Crazy Rents (Boston, Lowell, Malden: apartments, rent, find a job)

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by Moh1988

My rent was increased by 500$ for the 3bd apartment in one of the Avalons in Lex/Belm area. Coming from the midwest where a 100$ increase would make me upset,,, this was one of the "Welcome to Boston" kind of moments.

Just curious, if you know how costly it is and that it continues to rise, why would you choose to move here from midwest?

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by Moh1988

What am I missing here? People are now stupid because they pay rent?
Do you think newly grad has any sort of down payment to purchase anything in this town?!!!

No. I mean you don't have to spend the kind of money some people are speaking of here. Let your own budget dictate what you spend, not what other people say you should have to pay for the "privilege" of living in Boston. You do need to have patience when looking in this market, but eventually you should find a reasonable landlord as long as you have some flexibility. Or better yet, move somewhere else that's not so ridiculously overpriced.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by massnative71

No. I mean you don't have to spend the kind of money some people are speaking of here. Let your own budget dictate what you spend, not what other people say you should have to pay for the "privilege" of living in Boston. You do need to have patience when looking in this market, but eventually you should find a reasonable landlord as long as you have some flexibility. Or better yet, move somewhere else that's not so ridiculously overpriced.

I've heard of cases where someone bids the rent up because they have to have a particular unit. That happened to me once a long time ago in another costly type A personality city, and I thought it was the most bizarre thing I'd ever seen. I could have matched their offer but refused. I found a place more to my liking and cheaper a short distance from there on the chance of stumbling into a rental agent whose client didn't show for an appointment.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by Moh1988

My rent was increased by 500$ for the 3bd apartment in one of the Avalons in Lex/Belm area. Coming from the midwest where a 100$ increase would make me upset,,, this was one of the "Welcome to Boston" kind of moments.

Speaking as the owner of a rental unit; if I raised the rent by that much on a current tenant, that's my way of saying I want them to move out and I should not expect that they stay. If you stay put, that's your own problem.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

I've heard of cases where someone bids the rent up because they have to have a particular unit. That happened to me once a long time ago in another costly type A personality city, and I thought it was the most bizarre thing I'd ever seen.

Like I said, the renters themselves bear a huge part of the blame just as the home buyers paying $200K over asking on a cape in Dedham do.

[WestieWhitie]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

And Stockholm syndrome has nothing at all to do with the metro Boston rental market. One non sequitur is as good as another.

Funny enough it does. High rents are due to extreme housing shortage and housing shortage is due to our politicians, unions and all sorts of special interest grifters who make new construction so incredibly expensive barely anything gets built, and people keep praising and voting for their tormentors instead of fighting against them.

Originally Posted by massnative71

Speaking as the owner of a rental unit; if I raised the rent by that much on a current tenant, that's my way of saying I want them to move out and I should not expect that they stay. If you stay put, that's your own problem.

Hope you don’t end up with a bunch of vida urbana thugs and a herd of their useful idi*ts paying you a visit…

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Like I said, the renters themselves bear a huge part of the blame just as the home buyers paying $200K over asking on a cape in Dedham do.

That's what happens when demand outpaces supply. I don't think people are living in overpriced apartments because they hate money. Living in a van or a cardboard box isn't a workable option for most people.

Sure, you can save money by avoiding large apartment complexes, but not everyone knows this. That's one of the things coming to a board like this can help people. Not everyone has or is able to make connections with locals to figure out where the *slightly* more reasonable rents can be found.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

That's what happens when demand outpaces supply. I don't think people are living in overpriced apartments because they hate money. Living in a van or a cardboard box isn't a workable option for most people.

Sure, you can save money by avoiding large apartment complexes, but not everyone knows this. That's one of the things coming to a board like this can help people. Not everyone has or is able to make connections with locals to figure out where the *slightly* more reasonable rents can be found.

I'm not sure it's limited to the large complexes. If anything, large complexes seem to have lower average rents due to a number of factors including more units to get leased up, also many people prefer smaller more personable living situations. This comment does not apply to recently built high end luxury units.

[charolastra00]

Originally Posted by massnative71

It will continue as long as people are stupid enough to pay them.

What's the alternative? We've got to live somewhere.

I'm not thrilled about a $300 rent increase, but it would cost more to put down first/last/security and hire movers to move even further away from work. And costing more would ultimately cost me more time before I can afford to buy.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by Remy11

Not this expensive (Boston is now one of the priciest cities in the US) and we didn’t have to live out in Malden or Arlington back then because it was affordable to be in Boston. Somerville was the furthest people had to go to for cheap rent. Malden is the second to last stop on the orange line—that was considered pretty far out of the way. If you had to live in the burbs like Malden and Arlington, you might as well have been living back at home with your parents.

Speaking of Malden, in the Globe today- just now:

In Malden, a diverse city strives to be ‘a place for everyone’
Nearly half of residents in the blue-collar town are foreign-born. But for years, these groups have been largely locked out of city politics and services.

This blue-collar city of about 60,000 north of Boston is one of the most diverse municipalities in Massachusetts, with at least 70 languages spoken in its public schools, and an ever-changing mix of new arrivals putting down roots. But making sure that everyone who lives in Malden gets a say in the future of the fast-changing city has been a challenge. A growing cadre of residents are pushing to ensure every voice — in any language ― gets heard at City Hall.

...

It’s a common issue in the industrial cities that ring Boston, where relatively affordable rents have drawn waves of immigrants in recent years, but the political power structure remains largely comprised of longtime white residents. That dynamic is especially pronounced in Malden, where 42 percent of residents are foreign-born. There are sizable communities of Chinese and Vietnamese speakers, as well as Haitians, Brazilians and newcomers from Central America, among other places.

For years, these groups have been largely locked out of city politics, and even city services. While the school district has long communicated in a variety of languages, City Hall has proven slower to change, said Debbie DeMaria, who served 10 years on the city council before retiring last year.

“There are people that don’t like the diversity. They don’t like the change or the new faces,” she said. “They want Malden to be the way Malden has always been.”

In recent months, the city has hired a director of diversity, equity and inclusion, and set aside $350,000 in federal COVID relief money for language access, including a staffer charged with making sure city services are available in Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Arabic, and English.

...

There are eight different languages spoken by at least five percent of the students in Malden schools, said City Councilor Amanda Linehan, and new immigrant groups emerge faster than the city can keep track of them.

“Just in the last few years, we’ve had this huge influx of people from Brazil,” she said. “We don’t entirely know why, but we have to find more people who speak Portuguese.”

Christenson takes Mandarin classes on Sundays, and keeps a sheet in his desk with greetings in eight languages, the better to break the ice with community groups. Sometimes, he admits, he’s not entirely sure where people coming to Malden are from.

“I have to say, I didn’t even know the country Eritrea existed until a community group of people from there reached out,” he said. “I had to go to the map and look it up.”

**This isnt a political statement/post about Malden** just a good addition to the Globe on the Street Series and a look at Malden. This is the topic they focused on, wish they would've mentioned more about the young professional class there.