Chico shortage of affordable one bedroom apartments (Paradise, Oroville: rentals, houses)

[heartfocus]

I have been looking in Chico for years for an affordable one bedroom apartment, and I don't understand why they are so hard to come by. I know that most property management companies there seem to cater to the parents of students, but for seniors there are very long waiting lists on all decent apartments. I am so sick of living in Paradise instead - I am going to have to move out of state just to get rental housing. Does anyone know why rentals are so tough to come by in Chico? Other than it caters to students only?

[2sleepy]

I could swear you posted in the Reno forum a day or so ago that you were moving there? Chico is expensive because people want to live there, that's sort of how it works.

[heartfocus]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I could swear you posted in the Reno forum a day or so ago that you were moving there? Chico is expensive because people want to live there, that's sort of how it works.

I'm trying to find housing in a senior complex and the Baby Boomers are renting them all up, and so I'm looking different places. Why, you keeping track?

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by heartfocus

I have been looking in Chico for years for an affordable one bedroom apartment, and I don't understand why they are so hard to come by. I know that most property management companies there seem to cater to the parents of students, but for seniors there are very long waiting lists on all decent apartments. I am so sick of living in Paradise instead - I am going to have to move out of state just to get rental housing. Does anyone know why rentals are so tough to come by in Chico? Other than it caters to students only?

Please tell me why I should not laugh.

If you hate Paradise, why Chico? A college town? Guess why they cater to college kids.

Originally Posted by heartfocus

I'm trying to find housing in a senior complex and the Baby Boomers are renting them all up, and so I'm looking different places. Why, you keeping track?

Baby Boomers are sort of on the senior side of things these days.

[heartfocus]

God, you people here have no life other than to ridicule others who have an honest question about housing in an area.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by heartfocus

I'm trying to find housing in a senior complex and the Baby Boomers are renting them all up, and so I'm looking different places. Why, you keeping track?

Keeping track? OH please, your post on the Reno forum was what, yesterday? I was the only one to respond to it, so I remembered your user name. I just don't like wasting my time and I'm starting to wonder how serious you really are about moving anywhere.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

First you say students are taking up all the one bedroom apartments you want in Chico, then you say you're looking for a senior complex in Chico but baby boomers are taking them all.

So, yes, it's understandable that honesty is in question here.

You've been given a lot of helpful advice on your many other threads, but you shoot it all down. And then you say things that completely contradict each other. So, yeah, people here are out of sympathy. At least I am.

[Ceece]

What is your dollar definition of affordable? Perhaps it's not realistic and nobody is to blame but the cost of living.

[BeauCharles]

Supply and demand vs. location. Same thing with home prices. I'm not a huge fan of Oroville, but my house would have been at least 50% more expensive in Chico (just 22 miles north). Just couldn't justify it. Anyway, Paradise is a really nice town in a beautiful spot. Could be worse OP. A lot worse.

[AndrewCS]

Originally Posted by heartfocus

I have been looking in Chico for years for an affordable one bedroom apartment, and I don't understand why they are so hard to come by. I know that most property management companies there seem to cater to the parents of students, but for seniors there are very long waiting lists on all decent apartments. I am so sick of living in Paradise instead - I am going to have to move out of state just to get rental housing. Does anyone know why rentals are so tough to come by in Chico? Other than it caters to students only?

Chico is not oriented towards senior citizens in the same way Paradise is. The university is the heart of the town, so many of the towns attributes are established in light of that. With a few exceptions, most of the one bedroom apartments are near the campus, which means they're pricier and in neighborhoods a senior citizen would probably become agitated in quite quickly.

The costs of living in Chico have been rising a bit for a while now, and rentals of all sorts have been in high demand for several years. It's one of the byproducts of the recession, more people began renting for various reasons, and since the supply of apartments was fixed property managers were able to start ratcheting up the rents. When I rented my first one bedroom six years ago, the rent was $680 (and this was through Hignell). You'd be lucky to find a decent one bedroom managed by a proper company for less than $725 or so now.

If your budget is less than $650-700/month for a one bedroom you're going to be hard pressed to find one you like. Your best bet might be to search areas on the north side of town, like Lassen Villa on East Lassen Avenue. Or check out southeast Chico in some of those neighborhoods around the mall. Anything near downtown is going to be rather expensive. I'm paying $745/month for mine that's a couple of blocks away from the campus.

If it appeals to you, you might also be able to find one of those "back houses" that are rented by homeowners, little one bedroom units separate from the house in some of the downtown areas. Sometimes one will be rented cheaply enough.