Like he** I'm going to pay these prices! (Boston, Quincy: rental market, townhouse)

[KemBro71]

Originally Posted by msRB311

A lot of people do this well into their 20's, possibly even 30's if they haven't married yet. Having roomates can be fun although I'm sure it wasn't fun this past year...unless you really liked each other.

I did it til I got married at 30, and this was back when rents weren't nutso and when I was living in a very unhip area. It just gave me more $$ to do other fun/productive things.

[msRB311]

I mean it gets to the point where people do have some unrealistic expectations. If you're making 60-70k a year in Boston or something you can't really expect to be living alone anywhere close to the city.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars

You only get to go through young adulthood once, do you really want to spend 3-5 more years of that living with your parents?

It's much better living with your parents than with your friends.
Unless you have problems with your parents, but that's not really a majority of people. Maybe moving out is helpful for a while, so you realize how good it is to live with your parents lol.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I mean it gets to the point where people do have some unrealistic expectations. If you're making 60-70k a year in Boston or something you can't really expect to be living alone anywhere close to the city.

If you bought after 2011 yeah.

My neighbors from Canton still paying 508 a month on their 30 year, about to finish up. Wife hasn't worked, like ever and the dad was a school teacher in Canton.

Timing of when you moved to MA matters because MA was relatively inexpensive in 1990s

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars

Why isn't living somewhere with a roommate (a friend, not just some rando) an option?

You only get to go through young adulthood once, do you really want to spend 3-5 more years of that living with your parents?

This is actually part of what spurred this thread in the first place. A friend of mine asked if I wanted to split a 2 bedroom apartment in Boston near 93. At first I was tempted because rental prices in Boston were/are down compared to this time last year. Places that were $2700/mo were now $2000 in some cases.

Then I thought about it more. Am I really willing to spend 14 or 15 thousand dollars per year to live in a cramped unit with little to no insulation, a gross bathroom, and no parking? I’d probably be contributing to the ongoing gentrification of the neighborhood by doing so, and I would never get that $14k back. Worse, that money will go right into the pocket of someone who didn’t earn it.

I brought it up with my boss and he said something along the lines of “$1200 a month!? That’s a mortgage!”. And now we’re here.

[KemBro71]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

This is actually part of what spurred this thread in the first place. A friend of mine asked if I wanted to split a 2 bedroom apartment in Boston near 93. At first I was tempted because rental prices in Boston were/are down compared to this time last year. Places that were $2700/mo were now $2000 in some cases.

Then I thought about it more. Am I really willing to spend 14 or 15 thousand dollars per year to live in a cramped unit with little to no insulation, a gross bathroom, and no parking? I’d probably be contributing to the ongoing gentrification of the neighborhood by doing so, and I would never get that $14k back. Worse, that money will go right into the pocket of someone who didn’t earn it.

I brought it up with my boss and he said something along the lines of “$1200 a month!? That’s a mortgage!”. And now we’re here.

Your choice, but don't blame the housing market when you just don't want to deal with a supposedly sub-optimal (to you) living arrangement. $1200/month ish to split a 2BR? In 2021 in Boston? I'm sorry but rejecting something like that for the reasons you state sounds a little shortsighted and actually strengthens the argument that some people just want what they want and feel it's due them. Did you even see the place?
The 'gentrification' argument and the whining about paying a landlord aren't reflecting well either, IMO.
Also who cares what your boss says? Everyone is in their own stage of life and comparing yours to other's is never good.

[mdovell]

Policies sometimes reward winners and hurt those that lose. Take a look at a few basic services for example.

Post offices make more in revenue in higher populated areas. more mail means more revenue. But at the same time they are more apt to have more access to tv, radio and internet. Those areas with lower amounts of people are much more reliant on the postal office. Before the internet there was the catalog and that's how sears made a ton of money.

Transit service are a balance of state funds, federal funds, advertising (nearly 0%), fares and local funds.

In Mass programs like chapter 70 (public education) Chapter 90 (roads), COA Foundation grant (number of seniors) are dependent on population numbers. They reward growth but it becomes much harder to deal with lower numbers. The economy of scale is a real factor.

Some programs get people into poverty traps. Let's say someone has a section 8 for $800, the rent is $1,000. Say they make 27K. They pay $200 a month. Say it's a raise of $2,000. now they make $29,000 but they make more than enough and now have to pay the full amount. So that $2,400 is now $12,000. That's going from $24,600 to $17,000 for the same thing. Poverty traps discourage working. The Boston globe years ago had a good article about what happens at what level of income and how it can take you out of qualification.
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datas...020summary.odn

As for roommates that's another issue. My brother long ago had a roommate....until he left. The apartment was his HIS name and he owed quite a bit to stay on the lease. We can talk about the economy being strong and that's great but sometimes in student based areas it makes it much harder to get people to stay. My girlfriend is dealing with a neighbor that is limited as a rental to have three people per local law. They have five. It's been a back and forth for months and he's been cited at least three times. Covid and a shared driveway (think deliveries and fire dept access) are factors.

About six or seven years ago I was getting close to a job near new haven. I signed up for some roommate site and told the guy specifically that I was coming down. No response or reply at all. Unless you have some really strong connections it's going to be harder to have roommates let alone multiple roommates. It also nullifies the concept of privacy or being able to do anything by yourself. As bad as the pandemic is at least I can say last year I rented my apartment and only had my girlfriend over and now own a house and she comes over. If I had one or more roommates I don't know how much harder it would have been.

Don't get me wrong the complex I lived in was great. But as more things closed, the lack of equity and not being able to do as much added up. Now I have double if not triple the space, no loud sex, a bigger kitchen, a bigger bathroom, making a home gym, an office separate from the bedroom etc.

[bigfatdude]

So you're expecting developers to spend $700K+ per unit and rent it to you for not a penny more that $650 because the rent is too damn high, and there better be the usual central AC/granite/stainless/washer/dryer as well as a doorman a concierge and a rooftop pool?

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

This is actually part of what spurred this thread in the first place. A friend of mine asked if I wanted to split a 2 bedroom apartment in Boston near 93. At first I was tempted because rental prices in Boston were/are down compared to this time last year. Places that were $2700/mo were now $2000 in some cases.

Then I thought about it more. Am I really willing to spend 14 or 15 thousand dollars per year to live in a cramped unit with little to no insulation, a gross bathroom, and no parking? I’d probably be contributing to the ongoing gentrification of the neighborhood by doing so, and I would never get that $14k back. Worse, that money will go right into the pocket of someone who didn’t earn it.

I brought it up with my boss and he said something along the lines of “$1200 a month!? That’s a mortgage!”. And now we’re here.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by KemBro71

Your choice, but don't blame the housing market when you just don't want to deal with a supposedly sub-optimal (to you) living arrangement. $1200/month ish to split a 2BR? In 2021 in Boston? I'm sorry but rejecting something like that for the reasons you state sounds a little shortsighted and actually strengthens the argument that some people just want what they want and feel it's due them. Did you even see the place?
The 'gentrification' argument and the whining about paying a landlord aren't reflecting well either, IMO.
Also who cares what your boss says? Everyone is in their own stage of life and comparing yours to other's is never good.

Haha! I like that you needed to include the bolded, because it’d be ridiculous almost anywhere else!

And fwiw, it’s not just my boss. I’ve had plenty of similar interactions with older relatives.

As for gentrification, I lived it when my family was priced out of Roslindale back in 2014 and I saw it on Mission Hill and Fort Hill as packs of 4-7 college students rented out units that were once meant for families. It’s a real issue, and imo you come across as out of touch for writing it off as “whining”.

[sawyer2]

You could also consider roommates when you buy.

I had roommates for several years when I bought my first place in my 20's - not ideal but I could not have easily swung the payment without it.