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Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I'm just curious as to what you guys are seeing regarding renters. In my neck of the woods, home sales have slowed and prices are dropping. But people either aren't qualifying for loans or are planning to wait it out. In other words, potential buyers seem to be content stay renters. So now landlords have been raising rent and I've been seeing more and more sellers who are content to become landlords. I'm even seeing this in commercial property. Our local neighborhood convenience store recently closed and the owner told me it was because he couldn't keep up with the rent. I've also noticed that the local apartment rents are going up, too. Some of the apartments aren't even offering one-year terms anymore. I've seen several ads that are only 3-6 months. Anyway, I find this really interesting and hadn't really considered how the housing market would affect the renting market. Anyway, what do you guys think? Will rent keep going up? Will renters eventually decide to buy and get the market jump-started or is that way too simplistic?
I would like to be a buyer. I sold my house 2/28 and have yet to find a place with a reasonable price on it. So, I have decided to rent.
There is an insane number of rentals here. More popping up daily. Lots of landlords who must be doing some pretty intense drugs to think that someone is going to pay the rents they are asking. If I was looking to assume their mortgage it would most likely cost the same.
So, I can't afford to buy and I can't afford to rent.
Rents are typically a local supply and demand marketplace influenced by local salaries and regulations. It will vary so much place to place that national averages are not meaningful.
I haven't found the amount of rent varying very much over several states.
What's different is the size (sq footage) and what's included - i.e. water, all utilities, cable and internet included, heat. Pet fees can range from $100 ea. deposit to $500 per pet with $50/month pet fee per pet and size restrictions. - if you can find a place that even takes pets. Honestly, the higher priced units had the least amt of worthwhile "extra's" I've also seen an increase in 3,6 month rentals..and what's up with 13 month rentals? I've heard a lot of folks who've had huge rent increases ($100-200/month) - it's almost as if they don't want you to renew even if you're a good tenant (if you're not that may be the reason).
Sometimes I think they vie for the longest list of "amenities" - the most laughable were apts that had "outlets in every room" or "baseboards" on their lists. Wow!l..that certainly will make me pay $150 over market for your place!
I'd love to buy - renting is getting harder to afford every year. Pets do make it harder.
Commercial and retail rents in the nearby town center have been jacked up by the REIT that bought the property. As a result, a number of stores have closed at the same time and are being replaced by new tenants. The same happened in Leesburg with a couple of small stores we happened to frequent. The rents went up 100% overnight when new ownership took over. The higher rents are needed to justify the high premiums they paid for the properties.
Renting prices are skyrocketing in our area and the housing prices have climbed greatly. Although now they are not selling as fast as in the past, people are still being forced to rent because they cant afford to buy a house. In Va, there is no law that states a limit as too how much rent can be raised and how often. Our last apartment before we bought our house, we saw our rent jump $100....and after we left it went up over $300 A MONTH!!! Just like that, all it took was a letter and a new company to take over. And even though they replaced some items (stove, refrigerator, etc) people still arent able to keep up with their rent.
If less people are buying because of the market instability, then the renters and apartment complexes are going to raise their rents.
If you can't get a mortgage, you're doomed to rent.. so why not raise the rent... since you HAVE to rent? Sad, but true. That is the way of America. Praising the almighty dollar.
In California, many people bought homes they couldn't afford. Now that they can't play the refinance game anymore, and their adjustable mortgages are going up, they often just walk away. Where are all these people going? They're becoming renters, which in turn places more of a burden on the rental market. This is not good news for renters in places like Los Angeles that already have a severe shortage of affordable housing, and very low vacancy rates.
In California, many people bought homes they couldn't afford. Now that they can't play the refinance game anymore, and their adjustable mortgages are going up, they often just walk away. Where are all these people going? They're becoming renters, which in turn places more of a burden on the rental market. This is not good news for renters in places like Los Angeles that already have a severe shortage of affordable housing, and very low vacancy rates.
But there's also a HUGE number of condos that were massivly overbuilt and are now being converted into apartments. Unfortunately, everybody thinks they can make back their mortgage on the rents, so they're trying to get ridiculous prices, and making nothing while their place stands empty. If I wanted to pay a mortgage, I'd buy the place myself.
I told one person their rent was too high, and they said "If I lower it any, I won't even make the interest on my loan." I said "good luck with that, then" and rented an older place for less than half the price. Two months later they were actually calling me back and offering me lower rates. They didn't seem too happy when I suggested they cut their original rate in half.
There's still "reasonable" rents out there, you just have to put up with older buildings and crochety managers. Newer places or houses, you can expect that the owners got screwed by buying at the peak and were left holding the bag when sales ground to a halt. They'll try to recoup their losses from renters, but most of us are renting because we saw the writing on the wall. We're not so dumb as to fall for essentially the same trick twice.
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and size restrictions. - if you can find a place that even takes pets. Honestly, the higher priced units had the least amt of worthwhile "extra's" I've also seen an increase in 3,6 month rentals..and what's up with 13 month rentals? I've heard a lot of folks who've had huge rent increases ($100-200/month) - it's almost as if they don't want you to renew even if you're a good tenant (if you're not that may be the reason). 
