How much should one expect their rent to be raised per year? (San Jose: apartments, rental market)

[KJsgfan]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but as a first time apartment dweller and one who is always trying to plan ahead I'm just wondering peoples experiences/opinions on this subject.

So, as the thread title suggests.... what is an average or reasonable amount to expect your rent to be raised every year for a 1 bedroom apartment in San Jose? I'm currently paying $1,365 but wondering what to expect when I renew next year. Not sure if I'm looking at $100 + or less than that?

Any comments would be appreciated.

[TheGreatCurve]

It all depends on the market and the vacancy rate at the time you have to renew. It can go up by a lot (unless it's rent controlled) or it can even go down if the market turns sour and the vacancy rate goes up.

[tilz]

Yep agree with thegreatcurve, although at the moment the trend seems to be more up ! , where I live I hear that rent has gone up anything between 8-15%. I am expecting a 10% lift when me lease is due.

[roadwarrior101]

When I lived in the city in a newer, luxury apartment, my rent was going up 10-15% per year. I'm so glad that I bought a place 2 years ago. Its at the point where my all in expenses (property tax, insurance, HOA, etc) are not much higher than I'd be able to get for rent, if I ever needed to rent this place out.

[marcopolo666]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

When I lived in the city in a newer, luxury apartment, my rent was going up 10-15% per year. I'm so glad that I bought a place 2 years ago. Its at the point where my all in expenses (property tax, insurance, HOA, etc) are not much higher than I'd be able to get for rent, if I ever needed to rent this place out.

This was actually the route I took.

- Buy a place to live, move in.
- slowly fix it up (new paint, flowers, fix lawn, etc)
- at some point in a few years (2-4), the cost of rents would go up enough that I could rent it out at a rate to pay mortgage and costs (taxes, insurance, etc) plus 10-15% for "emergencies" down the road.
- start looking for a new place to buy and move in.

I had 4 houses at one time, but the upkeep (maintenance) started to be a hassle and it seemed that there was always ONE house that had an a-hole in it. When the law was passed that capital gains from your home (the place you lived) weren't taxable (up to a limit) I moved back into each of them for the minimum time to qualify and sold them off one by one, and paid off the mortgage on my main home (the one I wanted to keep and live in). It was a pain at times (more than once) and took a lot of work but I ended up with a nice house with no mortgage (after about 20 years).

It might be more scary now (due to the housing market) but my plan was to keep the houses, not try and turn them over each time (well, after the first one, which got me enough money to start buying houses I knew I would rent out later). Prop values do go up in the long term, so I could wait out slumps. The hard part was when vacancy rates went down and thus so did rents. That was when the "10-15% for emergencies" got used.

[80skeys]

Ours went up $80 this year, but I've heard of others whose went up $300 and $400

[Radical347]

In the city of San Jose, rent increases are limited to 8% once every year -- but if it has not been raised in two years, then they next year the landlords are allowed to raise it 21%.

San José Department of Housing - Programs - Rental Rights & Referrals Program - Apartment Rent Limits

[KJsgfan]

Originally Posted by Radical347

In the city of San Jose, rent increases are limited to 8% once every year -- but if it has not been raised in two years, then they next year the landlords are allowed to raise it 21%.

San José Department of Housing - Programs - Rental Rights & Referrals Program - Apartment Rent Limits

That only applies to properties built on or before September 7th 1979. This property I am moving to (The Woods, Brentwood Villiage) was built a little after that so it does not apply.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by KJsgfan

Sorry if this is a dumb question but as a first time apartment dweller and one who is always trying to plan ahead I'm just wondering peoples experiences/opinions on this subject.

So, as the thread title suggests.... what is an average or reasonable amount to expect your rent to be raised every year for a 1 bedroom apartment in San Jose? I'm currently paying $1,365 but wondering what to expect when I renew next year. Not sure if I'm looking at $100 + or less than that?

Any comments would be appreciated.

There is no set amount unless you live in a rent contolled area. Inflation, the overall rental market, possible improvements, all kinds of things can enter into the picture. You might get lucky and get no increase. i think you can normally expect no more than about 10% unless, like I mentioned there is a good reason for a larger increase. I remember a few years ago, a good friend of ours, living in W Covina got a hugh increase, but it was a condo, apparently the condo fees sky rocketed and she hadn't had an increase in 2 or 3 years.

[511pf]

High demand places have sent rent spikes of 15% per year. The Avalon Apartments next to Diridon Station had one bedrooms going for $1,550 or so two years ago and are now around $2,150.