What do you consider cheap rent? (apartments, rentals, house)

[Swampbird]

I desperately wish to move out of state but am afraid I will not be able to support myself on market rent (I currently only pay $370 from a relative - that is roughly 30% of my take-home pay. Financial gurus tell you to spend no more than this). Now, in the real world, I know I cannot get an apartment for this. So I guess I will have to get a studio, which is fine.

Am I being unrealistic? Will I be stuck here forever? Or do you think I can find an efficiency that isn't in a bad neighborhood for around $400?

I was told Texas is cheap - it seems to be - it's on my list, but I loathe the heat.

I was told WI is cheap - it's not.

I was told MN is cheap - it's not.

I can't much info on rentals in the Dakotas or Nebraska, although I was told it's cheap there.

I just am starting to feel a little hopeless, I guess. I am too old for a roommate and don't really want to work more than 40 hours a week (I have medical issues).

Where would you go?

[Bydand]

A friend of mine just signed a lease on a single bedroom efficiency here for $380 a month. Heat, electric, water, sewer, and trash pick-up included. It is in an older, but nice Victorian home that was turned into apartments years ago.

[Swampbird]

Originally Posted by Bydand

A friend of mine just signed a lease on a single bedroom efficiency here for $380 a month. Heat, electric, water, sewer, and trash pick-up included. It is in an older, but nice Victorian home that was turned into apartments years ago.

Something like that would be fantastic! How did they find it? Newspaper? Apt hunting site?

[tvdxer]

In Duluth, Minnesota, looking at current apartment and house rents on Craigslist...

1 or 2 br's seem to start at around $500 / month in crappy neighborhoods. A more typical price is $700 - $800 / month. Searching for rents under $500, I mostly found requests for roommates, but I did see a studio apartment with a "shared bedroom" for $290 / month in the center of town.

A typical price for a 3 br (usually a unit in a duplex/triplex or a standalone house) is about $800 - 1300 / month; about $1500+ / month in prestigious neighborhoods, although I found one 3 br, 1000 ft^2 duplex with a big yard in a crappy neighborhood for $525 / month. A house on 30 acres not far out of town can be rented for $1000 / month.

Utilities seem to usually NOT be included these days. In the past (e.g. 5-6 years ago) I remember that utilities WERE often included. They can be a substantial expense. Power is cheap ($0.07 / kWh), but heating costs are some of the highest in the country. Duluth has an average of 9,724 heating degree days. Compare this to Chicago, with 6,083, or even Minneapolis, with 7,876.

I don't consider Duluth to be a really cheap city to rent in (except if you want to rent a house on an acreage near the city, in which case it is probably one of the cheapest), but outstate Minnesota IS cheap. In Hibbing you can find a 1-bedroom apartment with heat included for $375 / month, and in Southwestern Minnesota a partially furnished 3 br, 2 ba home with a yard in walking distance of the grocery store, school, and pharmacy rents for $350 / month. This is probably on par with prices in many developing countries.

[Swampbird]

This "Hibbing" area, it is safe? How far to travel to the nearest metro area? I would still need to work full-time. I would be willing to commute for up to an hour each way.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by Swampbird

I would be willing to commute for up to an hour each way.

Money you use for commuting can be applied towards rent instead...

[Lily0fthevalley]

Oh tvdxer, did you actually use the forbidden word "outstate"???

Anyway, I found Northern Minnesota incredibly cheap, with high wages due to the dominant Union presence.

I moved to a small town east of Hibbing from Madison WI (where I had paid $800 per month for a rental house), and paid $550 per month for a perfectly nice rental house for five years, then bought a nice little house for $52,000.00. I work in the non-profit field and still earned $25 - $29 per hour in my job there, which is very good for my profession. I saved a TON of money while living in Northern Minnesota.

But it all depends on what you do for a living, OP. Don't even think of "commuting" in Northern Minnesota - the winter weather makes that very difficult and often dangerous.

If you want a complete change of life, get a degree in mining technology from a community college in Northern MN, and you'll be able to start out in the mines at $50,000. They actually are looking for young people to go into mining, because the long-term union members are aging out. But - do you want to be a miner??

Back to housing, though: from 1991 to 2002 I lived in Oklahoma and Arkansas, which also have VERY low cost housing. In Oklahoma, just West of Tulsa, I paid $250 a month for a teeny house - very un-fancy, but fine. In Arkansas I bought a very nice house for $55,000. The difference between these states and Northern MN, though, is that wages are typically low in OK and AR.

[Swampbird]

Lily, I am just looking for a place I can make it on my own - preferably with cool weather, but that's not a deal breaker. No, I can't be a miner. I am 46 and have a history of cancer so while I am not in frail health, treatment did leave me a little weak. MN is sounding better to me....

David, I agree about the commuting. I just meant that if work was hard to find, I would be willing to commute. Cheap rent won't matter if I can't find a job.

[BPerone201]

I consider MN cheap, you can find plenty of 1 bedrooms for 550-700mo in and around in and around decent areas of the twin cities, you can even get lucky and find one with a yard! The pay is actually pretty good.

There's not a whole lot of 1bed apt under $1,000/mo in decent areas of Jersey City.

[daortiz]

Cheap rent in LA for a one bedroom apt. would be $600 to $800
but most likely in a gang infested area.