Renters’ lament
Author: boored
Category: Real Estate
I moved into a studio apartment in SoMa in May. The apartment downstairs rented for $850 in May and went vacant end of September. That apartment is now being shopped for $200 more a month.
- Thomas Xavier, 33, SoMa, S.F.
Same thing happened in Vail and Aspen. Now there is nowhere for the teachers and other low-wage earners to live. Some drive up to 100 miles each way to work. However, there is now a major shortage of workers in these towns and the service is suffering. The greedy real estate industry has created a monster that could indeed come back to bite them. Hope S.F. does not make the same mistake.
- Craig Erlandsen 41, Eagle, Colo.
What many smug “the housing market is falling and let it fall” types don’t understand is that the slow housing market is creating more demand for rentals and you are going to be priced out if you don’t have rent control.
- Nicole diGiorgio, 35, Martinez
They seriously need to get rid of rent control. Why should someone have to pay $1,600 for the same dumpy apartment as the person next to you paying $900? Building owners have to rape the new person in order to recoup costs from rent-controlled tenants.
- Dallas DeBurger, 34, Lower Nob Hill, S.F.
I’m not raising the rents on my rentals, just keeping them on track with the general inflation number with some adjustments when a vacancy comes up. I sold my rentals in S.F. when rent control was voted in (only sold those which were affected). Sad how the new owners have let them go, but understand that is where they have to be with rent control - forced neglect (do the absolute minimum).
- Ben Toy, 59, San Mateo
Construction costs are the main driver in housing prices and you can’t build an apartment building that has anything that will rent for less than $2,500 per month. California’s construction industry runs on union labor, which is the highest in the world. As for new apartment/condo construction, that’s all going on in the downtown area and they are selling for $1,500 per square foot.
- Galen Dutch, Marina, S.F.
One possible option for a single person or a couple (with) a strong income is to rent as cheaply as possible ($1,000-1,200) and invest the remainder from what they would otherwise be paying in mortgage on a modest home ($1,500) in a no-load mutual fund. Even better might be to buy a house and rent out rooms to help on the mortgage. If you buy the right house and are handy, you can create a very livable arrangement in which you can create privacy and, with rents what they are, a very good deal for everyone involved.
- Thomas Puleo, 43, Oakland
We are all in the same boat, renters or homeowners. At least I own the roof over my head, my mortgage is fixed, and I [don't] worry about not being able to pay the increasing rent.
Kean Tan, 44, Sunnyside, S.F.
If anyone would like to rent a nice 2-bedroom apartment in a Victorian for $850 a month, water, sewer and garbage paid, I have one going. The only problem is, it’s in Sonora, but then you don’t have to deal with Bay Area traffic up there.
- Malcolm Carden, 61, Piedmont
Luckily. I’m entrenched in a 1 BR in Pac Heights. Guess I won’t be moving for awhile, though.
- Myles Younger, 27, Pacific Heights, S.F.
Source:
investment property
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