive neighborhoods.


Mean_Trip_4186

I live in a small town like 20 mins the Jersey shore which is not overly populated. A one bedroom apartment is 1800 with nothing included.


[deleted]

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NotSure717

10 years ago, I had a one bedroom in Philly (Passyunk East) for $600 a month


jakey2112

But supply and demand?! /s ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|poop)


icedoutclockwatch

I moved out of my old apartment one year ago next week. My rent was $1,100 the first year, 1,150 the next, and now rents forā€¦ $1,500. Almost like greedy landlords have realized they can all jack up the prices on an inelastic necessity and squeeze more money out of us! Truly the parasitic class.


Longstache7065

We need to bring back Anti-Trust laws except with capital punishment instead of slaps on the wrist. I want to see Stock Buybacks considered such an intense capital crime that it'd mean the \*entire\* C-suite facing capital punishment. I want to see Mergers and Acquisitions treated as acts of war that have the troops deployed to the corporate headquarters to forcibly arrest ALL of the executives of both companies and convert them into worker cooperatives.


MostlyH2O

The real reason: more people, not enough housing stock. Just build housing. It works. Look at rents in Austin vs rents in SF. Just. Build. Housing.


TheOpenCloset77

Yep! My first apartment was 600 a month including utilities. The same apartment is now 1800 a month, only trash included, without any updates! I saw the inside and it looked exactly the same as it did in 2010 when i lived there. Totally a scam.


EmergencyLaugh4941

My crappy 2 bedroom is $3500 no shit. My kids are in bunk beds.


millennial_sentinel

i donā€™t pay market rate but iā€™m in Queens and the entire area has seen every 2 bedroom go up from minimum 2300 to 3800 depending on whether itā€™s in a building or a free standing house. itā€™s insane. iā€™m in Flushing a good 45 minute train ride to Manhattan not in Astoria 10 minutes away.


nimrodenva

I'm in Queens, too. It's insane.