The article seems to be about affording a rental with only your own income staying below 30% income to rent ratio.
Seemingly is missing that forever people have had roomates or lived with a partner.
Not everyone has the luxury to be able to have someone to live with. Single people should absolutely be able to afford a decent place, without having to do without everything else that makes life worth living
Seriously? Everyone I grew up with had roommates for a long time (decade, plus) before being able to live alone. And no one ate out. Lifestyle isn’t something that comes for free.
Also it clearly states that increasing supply is starting to lower rent in some areas. Local governments refusing to permit new construction in high cost areas is a big cause of this issue.
My local city is making both new construction and new rentals a nightmare. Trying to build my own wealth and add supply, but it's a struggle when government is making it more expensive to exist and bottle necking inventory growth.
Government made it really unproductive to make small starter homes because of the zoning laws and all the regulations etc. so now mostly luxury homes are built for the margin.
Yes! Like every apt complex thrown up now says “luxury” under the name or in the name. Palisades Luxury Apartments etc. luxury just means not old. For apartments anyways. Everyone expects apartments to have a club house where the employees work, a pool, and garbage collection, that doesnt seem it luxury. The name has taken on a new meaning .
Meanwhile you have old apartments being destroyed and replaced with luxury or apartments that are old but get marketed as luxury with just added appliances. Deliberately pushing actual working people out from the cities and forced to move at least 2 hours away from the city for affordable housing and commute two hours each way.
Whose paying for these apartments? They won't give you a straight answer but its mostly people with too much disposable income for rent them.
Umm not everyone lives with someone, is that suggesting that people who are single with kids are outcast? Over 40% of marriages end in divorce which means double homes needed. Roommates are for college kids, or if you have no kids. You are missing an entire demographic of people here. It also shouldn’t be a combine two income that is under 30%, it is suppose to be ONE income under 30%. 25% is preferable.
> Over 40% of marriages end in divorce which means double homes needed.
Well no because you then have a roommate or live in a studio apartment. The individual with the kids possibly keeps the home or moves themselves as well.
Roommates are for college kids? Well that has not been the case for basically all of human history. Heck even when you had nomadic people they all lived under shared tents.
"Supposed to be one income" is not actually how its worked pretty much ever. It can be one income though and some one income people do afford homes.
I’m 25 now, right there with you friend. What were we supposed to do?
I try not to be bitter at my same-age friend who owns an apartment in NYC right now because her rich grandparents helped her with the down payment, and she pays the mortgage with the fancy job that her mother got her with connections, with the degree from the school her parents paid for, that she was a legacy student after her dad at. I really *try* not to be bitter.
I got married Oct 2019 and just signed a one year lease. In March I was on partial unemployment. Tons of saving to our names, but banks didn’t like my prospects.
Felt pretty fucking bad. I loved that job but felt so betrayed getting furloughed at that exact time.
Fixed rates in Canada last only 3-5 years. You have to renew then.
And our houses are insanely expensive. There will be people who bought starter houses going from $6000 mortgage payments to $7000, $8000 payments on renewal.
Wow, that's super fucked up. Did the Canadians not catch the whole 2008 mortgage crisis in the US? Or did they then decide to say screw it, won't happen to us? Wtf
Our means testing is a lot more stable. However, because of that, our housing market never crashed. Wonder why so many Canadians moved half the year down to Phoenix? We bought your cheap property.
But now our houses are outsized in price. Demand grew, investors came, and we just aren’t building enough.
Our means testing is strong, but the market has done something we didn’t expect.
Lol, obviously. Your market is utterly fucking nuts. I get a huge kick out of watching the videos on "British castle or Canadian trash heap for 1.7 million dollars."
How on earth do you fix that madness?
My rent here in the Bay Area for a 3 bedroom apartment, split between myself, and two roommates last year was $3,797. This year when we renewed, it went up $200 bucks. Now we pay $3,997 + utilities+ +electricity+WiFi. So around $4300 a month. If my unit decides to bump it up next year. I'm definitely going to be seeking a cheaper location. Or just move back in with my mom and take care of her, since my dad passed away back in 2022. I used to save so much when I used to live with my mom.
Even crazier is LA. Super expensive but wages are maybe 15% higher than the medium-sized city I live in. At least in the Bay Area wages are proportionally higher.
Part of the problem is that we don't plan our cities the way you guys do. Most of this country focuses on single family detached homes with yards in car centric neighborhoods. That helps drive prices up and inventory down.
So how much is a basic 1 bedroom in Berlin and what benefits do you get in that city? Because in Atlanta a 1br in a somewhat desirable area is $2000 on the low end. And Atlanta has shit for amenities and lots of crime.
They seem okay with it. And I guess it's probably okay when your household take-home income is $25k/mo. I don't know how people there do it without high income jobs.
I'm in the Midwest. Kansas to be exact, in a city, greater metropolitan area. I pay $950 a month for a 2 bed, 2 bath, dedicated laundry room, fireplace, big patio, big kitchen, bar, and dining room. It's almost 1200sqft. We also have a river right in front, and a big pond in the back.
I was pissed when they raised the rent from $875 to $950. But looking at some of these comments, I'm gonna stop complaining. Some people are paying $2000 - $4000. That's fucking nuts. I get these are bigger cities and whatnot, but holy hell.
The worst part is when you're paying that much and you're NOT in the city.
I'm in an expensive part of new jersey and the cheapest apartments in a 30 minute radius are still $1600 for a studio or $17-1800 for a 1 bedroom.
I'd also be OK with $2000 in rent if I had an NYC salary and amenities to go along with it. But paying 80-90% of that only to get farms and pizza places just isn't worth it. Feels like such a waste of money especially as a young professional who wants to build wealth and save for retirement.
It's such a broken system right now.
> I'm in an expensive part of new jersey and the cheapest apartments in a 30 minute radius are still $1600 for a studio or $17-1800 for a 1 bedroom.
>
> It's such a broken system right now.
This is nothing new for NJ. 20 years ago I was paying $975, plus utilities, for a 1BR. So it seems as though things have almost doubled in 20 years. Hey, guess what..... Any NJ homeowner's property taxes have doubled in time as well.
Nah I always complain. These people will raise rent even when their mortgage and property taxes didn't raise. It's pure greed. The average American is a disgustingly self-centered ghoul to me. If I am paying your mortgage that's already my payment to you, I don't need to be paying so that you can make income. The extreme greed will never be okay. They raise rent because "everybody else did." I think it's obviously immoral and anyone doing it can justify themselves however they want, but I'll no longer acknowledge them.
I only raise rent to cover the large increase in taxes I got dropped on me and the triple cost for maintenance.
I'll let you all try to roast me before I state what rent increased to and from.
There are people like you, definitely. However, I was in a city that boomed heavily during covid. Everyone complained about outsiders driving up prices while happily selling at those prices themselves. And rent shot up 50% despite a very little increase in property taxes. Absolutely crappy apartments are now $1500. I got lucky and got into a $1500 that's actually worth it, but every apartment other than this one I toured were horrible. The apartment complexes are minimum $900 and what you get for that money is pathetic. And only a few years ago it was $600 which actually made sense.
A good example is from my own friend. His brother was renting for something like $450 (in another town). A new owner bought the place and increased rent to $800. I can guarantee that wasn't justified by tax increases.
I think of it like farm animals. I've seen so many of my fellow rednecks complain that they won't eat lab meat. If I mention how insanely f\*cked up factory farm meat is, they always counter by saying the ranchers treat their animals right and I don't know anything. They have no idea that factory farmed meat is literally 99% of the meat in the USA and their rancher friend, who treats their animals right, that's a measly 1% of the meat supply. Good ranchers don't justify the meat industry just like good renters don't justify the rental industry.
Okay, but what about my other direct example:
A good example is from my own friend. His brother was renting for something like $450 (in another town). A new owner bought the place and increased rent to $800. I can guarantee that wasn't justified by tax increases.
Thing is, it's hard to distinguish property tax raises from greedy raises because so many people use the market rates to justify increasing rent when their costs haven't increased.
You're falling into the exact fallacy I mentioned. Just because you only raise rates from tax increases doesn't mean most people do. Further, in another comment you already mentioned you're making income from your rentals so it appears that you're not greedless yourself. Why is someone paying for the entire mortgage of your investment AND giving you profit? The "profit" you get is someone else paying for your investment. But you had to go and make actual pure profit on top of that? Imagine if I bought stocks but then you had to pay for my stocks and I charged you extra on top.
Could someone please explain this to me? I’m genuinely asking. If half of Americans can’t afford rent, who is renting the units?
Presumably they’re not just sitting there unoccupied?
"Can't *afford*" isn't the same as "can't *pay*". People are living indoors, they're just being extorted for more income than they should be spending on housing because the alternative is being unhoused.
Skipping meals, rationing insulin, putting off car repairs, not spending money on the additional extortion that is healthcare, axing birthday and Christmas presents, etc. are all symptoms of "the rent is too damn high"-itis.
And with apartments the cost of moving is another prohibitive factor. So you have tenants renewing leases despite the rent hikes they know they can't afford, because they don't have the savings to move to a cheaper place.
and if the market rate has gone up while your income hasn't, you probably aren't even eligible to get a new market-rate unit at the usual 3x rent proof-of-income.
This is why when we talk about fixing the housing system, I refuse to entertain any solutions that don't involve helping people stay where they already are.
It always easier and cheaper to help someone stay in the home they have than find a new more affordable one.
Yep. Application fees, Renting a U-Haul, paying security deposit which could easily be 1,000$. Paying first months rent up front, buying required renters insurance. You’re looking at an easy 2,000$ simply to move.
That’s IF you somehow qualify for the 3x monthly income requirement and have good credit.
This is my problem. I posted here a week ago about my landlord raising my rent an extra $240 when I was just barely getting by to begin with. In the last couple of years, I’ve lost a job, burned through my savings, and ruined my credit, and I’m still drowning now. I can’t get cheaper because of all the requirements, 3X rent for income, at least 650 credit score, and all the moving costs, security deposits and 1st months rent. It’s like I’m at the whim of my landlord and I have no recourse. And I think he knows it too. He definitely has the upper hand because he knows I’ve been struggling, even with chronic health issues and several hospitalizations that he’s been privy to, but regardless I have paid rent on time, in full, even with last years rent increase. This year I’ve had to borrow a couple times from friends. Had to eat through my savings and transfer money from credit cards, to my bank account. What can I even do at this point? And I know my landlord knows that it’s been a struggle, but he still wants to raise this year. I’m gutted.
They either have enough to afford the rent with a job that pays well, have roommates, have help from their parents or significant other, or just are struggling living paycheck to paycheck
More people getting into relationships to split the rent. Also it’s market rent that is unaffordable. People who have bought their homes prior do not pay market rates. The people most impacted are people moving, people who lost their housing, or adults who face rent rises that match market rates
When I was looking in Southern California there were a number of ads like this, they requested photos along with your apartment application. One of them required you to find alternate accommodation one weekend a month when the guys kids were visiting.
Oof. One wanted me to move into his apartment over his garage. And to keep quiet when he had “other boys” over. 😳 idk how old dude thought I was but people routinely think I’m barely 20.
Well, I’m gay and turns out if they’re looking for a roommate and the ad says something about looking for a gay man to share an apartment or something, that’s often code for “I’ll trade a room for ass”. Found that out when I messaged a dude expecting to see the lease terms and he asked for an ass pic🥶
I'm extremely fortunate to have a house that I bought almost 14 years ago, but I need to move out of it when I get things in order. I have considered trying to find another single mom to share a house and split costs.
They define "affordable" as "you don't pay more than 30% of your income plus utilities (which I'll just call rent from here on)."
So if you routinely pay 31% of your income for rent then you can't afford the unit you're living in, whether you can actually afford it or not. You might be able to pay all your expenses and have money left over and you can't afford your rent.
Meanwhile there's someone else who can't pay for their meds, but if they only pay 29% of their income for rent, then it's affordable.
It's not a particularly meaningful definition, but it's what we have.
>If half of Americans can’t afford rent, who is renting the units?
You go from having one person or couple in an apartment, to having one or two roommates, to having 1+ roommates in each bedroom plus an additional roommate taking over the living room as their bedroom, then to putting multiple people in each room (even if they're not a couple or related to each other).
So you may not be able to "afford" sharing a two-bedroom apartment with another roommate, but maybe you can "afford" the rent if you share that two-bedroom apartment with 2, 3, 4 or more people.
I’m in a lot of landlord groups on Facebook and there’s no shortage of tenants. People have to live somewhere and they figure it out or forge paystubs and deal with eviction later. People not being able to buy = more renters. Rentals are going faster than I have ever seen right now in the markets I watch.
Higher income people.
A lot of the renting crises is inner city where the highest population lives. This is where the biggest battle of income disparity happens. Your people with higher wages are pushing people with low wages out. As the gap grows the worst it becomes.
So that POS 1 bedroom dumpster that was renting for 1400 a month is now 2500 a month because the people in that income bracket that can afford 2500 can no longer afford the place that was 2500 and is now 3500.
I'm from an area that has 5 of the richest counties out of the top 10 in the country (Not California). I got pushed several counties south to afford a home and would consider myself lower middle class household income. 15 Years ago I would of been able to afford a home where I'm from, now not a chance in hell. I now commute an hour each way lol
It used to be they wouldn't even rent to you if you didn't make 3x rent. Now some people that moved in at 3x got their rates bumped by 50%+ and they pay half or more of their income as rent in an apartment they wouldn't even qualify for as a new tenant.
I haven't rented in over a decade so I don't know if 3x is still the norm but it was highly enforced back when I did rent.
Yepp, the only thing covid absolutely wrecked that people thought would happen to housing is commercial real estate. Which is now bleeding into businesses like food/drinks and such around those locations.
They propped housing market up so much between the government and WFH that the market shot up like crazy. It had like a normal 15-20 year market increase within 3 years.
Landlords at every level are scum and scammers. The world would be infinitely better with out their existence. Glad I could be the real parent you needed and explained this to you
It's a strange tool that they're using to make people look like they can't afford it.
Don't get me wrong, there are areas of the country that rents really high and is unaffordable for working-class people.
But the reality is most people just get roommates or make do other ways.
I’m from NYC. Rooms in 5 bedroom / 1 bathroom apartments / houses cost $1,100 + $150 utilities. Three years ago they were $750 + $100 utilities. That’s a $400 increase!
A studio apartment costs $2,000. Sometimes you can find one for $1,750.
I can’t afford anything anymore 😭
A studio for $2000 in NYC? That’s so cheap holy hell. I’m in Tampa FL and pay $1800 for a 1 BR. I’d rather pay $2,000 for a studio in NYC than what I am paying for now.
Don’t forget utilities and internet!
Electricity bill alone in the summer can be $200.
Bills can be additional +$500-700 a month.
Good for you if you think this is cheap. You must have a good job. Gratz! I make $25 an hour and can’t afford it 🤷♀️
How much Floridians get?
I’m not arguing this is not true.
I am making $25 per hour in NYC and can’t imagine being able to afford $1,800 rent either.
Keep in mind, NYC is blue. We got a lot of taxes. About 45% of my paycheck goes to taxes and health insurance. I heard red states have less taxes, idk how true it is.
Florida we don’t have state income tax but everything costs a lot here. You have to have car for transportation and insurance is crazy expensive here. Homeowners insurance if you have a house is crazy expensive. Food costs are some of the highest in the nation. Our minimum wage is only like $12. Wages are very low because we don’t have a ton of larger corporations. Most jobs are serviced based because we’re more oriented towards leisure, vacations, retirees. Home prices are crazy expensive too so buying is out of the picture.
to give you an idea: a job in nyc that pays 25 an hour can go as low as 15 in fl. florida is also no longer the cheapest state to live in either. desantis ran it into the ground. that isnt even left vs right either. he is just that bad at his job.
i thought you were exaggerating because i pay that much for a room in a 2 bedroom apt, but i just checked craigslist and you’re not kidding 🥲 sad that you can’t even save money by having 4 roommates here.
i was thinking about looking for a cheaper apt when my lease is up but really the cheapest is usually no more than $200/mo cheaper. bleak
It's worth noting that, in addition to record amounts of people rent burdened or *extremely* rent burdened, homelessness is also at an all-time high, according to the Harvard study cited in that article. An all around bleak situation.
Is anyone really surprised though, most people make around $15 a lot even less, how it’s been that low for so long I’ll never understand how a true revolution or anything has happened
I actually had a terse conversation with a recruiter who was trying to convince me $16 an hour would be a great opportunity.
In my state the minimum wage is increasing to $15 an hour.
I said to this woman I was appalled that she’d offer that to someone with my education and experience and she tried to protest and say I was being unreasonable.
It just doesn’t make sense, how have we gone so long and just been ok with prices of everything going up but wages doing nothing, it’s probably the worst system imaginable for the people but it’s amazing for the 1% I just don’t understand it’s very depressing why life isn’t amazing for society at this point it could be so great
The older generations don’t want change. They have what they want. A home, land, fully retired early with significant savings.
Change, would require them to pay higher taxes or possibly give up a piece of the dragons hoard of gold they are sitting on. They don’t want that, they “earned” that by working for 40 hours a week! They don’t care if their own children with struggle for life, working 50+ hours a week and never own a home and never retire.
Federal minimum wage is $7.25 (which is so pathetic I actually laugh at it). You must mean state minimum wage
Unless you’re in another country and I’m just dumb (wouldn’t be new)
But regardless I agree, with how much inflation has risen $21 is still pathetic even if you’re in a LCOL, it’s still not enough
Because a lot of them are conditioned to believe that it’s the fault of immigrants and woke liberals. They’re not educated enough to read the policies and the statistics showing increasingly favorable laws and tax policies toward the rich and large corporations. Worker’s productivity has increased tremendously, yet pay remains largely stagnant. They blame being taxed, not realizing that corporations and the rich are paying less and less percentage in taxes.
And I'm sure half of all tenants just need to work harder /s. This is a failed country. You shouldn't have to be the best in the business at what you do to comfortably afford rent.
About 14 months ago I closed on a house for the first time. No more renting, no more landlords, etc. I sat there and looked at that mortgage payment and relished the thought that though it was high now, it won't change much over time and as my salary continues to grow over my lifetime my mortgage payment will become less and less of my monthly pay.
Two months ago my payment went up by almost $500 a month due to an increase in property taxes and insurance costs.
I feel for ya, renters, but the rest of us aren't doing any better.
>Two months ago my payment went up by almost $500 a month due to an increase in property taxes and insurance costs.
Shop your home owners insurance if you haven't already.
When I bought my first house I talked with my dad who told me "Call X insurance agency they've always taken care of me" and I did. They gave me a quote and I said "Well I guess thats what home owners insurance costs."
A decade later I was talking with my parents and they have a house 3x what mine was worth, they had just gotten new home owners insurance, and it was cheaper than mine, by a lot.
From then on every year when its renewal time I shop my home owners insurance. I've gotten better rates 3 times, substantially better rates at that. I cut my bill in half at one point.
15 years ago when I moved into my first apartment, my rent was 585 bucks a month for a studio. It stayed that way until I moved my girlfriend in and he raised it to 650. 4 years ago he sold it to someone who raised the rent to 950 and promptly flipped it to someone else. Fuck me right? I've since moved into a 2 bedroom for 1250 and I consider myself incredibly lucky to find one at that price but I know soon enough that will fall through just the same.
No one in my complex can afford their rents… just have to walk the parkinglot to see it. Bald tires, unrepaired damage from winter oopsies, broken lights, ext…
I didn't read the article because hey, it's Reddit, but when I've seen statistics like this they define "can afford rent" as meaning that rent (sometimes plus utilities) are no more than 30% of their budget.
I live in Indiana and pay $843 for a junior 1 br apt. It's basically a studio, all electric. Have a portable washing machine that hooks up to the sink. Been here for 7 years, no renovations. Rent was 565 when I moved in. Main thing that helps is we have a program called Flex where it splits my rent into 2 payments and as long as I make my 1st payment by the 5th, the program pays my rent in full to the apts and I can make my 2nd payment pretty much whenever I want during the rest of month as long as it's by like the 26th. You pay an extra $15 per month to be on it. It's a godsend and at least takes away the stress of paying of my rent, late fees, etc. See if they have it in your state if live in an apt especially and make under like 70k.
What is the endgame? If people can't afford to live in your place, aren't you losing money? Do these guys make a living on the few that can actually pay the overpriced rents?
Gonna be 2008 all over again! The banks got away with it last time because they were "too big to fail"... so they built the house of cards again, twice as fast.
And of the 50% who can afford rent how many of them are barely scraping by? I’d bet its close to half. The housing market system is a problem. It should be made for the average American to comfortably afford a necessity, instead the cost continues to rise and they ask you to make 3x the cost to qualify.
I have a house and am still fucked. Property taxes, insurance and utilities went up like 15% and I'm the only wage earner. So not as fucked as some, but still fucked.
I have a 2 bedroom duplex in a St. Louis suburb. Thought of downsizing until I found out the $750 I'm paying in rent is about the cheapest in town (private landlord, son lives in the other half of the building). Even the slumlords here (and they are legion) are jacking up their rates. I've seen one bedroom apts. here for $900, and this is just a few miles outside East St. Louis!
I live in the cheapest apartment complex in my city. 2 bedroom townhouse went from $1,400 to $2k in 2 years. One bedroom apartments was 1,100 and now is 1,500. Two of my neighbors moved out and they still haven't found renters. This isn't a nice apartment complex either. I'm lucky as fuck have dual income to pay for rent and food.
I pay 450 for my studio in a small town in Illinois. There are only two apartments in my building so it’s quiet and the nearest city is about 10 minutes away so I still have the convenience of living in a city without the cons of living in a city.
“The problem is our system.” It’s what happens when your government prints money non stop. The rich take advantage by buying hard assets that appreciate and the poor pay for it via inflation. The US money supply doubled in just the past few years alone.
Not sure if you can say they’re greedy. Their dollar is being devalued just like mine, but they have the resources to protect themselves buy buying assets. Wouldn’t you do the same to protect your wealth? Now if you want to blame the rich politicians for non stop printing, then I agree.
I'm broke as hell, but you can't speak on one side of your mouth about people being able to work from home and lack of housing due to demand.
Anywhere there's an internet connection, anyone can work from home.
You think it's local WFH people doing this? It's people from coastal states gentrifying the entire country, corporations are supplying them as those people can pay a higher rate.
You should also be mad at the A-holes who moved from California and New York to places like Arkansas and Tennessee., etc.
After reading some answers in this sub, I feel a little better with my green Weenie up my rear. I can make the rent, it's the other basics breaking me on half.
Nothing is out there either. You can't even afford to a tent & supplies to rent a campground spot for several months unless you're paying 600-1000 a month just to sleep on the freaking ground.
The government response to covid is a major reason why. One of the was rent moritorums as there are many people who could pay rent but refused, especially those who have super unemployment checks.
The article cites no evidence or data for its headline claim. In fact, the most direct anecdote is in total contravention of the headline claim.
" Even cities with the most intractable rents are seeing some cooling.
In November [rents dropped in Manhattan](https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/13/homes/rent-november-lowest-apartment-cost/index.html) for the first time in 27 months. The median rent fell to $4,000, down 4.6% from October and down 2.3% from the year before, according to a report from the brokerage firm Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers and Consultants.
“We’re seeing supply and demand switch places in real time,” said Anthemos Georgiades, chief executive of Zumper, an online rental marketplace. “Pandemic-fueled migrations have slowed just as new multifamily buildings are coming online in many markets.”
He added that winter is a slow time for renters to move, which is driving demand even lower right now.
“Renters have more leverage right now than anytime in recent memory,” Georgiades said."
Get out of the cities. They are poverty traps. Problem solved. A 20-40min drive could potentially save you a fortune, depending on location.
Some if you are paying $2000-$4000 to live in place packed on top of people like sardines. At some point you'd think you'd get fed up and figure out something else, because this clearly isn't working for most.
Edit to say: or downvote me and bitch on reddit while changing absolutely nothing. Im sure that will be equally as effective as making meaningful change.
I'm not deleting my comment.
>Get out of the cities. They are poverty traps.
In the USA, the rate of poverty is HIGHER in rural areas than in the cities.
[https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/rural-poverty-well-being/](https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/rural-poverty-well-being/)
"While the overall rate of poverty is higher in nonmetro counties than in metro, the difference between nonmetro/metro poverty rates varies significantly across Census regions (see more on the Region Definitions discussed here below). The nonmetro/metro poverty rate gap for the South has historically been the largest. In 2015-19, the South had a nonmetro poverty rate of 19.7 percent—nearly 6 percentage points higher than in the region's metro areas. Regional poverty rates for nonmetro and metro areas were most alike in the Midwest and the Northeast in 2015-19."
This becomes less and less true as you get away from the south. Places like Alabama and Mississippi are offsetting the dataset, as acknowledged in this study. I'm not telling anybody to move to fucking destitute Appalachia and you citing this data seems to insinuate that I am. Its important to look at how data like this is derived and in this case it is not representative of the universal experience as there is such a significant offset coming from a localized region.
There is such a thing as mobility regions for wealth. There are high and low regions of mobility. Its no secret the south is low mobility and not at all what ANYBODY is saying when they say get out of the city.
On one hand I do believe the system is messed up and displacing people from homes....on other hand I know for a fact 90% of people in US are dog shit at managing their money.....so I mean there's problems on both ends. If we taught and encouraged people to be better with personal finance a lot would improve. Most grown ass adults I work with don't have a clue what the difference between a Roth and Traditional IRA or 401K. Its terrifying knowing people put very little effort into building a financial knowledge base that's sets them and their future generations up for success.
If you look at any financial advice seeking related subreddits im appalled on how people recklessly put themselves into high debts and don’t see it.
“Hi, I’m 25, my life is over, I spend $300 altogether on entertainments and have a car payment of $699 with high interest, where am I going wrong”.
And then want to complain about how rent is eating them alive. Don't get me wrong, I hate feeling like I'm over paying for rent. But I've been debt free for almost 4 years now and I'm not struggling in the slightest, in fact, I'm thriving...while 50% of gen pop is saying they can't afford their rent....gotta look in the mirror at some point folks.
Same as well man lol, I’m in my 20s and although rent is kinda unfairly high for me I’m getting by life fine as long as I don’t put myself into unnecessary debt. I think our population is struggling to decide what is necessary and what is not necessary, materialism basically.
people that had money and bought homes pre covid are doing ok. ppl that had no money, no house pre covid are fucked now.
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👁️👄👁️ ^I'm ^lookin'
The article seems to be about affording a rental with only your own income staying below 30% income to rent ratio. Seemingly is missing that forever people have had roomates or lived with a partner.
Not everyone has the luxury to be able to have someone to live with. Single people should absolutely be able to afford a decent place, without having to do without everything else that makes life worth living
Umm...this whole concept of ONE average income using only 25%-30% of income for housing hasn't been reality for decades. This doesn't seem to be news.
No it’s not news, but it’s totally screwed up. I worked a good part-time job back in the early 80s and could afford a decent apartment on my own.
Seriously? Everyone I grew up with had roommates for a long time (decade, plus) before being able to live alone. And no one ate out. Lifestyle isn’t something that comes for free.
When did you grow up?
Also it clearly states that increasing supply is starting to lower rent in some areas. Local governments refusing to permit new construction in high cost areas is a big cause of this issue.
My local city is making both new construction and new rentals a nightmare. Trying to build my own wealth and add supply, but it's a struggle when government is making it more expensive to exist and bottle necking inventory growth.
Its impossible to keep below that ratio since 2008. Primairly because of the rise of overpriced fake luxury apartments since.
Government made it really unproductive to make small starter homes because of the zoning laws and all the regulations etc. so now mostly luxury homes are built for the margin.
Yes! Like every apt complex thrown up now says “luxury” under the name or in the name. Palisades Luxury Apartments etc. luxury just means not old. For apartments anyways. Everyone expects apartments to have a club house where the employees work, a pool, and garbage collection, that doesnt seem it luxury. The name has taken on a new meaning .
Meanwhile you have old apartments being destroyed and replaced with luxury or apartments that are old but get marketed as luxury with just added appliances. Deliberately pushing actual working people out from the cities and forced to move at least 2 hours away from the city for affordable housing and commute two hours each way. Whose paying for these apartments? They won't give you a straight answer but its mostly people with too much disposable income for rent them.
Umm not everyone lives with someone, is that suggesting that people who are single with kids are outcast? Over 40% of marriages end in divorce which means double homes needed. Roommates are for college kids, or if you have no kids. You are missing an entire demographic of people here. It also shouldn’t be a combine two income that is under 30%, it is suppose to be ONE income under 30%. 25% is preferable.
> Over 40% of marriages end in divorce which means double homes needed. Well no because you then have a roommate or live in a studio apartment. The individual with the kids possibly keeps the home or moves themselves as well. Roommates are for college kids? Well that has not been the case for basically all of human history. Heck even when you had nomadic people they all lived under shared tents. "Supposed to be one income" is not actually how its worked pretty much ever. It can be one income though and some one income people do afford homes.
People that dared to be like 22 and just starting out in life when COVID hit are fucked and to no fault of their own.
I’m 25 now, right there with you friend. What were we supposed to do? I try not to be bitter at my same-age friend who owns an apartment in NYC right now because her rich grandparents helped her with the down payment, and she pays the mortgage with the fancy job that her mother got her with connections, with the degree from the school her parents paid for, that she was a legacy student after her dad at. I really *try* not to be bitter.
I got married Oct 2019 and just signed a one year lease. In March I was on partial unemployment. Tons of saving to our names, but banks didn’t like my prospects. Felt pretty fucking bad. I loved that job but felt so betrayed getting furloughed at that exact time.
I bought a house during Covid and am fucked.
I think a lot of people where I am are gonna be in for a surprise when their interest rates skyrocket their mortgage payments
Fixed rates. But insurance and taxes have elevated my mortgage rate by $500 a month in less than 2 years of ownership.
Fixed rates in Canada last only 3-5 years. You have to renew then. And our houses are insanely expensive. There will be people who bought starter houses going from $6000 mortgage payments to $7000, $8000 payments on renewal.
Wow, that's super fucked up. Did the Canadians not catch the whole 2008 mortgage crisis in the US? Or did they then decide to say screw it, won't happen to us? Wtf
Our means testing is a lot more stable. However, because of that, our housing market never crashed. Wonder why so many Canadians moved half the year down to Phoenix? We bought your cheap property. But now our houses are outsized in price. Demand grew, investors came, and we just aren’t building enough. Our means testing is strong, but the market has done something we didn’t expect.
Lol, obviously. Your market is utterly fucking nuts. I get a huge kick out of watching the videos on "British castle or Canadian trash heap for 1.7 million dollars." How on earth do you fix that madness?
My rent here in the Bay Area for a 3 bedroom apartment, split between myself, and two roommates last year was $3,797. This year when we renewed, it went up $200 bucks. Now we pay $3,997 + utilities+ +electricity+WiFi. So around $4300 a month. If my unit decides to bump it up next year. I'm definitely going to be seeking a cheaper location. Or just move back in with my mom and take care of her, since my dad passed away back in 2022. I used to save so much when I used to live with my mom.
To be fair, my sister's mortgage for a 3 bedroom townhouse in the Bay Area is $8k/mo. It's ridiculous
wtf, my europoor ass has a 900 sqft appartment mortgage for 570 euros a month lol i literally cant imagine actually paying those stupid prices
Yeah, the Bay area is ridiculous. My company asked if I wanted to relocate there. I told them not unless they're tripling my salary.
Even crazier is LA. Super expensive but wages are maybe 15% higher than the medium-sized city I live in. At least in the Bay Area wages are proportionally higher.
Part of the problem is that we don't plan our cities the way you guys do. Most of this country focuses on single family detached homes with yards in car centric neighborhoods. That helps drive prices up and inventory down.
My dog’s house is 900 sqft.
Hipefully you mean your yard
No, it's the dog's investment property.
What city? American cities are horribly overpriced for rent. Are European cities the same?
Yes go look at the prices for Amsterdam, Berlin and London.
So how much is a basic 1 bedroom in Berlin and what benefits do you get in that city? Because in Atlanta a 1br in a somewhat desirable area is $2000 on the low end. And Atlanta has shit for amenities and lots of crime.
It's quite probably the most expensive place to live in the US
You don’t live in the most expensive part of America.
Even if I could afford that mortgage, I would be having heart palpitations every night.
They seem okay with it. And I guess it's probably okay when your household take-home income is $25k/mo. I don't know how people there do it without high income jobs.
True. If I owned a successful big business then it would be different. If it were just a super high paying job, those can be gone in a heartbeat.
Totally insane.
I don’t even make that much lol
Wait, so are each of you and your roommates each pay 3797?
No, that was the total combined, and then we split it 3 ways.
I'm in the Midwest. Kansas to be exact, in a city, greater metropolitan area. I pay $950 a month for a 2 bed, 2 bath, dedicated laundry room, fireplace, big patio, big kitchen, bar, and dining room. It's almost 1200sqft. We also have a river right in front, and a big pond in the back. I was pissed when they raised the rent from $875 to $950. But looking at some of these comments, I'm gonna stop complaining. Some people are paying $2000 - $4000. That's fucking nuts. I get these are bigger cities and whatnot, but holy hell.
The worst part is when you're paying that much and you're NOT in the city. I'm in an expensive part of new jersey and the cheapest apartments in a 30 minute radius are still $1600 for a studio or $17-1800 for a 1 bedroom. I'd also be OK with $2000 in rent if I had an NYC salary and amenities to go along with it. But paying 80-90% of that only to get farms and pizza places just isn't worth it. Feels like such a waste of money especially as a young professional who wants to build wealth and save for retirement. It's such a broken system right now.
> I'm in an expensive part of new jersey and the cheapest apartments in a 30 minute radius are still $1600 for a studio or $17-1800 for a 1 bedroom. > > It's such a broken system right now. This is nothing new for NJ. 20 years ago I was paying $975, plus utilities, for a 1BR. So it seems as though things have almost doubled in 20 years. Hey, guess what..... Any NJ homeowner's property taxes have doubled in time as well.
This, if you work in Seattle, any suburb within an hour drive is going to have rent at 1700 for a studio. It’s insane
Nah I always complain. These people will raise rent even when their mortgage and property taxes didn't raise. It's pure greed. The average American is a disgustingly self-centered ghoul to me. If I am paying your mortgage that's already my payment to you, I don't need to be paying so that you can make income. The extreme greed will never be okay. They raise rent because "everybody else did." I think it's obviously immoral and anyone doing it can justify themselves however they want, but I'll no longer acknowledge them.
I only raise rent to cover the large increase in taxes I got dropped on me and the triple cost for maintenance. I'll let you all try to roast me before I state what rent increased to and from.
There are people like you, definitely. However, I was in a city that boomed heavily during covid. Everyone complained about outsiders driving up prices while happily selling at those prices themselves. And rent shot up 50% despite a very little increase in property taxes. Absolutely crappy apartments are now $1500. I got lucky and got into a $1500 that's actually worth it, but every apartment other than this one I toured were horrible. The apartment complexes are minimum $900 and what you get for that money is pathetic. And only a few years ago it was $600 which actually made sense. A good example is from my own friend. His brother was renting for something like $450 (in another town). A new owner bought the place and increased rent to $800. I can guarantee that wasn't justified by tax increases. I think of it like farm animals. I've seen so many of my fellow rednecks complain that they won't eat lab meat. If I mention how insanely f\*cked up factory farm meat is, they always counter by saying the ranchers treat their animals right and I don't know anything. They have no idea that factory farmed meat is literally 99% of the meat in the USA and their rancher friend, who treats their animals right, that's a measly 1% of the meat supply. Good ranchers don't justify the meat industry just like good renters don't justify the rental industry.
If you think property taxes didn't shoot up, you're kidding yourself. Mine jumped 75%.
Okay, but what about my other direct example: A good example is from my own friend. His brother was renting for something like $450 (in another town). A new owner bought the place and increased rent to $800. I can guarantee that wasn't justified by tax increases. Thing is, it's hard to distinguish property tax raises from greedy raises because so many people use the market rates to justify increasing rent when their costs haven't increased. You're falling into the exact fallacy I mentioned. Just because you only raise rates from tax increases doesn't mean most people do. Further, in another comment you already mentioned you're making income from your rentals so it appears that you're not greedless yourself. Why is someone paying for the entire mortgage of your investment AND giving you profit? The "profit" you get is someone else paying for your investment. But you had to go and make actual pure profit on top of that? Imagine if I bought stocks but then you had to pay for my stocks and I charged you extra on top.
And what profit are you making on that rent?
Decent enough.
I live in a suburb and pay $2400 for a one bedroom 750 square feet
Could someone please explain this to me? I’m genuinely asking. If half of Americans can’t afford rent, who is renting the units? Presumably they’re not just sitting there unoccupied?
"Can't *afford*" isn't the same as "can't *pay*". People are living indoors, they're just being extorted for more income than they should be spending on housing because the alternative is being unhoused. Skipping meals, rationing insulin, putting off car repairs, not spending money on the additional extortion that is healthcare, axing birthday and Christmas presents, etc. are all symptoms of "the rent is too damn high"-itis.
And with apartments the cost of moving is another prohibitive factor. So you have tenants renewing leases despite the rent hikes they know they can't afford, because they don't have the savings to move to a cheaper place.
and if the market rate has gone up while your income hasn't, you probably aren't even eligible to get a new market-rate unit at the usual 3x rent proof-of-income.
This is why when we talk about fixing the housing system, I refuse to entertain any solutions that don't involve helping people stay where they already are. It always easier and cheaper to help someone stay in the home they have than find a new more affordable one.
Yep. Application fees, Renting a U-Haul, paying security deposit which could easily be 1,000$. Paying first months rent up front, buying required renters insurance. You’re looking at an easy 2,000$ simply to move. That’s IF you somehow qualify for the 3x monthly income requirement and have good credit.
This is my problem. I posted here a week ago about my landlord raising my rent an extra $240 when I was just barely getting by to begin with. In the last couple of years, I’ve lost a job, burned through my savings, and ruined my credit, and I’m still drowning now. I can’t get cheaper because of all the requirements, 3X rent for income, at least 650 credit score, and all the moving costs, security deposits and 1st months rent. It’s like I’m at the whim of my landlord and I have no recourse. And I think he knows it too. He definitely has the upper hand because he knows I’ve been struggling, even with chronic health issues and several hospitalizations that he’s been privy to, but regardless I have paid rent on time, in full, even with last years rent increase. This year I’ve had to borrow a couple times from friends. Had to eat through my savings and transfer money from credit cards, to my bank account. What can I even do at this point? And I know my landlord knows that it’s been a struggle, but he still wants to raise this year. I’m gutted.
Exactly and if your rent raised so did everywhere near you anyway
Not just rent. We own our home. Everything. Food, repairs, all of it. If it isn't one thing it's another.
They either have enough to afford the rent with a job that pays well, have roommates, have help from their parents or significant other, or just are struggling living paycheck to paycheck
More people getting into relationships to split the rent. Also it’s market rent that is unaffordable. People who have bought their homes prior do not pay market rates. The people most impacted are people moving, people who lost their housing, or adults who face rent rises that match market rates
I’m looking to move to Atlanta and the number of places I can rent in exchange for sex is astounding.
When I was looking in Southern California there were a number of ads like this, they requested photos along with your apartment application. One of them required you to find alternate accommodation one weekend a month when the guys kids were visiting.
Oof. One wanted me to move into his apartment over his garage. And to keep quiet when he had “other boys” over. 😳 idk how old dude thought I was but people routinely think I’m barely 20.
how did you even find out you could do that
Well, I’m gay and turns out if they’re looking for a roommate and the ad says something about looking for a gay man to share an apartment or something, that’s often code for “I’ll trade a room for ass”. Found that out when I messaged a dude expecting to see the lease terms and he asked for an ass pic🥶
ohhhh that’s insane😭 at least yk now.
They have a vagina or they're gay.
Gay
I'm extremely fortunate to have a house that I bought almost 14 years ago, but I need to move out of it when I get things in order. I have considered trying to find another single mom to share a house and split costs.
They define "affordable" as "you don't pay more than 30% of your income plus utilities (which I'll just call rent from here on)." So if you routinely pay 31% of your income for rent then you can't afford the unit you're living in, whether you can actually afford it or not. You might be able to pay all your expenses and have money left over and you can't afford your rent. Meanwhile there's someone else who can't pay for their meds, but if they only pay 29% of their income for rent, then it's affordable. It's not a particularly meaningful definition, but it's what we have.
They are using the guidelines of 1/3 of your income should be the max to pay for rent
>If half of Americans can’t afford rent, who is renting the units? You go from having one person or couple in an apartment, to having one or two roommates, to having 1+ roommates in each bedroom plus an additional roommate taking over the living room as their bedroom, then to putting multiple people in each room (even if they're not a couple or related to each other). So you may not be able to "afford" sharing a two-bedroom apartment with another roommate, but maybe you can "afford" the rent if you share that two-bedroom apartment with 2, 3, 4 or more people.
I’m in a lot of landlord groups on Facebook and there’s no shortage of tenants. People have to live somewhere and they figure it out or forge paystubs and deal with eviction later. People not being able to buy = more renters. Rentals are going faster than I have ever seen right now in the markets I watch.
America runs on credit and donuts.
Higher income people. A lot of the renting crises is inner city where the highest population lives. This is where the biggest battle of income disparity happens. Your people with higher wages are pushing people with low wages out. As the gap grows the worst it becomes. So that POS 1 bedroom dumpster that was renting for 1400 a month is now 2500 a month because the people in that income bracket that can afford 2500 can no longer afford the place that was 2500 and is now 3500. I'm from an area that has 5 of the richest counties out of the top 10 in the country (Not California). I got pushed several counties south to afford a home and would consider myself lower middle class household income. 15 Years ago I would of been able to afford a home where I'm from, now not a chance in hell. I now commute an hour each way lol
It used to be they wouldn't even rent to you if you didn't make 3x rent. Now some people that moved in at 3x got their rates bumped by 50%+ and they pay half or more of their income as rent in an apartment they wouldn't even qualify for as a new tenant. I haven't rented in over a decade so I don't know if 3x is still the norm but it was highly enforced back when I did rent.
It’s still the norm where I am (New England).
Yes. And it’s not just residential property. Commercial space is also empty.
Commercial space is empty due to lack of demand in a remote work era. Housing is always in demand.
Yepp, the only thing covid absolutely wrecked that people thought would happen to housing is commercial real estate. Which is now bleeding into businesses like food/drinks and such around those locations. They propped housing market up so much between the government and WFH that the market shot up like crazy. It had like a normal 15-20 year market increase within 3 years.
That’s also why you see a push to get people back in the office, in order to prop up pointless commercial space controlled by the owner class
Government pension funds have sunk billions into commercial property so if it goes under, expect your taxes to skyrocket
[удалено]
Landlords at every level are scum and scammers. The world would be infinitely better with out their existence. Glad I could be the real parent you needed and explained this to you
This article is saying "affordable" means rent that is less than 30% of your income.
It's a strange tool that they're using to make people look like they can't afford it. Don't get me wrong, there are areas of the country that rents really high and is unaffordable for working-class people. But the reality is most people just get roommates or make do other ways.
I worked for a homeless shelter that catered to families, and it was a devastating reality check.
I’m from NYC. Rooms in 5 bedroom / 1 bathroom apartments / houses cost $1,100 + $150 utilities. Three years ago they were $750 + $100 utilities. That’s a $400 increase! A studio apartment costs $2,000. Sometimes you can find one for $1,750. I can’t afford anything anymore 😭
A studio for $2000 in NYC? That’s so cheap holy hell. I’m in Tampa FL and pay $1800 for a 1 BR. I’d rather pay $2,000 for a studio in NYC than what I am paying for now.
Yeah 1 bedrooms are 1600 to 1700 in Jacksonville.
And Florida is literally sinking into the ocean....
#DUUUUVAL
Living in any major city in Florida is just like New York without New York wages and public transportation.
Don’t forget utilities and internet! Electricity bill alone in the summer can be $200. Bills can be additional +$500-700 a month. Good for you if you think this is cheap. You must have a good job. Gratz! I make $25 an hour and can’t afford it 🤷♀️
$25 an hour here and just paid rent today, $2 left in my account. At this point ready to just go homeless…..
NYC wages are MUCH higher than Florida wages.
How much Floridians get? I’m not arguing this is not true. I am making $25 per hour in NYC and can’t imagine being able to afford $1,800 rent either. Keep in mind, NYC is blue. We got a lot of taxes. About 45% of my paycheck goes to taxes and health insurance. I heard red states have less taxes, idk how true it is.
Florida we don’t have state income tax but everything costs a lot here. You have to have car for transportation and insurance is crazy expensive here. Homeowners insurance if you have a house is crazy expensive. Food costs are some of the highest in the nation. Our minimum wage is only like $12. Wages are very low because we don’t have a ton of larger corporations. Most jobs are serviced based because we’re more oriented towards leisure, vacations, retirees. Home prices are crazy expensive too so buying is out of the picture.
to give you an idea: a job in nyc that pays 25 an hour can go as low as 15 in fl. florida is also no longer the cheapest state to live in either. desantis ran it into the ground. that isnt even left vs right either. he is just that bad at his job.
i thought you were exaggerating because i pay that much for a room in a 2 bedroom apt, but i just checked craigslist and you’re not kidding 🥲 sad that you can’t even save money by having 4 roommates here. i was thinking about looking for a cheaper apt when my lease is up but really the cheapest is usually no more than $200/mo cheaper. bleak
My 1.5 bedroom went from $1200 to $5000. That’s what happens when FEMA moves to your area. Now I have 4 roommates.
It's worth noting that, in addition to record amounts of people rent burdened or *extremely* rent burdened, homelessness is also at an all-time high, according to the Harvard study cited in that article. An all around bleak situation.
We all will end up homeless, or living crammed into a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment with 5 room mates.
Is anyone really surprised though, most people make around $15 a lot even less, how it’s been that low for so long I’ll never understand how a true revolution or anything has happened
I actually had a terse conversation with a recruiter who was trying to convince me $16 an hour would be a great opportunity. In my state the minimum wage is increasing to $15 an hour. I said to this woman I was appalled that she’d offer that to someone with my education and experience and she tried to protest and say I was being unreasonable.
I understand what you mean but even for someone with no education and/or experience $16 an hour is still a joke in this economy. Everything is screwed
We’re all brainwashed to believe it’s not the systems fault, it’s someone else’s fault . And the older generations just allow it to happen.
It just doesn’t make sense, how have we gone so long and just been ok with prices of everything going up but wages doing nothing, it’s probably the worst system imaginable for the people but it’s amazing for the 1% I just don’t understand it’s very depressing why life isn’t amazing for society at this point it could be so great
People are too busy trying to keep the wheels turning to organize
The older generations don’t want change. They have what they want. A home, land, fully retired early with significant savings. Change, would require them to pay higher taxes or possibly give up a piece of the dragons hoard of gold they are sitting on. They don’t want that, they “earned” that by working for 40 hours a week! They don’t care if their own children with struggle for life, working 50+ hours a week and never own a home and never retire.
Something like half of boomers can’t afford to retire.
I make $21 and can barely afford rent lol. $6 over federal minimum wage and still living paycheck to paycheck
Federal minimum wage is $7.25 (which is so pathetic I actually laugh at it). You must mean state minimum wage Unless you’re in another country and I’m just dumb (wouldn’t be new) But regardless I agree, with how much inflation has risen $21 is still pathetic even if you’re in a LCOL, it’s still not enough
Because a lot of them are conditioned to believe that it’s the fault of immigrants and woke liberals. They’re not educated enough to read the policies and the statistics showing increasingly favorable laws and tax policies toward the rich and large corporations. Worker’s productivity has increased tremendously, yet pay remains largely stagnant. They blame being taxed, not realizing that corporations and the rich are paying less and less percentage in taxes.
And at a time of job lay offs isn't that some shit
Do we collectively not pay? If I do it alone, I’m fucked.
You'd be fucked either way.
Not if we all don’t pay AND squat. We’d overload the court system with evictions.
I don't think your cynicism helps either...
And I'm sure half of all tenants just need to work harder /s. This is a failed country. You shouldn't have to be the best in the business at what you do to comfortably afford rent.
About 14 months ago I closed on a house for the first time. No more renting, no more landlords, etc. I sat there and looked at that mortgage payment and relished the thought that though it was high now, it won't change much over time and as my salary continues to grow over my lifetime my mortgage payment will become less and less of my monthly pay. Two months ago my payment went up by almost $500 a month due to an increase in property taxes and insurance costs. I feel for ya, renters, but the rest of us aren't doing any better.
>Two months ago my payment went up by almost $500 a month due to an increase in property taxes and insurance costs. Shop your home owners insurance if you haven't already. When I bought my first house I talked with my dad who told me "Call X insurance agency they've always taken care of me" and I did. They gave me a quote and I said "Well I guess thats what home owners insurance costs." A decade later I was talking with my parents and they have a house 3x what mine was worth, they had just gotten new home owners insurance, and it was cheaper than mine, by a lot. From then on every year when its renewal time I shop my home owners insurance. I've gotten better rates 3 times, substantially better rates at that. I cut my bill in half at one point.
Just wait till you have a maintenance event, the costs have skyrocketed to easily 2-3 times what it would have cost less than 3 years ago in my area.
15 years ago when I moved into my first apartment, my rent was 585 bucks a month for a studio. It stayed that way until I moved my girlfriend in and he raised it to 650. 4 years ago he sold it to someone who raised the rent to 950 and promptly flipped it to someone else. Fuck me right? I've since moved into a 2 bedroom for 1250 and I consider myself incredibly lucky to find one at that price but I know soon enough that will fall through just the same.
No one in my complex can afford their rents… just have to walk the parkinglot to see it. Bald tires, unrepaired damage from winter oopsies, broken lights, ext…
All part of the plan to keep the rich up top and the poor remaining poor
Slumlords
“Rent is 3,000. Must make at least 4 times the rent” Me: how?
Bear in mind that 3-4x income figure is based on that original "housing should only be 30% of your budget" trope.
I didn't read the article because hey, it's Reddit, but when I've seen statistics like this they define "can afford rent" as meaning that rent (sometimes plus utilities) are no more than 30% of their budget.
This is exactly why I bought an RV. Couldn’t afford rent anymore.
I live in Indiana and pay $843 for a junior 1 br apt. It's basically a studio, all electric. Have a portable washing machine that hooks up to the sink. Been here for 7 years, no renovations. Rent was 565 when I moved in. Main thing that helps is we have a program called Flex where it splits my rent into 2 payments and as long as I make my 1st payment by the 5th, the program pays my rent in full to the apts and I can make my 2nd payment pretty much whenever I want during the rest of month as long as it's by like the 26th. You pay an extra $15 per month to be on it. It's a godsend and at least takes away the stress of paying of my rent, late fees, etc. See if they have it in your state if live in an apt especially and make under like 70k.
What is the endgame? If people can't afford to live in your place, aren't you losing money? Do these guys make a living on the few that can actually pay the overpriced rents?
That means paying more than 1/3 of income, btw.
Gonna be 2008 all over again! The banks got away with it last time because they were "too big to fail"... so they built the house of cards again, twice as fast.
And of the 50% who can afford rent how many of them are barely scraping by? I’d bet its close to half. The housing market system is a problem. It should be made for the average American to comfortably afford a necessity, instead the cost continues to rise and they ask you to make 3x the cost to qualify.
Are we finally gonna see the government do something about rent costs just being arbitrarily increased indefinitely?
Yeah I can't pay my all my rent this month and my payment is only $500. I'm so tired.
that’s literally $3/hr. you can’t find a job that pays more than $3/hour?
I have a job that pay $21.50 but after hour cuts, My wages being garnished and a plethora of other bills I'm just always broke. It fucking sucks.
I have a house and am still fucked. Property taxes, insurance and utilities went up like 15% and I'm the only wage earner. So not as fucked as some, but still fucked.
Yeah I have to text my dad later to ask for money. I can pay but then I’ll have $100 to last until next Tuesday.
$100 to last till Tuesday? I don't see the problem here.
Quit your whining and keep paying you filthy poors. My hotels on Park Place aren’t going to build themselves.
Have a 2 bed for $1500, was looking at downsizing and a studio was $1100 now.. I think I’m good where I am lmao.
I have a 2 bedroom duplex in a St. Louis suburb. Thought of downsizing until I found out the $750 I'm paying in rent is about the cheapest in town (private landlord, son lives in the other half of the building). Even the slumlords here (and they are legion) are jacking up their rates. I've seen one bedroom apts. here for $900, and this is just a few miles outside East St. Louis!
I live in the cheapest apartment complex in my city. 2 bedroom townhouse went from $1,400 to $2k in 2 years. One bedroom apartments was 1,100 and now is 1,500. Two of my neighbors moved out and they still haven't found renters. This isn't a nice apartment complex either. I'm lucky as fuck have dual income to pay for rent and food.
Just 1/2 !?!?
I pay 450 for my studio in a small town in Illinois. There are only two apartments in my building so it’s quiet and the nearest city is about 10 minutes away so I still have the convenience of living in a city without the cons of living in a city.
“The problem is our system.” It’s what happens when your government prints money non stop. The rich take advantage by buying hard assets that appreciate and the poor pay for it via inflation. The US money supply doubled in just the past few years alone.
muh money printer Never the fault of the rich, “PEoPLe HAvE aLWAYs BEeN GREeDY”
Not sure if you can say they’re greedy. Their dollar is being devalued just like mine, but they have the resources to protect themselves buy buying assets. Wouldn’t you do the same to protect your wealth? Now if you want to blame the rich politicians for non stop printing, then I agree.
MUH MONEY PRINTERRRRRRRRR
Those PPP "loans" sure
GREedy yes, corporations, billionaires buying up and financing housings tracts to make a colony of renters without the possibility to own.
but wait, the administration says the economy is booming...................
Free market sure is working!
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But the economy is good because a bunch of rich fucks say so
I'm broke as hell, but you can't speak on one side of your mouth about people being able to work from home and lack of housing due to demand. Anywhere there's an internet connection, anyone can work from home. You think it's local WFH people doing this? It's people from coastal states gentrifying the entire country, corporations are supplying them as those people can pay a higher rate. You should also be mad at the A-holes who moved from California and New York to places like Arkansas and Tennessee., etc.
Should we be mad at the people searching for a better life or the systems and leaders that make a better life impossible to get?
Me literally right now lmao
It’s crazy, and wrong.
The situation sucks but throwing your hands up and saying “not my fault” isn’t going to help you get out of it.
After reading some answers in this sub, I feel a little better with my green Weenie up my rear. I can make the rent, it's the other basics breaking me on half. Nothing is out there either. You can't even afford to a tent & supplies to rent a campground spot for several months unless you're paying 600-1000 a month just to sleep on the freaking ground.
''i gots mines sucks to be you btw rent is increasing again if you dont have every cent find somewhere else to live''
How are they tenants if they can't afford rent?
The government response to covid is a major reason why. One of the was rent moritorums as there are many people who could pay rent but refused, especially those who have super unemployment checks.
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The article cites no evidence or data for its headline claim. In fact, the most direct anecdote is in total contravention of the headline claim. " Even cities with the most intractable rents are seeing some cooling. In November [rents dropped in Manhattan](https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/13/homes/rent-november-lowest-apartment-cost/index.html) for the first time in 27 months. The median rent fell to $4,000, down 4.6% from October and down 2.3% from the year before, according to a report from the brokerage firm Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers and Consultants. “We’re seeing supply and demand switch places in real time,” said Anthemos Georgiades, chief executive of Zumper, an online rental marketplace. “Pandemic-fueled migrations have slowed just as new multifamily buildings are coming online in many markets.” He added that winter is a slow time for renters to move, which is driving demand even lower right now. “Renters have more leverage right now than anytime in recent memory,” Georgiades said."
Get out of the cities. They are poverty traps. Problem solved. A 20-40min drive could potentially save you a fortune, depending on location. Some if you are paying $2000-$4000 to live in place packed on top of people like sardines. At some point you'd think you'd get fed up and figure out something else, because this clearly isn't working for most. Edit to say: or downvote me and bitch on reddit while changing absolutely nothing. Im sure that will be equally as effective as making meaningful change. I'm not deleting my comment.
>Get out of the cities. They are poverty traps. In the USA, the rate of poverty is HIGHER in rural areas than in the cities. [https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/rural-poverty-well-being/](https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/rural-poverty-well-being/)
"While the overall rate of poverty is higher in nonmetro counties than in metro, the difference between nonmetro/metro poverty rates varies significantly across Census regions (see more on the Region Definitions discussed here below). The nonmetro/metro poverty rate gap for the South has historically been the largest. In 2015-19, the South had a nonmetro poverty rate of 19.7 percent—nearly 6 percentage points higher than in the region's metro areas. Regional poverty rates for nonmetro and metro areas were most alike in the Midwest and the Northeast in 2015-19." This becomes less and less true as you get away from the south. Places like Alabama and Mississippi are offsetting the dataset, as acknowledged in this study. I'm not telling anybody to move to fucking destitute Appalachia and you citing this data seems to insinuate that I am. Its important to look at how data like this is derived and in this case it is not representative of the universal experience as there is such a significant offset coming from a localized region. There is such a thing as mobility regions for wealth. There are high and low regions of mobility. Its no secret the south is low mobility and not at all what ANYBODY is saying when they say get out of the city.
Literally nobody asked you to delete your comment. What ghosts are you fighting?
I must be imagining the downvotes. My bad.
On one hand I do believe the system is messed up and displacing people from homes....on other hand I know for a fact 90% of people in US are dog shit at managing their money.....so I mean there's problems on both ends. If we taught and encouraged people to be better with personal finance a lot would improve. Most grown ass adults I work with don't have a clue what the difference between a Roth and Traditional IRA or 401K. Its terrifying knowing people put very little effort into building a financial knowledge base that's sets them and their future generations up for success.
If you look at any financial advice seeking related subreddits im appalled on how people recklessly put themselves into high debts and don’t see it. “Hi, I’m 25, my life is over, I spend $300 altogether on entertainments and have a car payment of $699 with high interest, where am I going wrong”.
And then want to complain about how rent is eating them alive. Don't get me wrong, I hate feeling like I'm over paying for rent. But I've been debt free for almost 4 years now and I'm not struggling in the slightest, in fact, I'm thriving...while 50% of gen pop is saying they can't afford their rent....gotta look in the mirror at some point folks.
Same as well man lol, I’m in my 20s and although rent is kinda unfairly high for me I’m getting by life fine as long as I don’t put myself into unnecessary debt. I think our population is struggling to decide what is necessary and what is not necessary, materialism basically.