Things You Should Know Before Moving to Idaho (Boise, Post Falls: renter, condos)
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People here are saying the rent is high.
So what is an acceptable rent?
Judging by the "housing wanted" ads, there is huge demand for a place to live for $300 a month with all utilities and high speed internet included and pets allowed.
People here are saying the rent is high.
So what is an acceptable rent?
With the current wages here $750 to $1000 would be acceptable for the average lower to middle income family. This is what I determine from my own personal experience of working in property management for many years. It is getting pretty bad. Hearing reports of one landlord in the Sandpoint area raising rents by $500 on her rental properties because people are waiting in line for anything available. Her current tenants, every single one, have had to move out because they can't afford to renew their leases. A smaller property management company here in Post Falls had two small duplex units listed at $650 and $750 for months. Now she has jacked them up to $850 and $925. I used to work for the management company that managed them last year. They are small, cramped and in a kind of hinky area. We rented them for $500 a month.
We are approaching California rent prices. The local wages cannot sustain this.
Non-Compete restrictions first would only applies to the top executives, top 5% of labor force. So it does not apply to rank and file. Non-compete is also fairly common in IT, but not so much in other fields.
In most cases, yes. But here in Idaho employers started forcing all employees to sign a Non-Compete. My husband had to sign one when he was working for an AC/Heating company. That employer also cheated employees out of wages. He would only pay them for the time they were working at a customer's house. He docked their pay for driving time and when they were back at the office waiting for a call out. They could not go home. They had to stay there, but without pay. They were also expected to put their own time into doing repairs on the company vans, WITHOUT pay. They were not allowed to stop for their 30 minute lunch and were dissuaded from even taking bathroom breaks when on the road and going to or from a job.
With the current wages here $750 to $1000 would be acceptable for the average lower to middle income family. This is what I determine from my own personal experience of working in property management for many years. It is getting pretty bad. Hearing reports of one landlord in the Sandpoint area raising rents by $500 on her rental properties because people are waiting in line for anything available. Her current tenants, every single one, have had to move out because they can't afford to renew their leases. A smaller property management company here in Post Falls had two small duplex units listed at $650 and $750 for months. Now she has jacked them up to $850 and $925. I used to work for the management company that managed them last year. They are small, cramped and in a kind of hinky area. We rented them for $500 a month.
We are approaching California rent prices. The local wages cannot sustain this.
When was the last time you searched for a rental in California?
And this rent is low for a 2 bedroom in this area. And it's low because this complex is old and dumpy. Nicer, newer, and quieter is going to be much closer to $3000/mo.
In 2015 our 4 BR/3 BA 4,000 SF home rented for $1,750 per month. That was a market competitive rate at the time. It is about a 30 minute drive from Sandpoint, which folks either tend to view as a big negative or a big positive depending on their perspective. I just took a quick look at the homes for rent listed on our old property manager's website and nothing there indicates rents have blown way up since the time we were renting our home.
It may be a little different in the CdA area since there are many more job opportunities down that way, but I don't think rents are anywhere near CA levels unless you are comparing them to rents in Delano.
In 2015 our 4 BR/3 BA 4,000 SF home rented for $1,750 per month. That was a market competitive rate at the time. It is about a 30 minute drive from Sandpoint, which folks either tend to view as a big negative or a big positive depending on their perspective. I just took a quick look at the homes for rent listed on our old property manager's website and nothing there indicates rents have blown way up since the time we were renting our home.
It may be a little different in the CdA area since there are many more job opportunities down that way, but I don't think rents are anywhere near CA levels unless you are comparing them to rents in Delano.
Dave
Yep. Anywhere near the population centers on the coast and you're in the stratosphere of pricing, with air breathable by few. Housing costs were already inexplicable a few years back when they were half of what they are now.
In most cases, yes. But here in Idaho employers started forcing all employees to sign a Non-Compete. My husband had to sign one when he was working for an AC/Heating company. That employer also cheated employees out of wages. He would only pay them for the time they were working at a customer's house. He docked their pay for driving time and when they were back at the office waiting for a call out. They could not go home. They had to stay there, but without pay. They were also expected to put their own time into doing repairs on the company vans, WITHOUT pay. They were not allowed to stop for their 30 minute lunch and were dissuaded from even taking bathroom breaks when on the road and going to or from a job.
This is how it is supposed to work -- You don't like employer X, you go work for employer Y. If there is no employer Y, that's because of two reasons -- either you don't have the skills, attitude, etc, or there is no employer Y.
If there are not enough employers Y, then ask yourself the question -- why not? In 99 times out of 100, your local Govt is levying heavy taxation and regulations and making the place unfriendly to business.
Option B, which is perverse -- we demand from our politicians to coerce employer x to give you a 30-minute bathroom break. Ok, then what? Then, not only new employers will not step foot, but the last man standing, i.e. employer X might be packing its bags.
We have seen this play out in many places in our country. Some people will never learn. So, instead of being upset with our politicians killing the goose, we are upset with the goose why she is stopping laying the golden eggs.
In 2015 our 4 BR/3 BA 4,000 SF home rented for $1,750 per month. That was a market competitive rate at the time. It is about a 30 minute drive from Sandpoint, which folks either tend to view as a big negative or a big positive depending on their perspective. I just took a quick look at the homes for rent listed on our old property manager's website and nothing there indicates rents have blown way up since the time we were renting our home.
It may be a little different in the CdA area since there are many more job opportunities down that way, but I don't think rents are anywhere near CA levels unless you are comparing them to rents in Delano.
Dave
I moved from Simi Valley in July 2017. We rented a 3 bed, 2 bath, double car garage, 3200 sf home for $1900 a month. That house is now renting for $2600. I worked for a property management company here in Post Falls. Houses that were going for only $975 a month in September are now going for $1350 to $1500. If you look at the prices in Ventura and Los Angeles counties some of the apartments and condos here in North Idaho are going for close to the same price.
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