The neighborhoods where there are 65% renters are in the south, near Atlanta. They are mostly suburban type places where there are HOAs for some of the things but single family houses where the person living in the house takes care of the yard. They may not put the extra money into nice flowers, lighting, redoing the driveway surface since they don’t own the house. The corporate landlord is not going to vote to increase the HOA dues to pay for big improvements to the parks, pools, etc. They are going to stretch out the years before putting on a new roof or painting. They control a lot of votes on the HOA so can keep the dues low and delay maintenance.
Back in the first housing crisis, around 1978-82, HUD would not lend to projects that were so heavily rental, and would only lend to about 50% of a complex. Too many foreclosures, and then who wants to live in a neighborhood or complex where no maintenance is being done (because no HOA dues are being collected)?
All renters aren’t bad. I rented a townhouse in California where the tenant before me had lived there 25 years and was a master gardener. I had gorgeous roses I didn’t have to do a thing to to maintain. Most of the occupants in the complex were owners.
I am a renter, my kids are renters, so I am glad you don’t think we are “bad.” Honestly, this attitude toward renters has a lot of toxic effects on the municipal level, including resistance to zoning changes that would enable more people to have a roof over their head.
I was a homeowner for 25 years. My character hasn’t changed since I began renting! I am not allowed to keep the place up: the landlord does that.
I’ve been both a renter and owner. When I was an owner, I fixed things quickly, I voted in the HOA to improve the common areas. We had ‘limited common areas’ (our patios) and we were allowed to have plants, trees, nice decorations (but limited) on our patios.
I live now in a neighborhood of small 1950 homes (small houses, big lawns) and it’s pretty easy to pick out the renters. They are fine, just don’t do the ‘extras.’ Limited flowers, lawns not cut weekly, fences need some attention. If 65% of the houses were like that, it would show.
A lot of homeowners don’t do the extras either. I have a co-worker whose son bought a house and his yard is terrible and he doesn’t seem to care (according to his mom). The whole neighborhood is kind of a dump, but then there is no HOA and it’s not a wealthy neighborhood. D rents a room in a house and the front yard could use some work, but her roommate/landlord is saving up the money to do the yard. And flowers aren’t a necessity for a yard to look nice. Also, in our neighborhood a lot of people don’t have lawns…just a nice xeriscape or a planter. The landlord is the one who is responsible for keeping up a yard, if they don’t want to do that, then they aren’t a good landlord. I do know of some landlords who let the tenants do what they wanted with the yard…it always depends on the landlords. The one house (that I know of), in our neighborhood that has renters is one of the best looking houses on our street. But then again, the tenants love to garden and the landlord is willing to subsidize it and likes the fact that he doesn’t have to pay for lawn maintenance, since they took the lawn out. But, as I said before this landlord is very strict about who he rents to and it’s not a cheap area…
And do you think the 5 Wall Street firms that are buying up all the real estate are going to be keeping up those houses to a high standard? Do you think they’ll subsidize renters doing the lawns or schedule all repairs immediately?
An individual landlord who can hand pick tenants is one thing. Absentee landlords are quite different.
No, I don’t think that. But, as far as I know, no investment firms own houses in our subdivision. I’m sure it’s different in other neighborhoods in our area. I bet if I went to the condos nearby, it would be a different story.
I think it depends on the person, some renters did trash my place, then didn’t show up to give me back my keys, they sent somebody else. I was anything but nice to this tenant, I actually felt sorry for her. Not anymore. I hire people to manage my properties now, so I’m not in the middle, no feelings involved.
Yes! Not every owner cares about their house. Some people buy a house but don’t have the money to maintain it. Some people run out of money. Some people choose to live in a neighborhood with no HOA so they can do what they want. When my kids were little we lived in a neighborhood with no HOA and while most of the homes were well kept, there was a house that was horrible. All sorts of junk in the front yard, a rusting car in the driveway, stuff scattered all over the yard. A big RV and boat. These people had lived in the neighborhood for years…they weren’t renters…
With Covid many landlords have not been paid rent. With Covid relief some renters have taken advantage of the situation. They aren’t paying even though they have not been effected by Covid. They just move out after over a year of not paying. Landlords have gotten some relief but they have not been fairly compensated. In many areas you can’t raise the rent nor can you evict someone for any cause. Landlords still have bills to pay, property taxes, insurance all of which have gone up in cost.
Two of my kids rent. One has a gardener included and whoever lived in her house previously kept on the gardeners and they do a good job. It doesn’t look like a rental. My other kid doesn’t have a gardener included in his rent. After about 6 months he realized keeping a yard decent was hard work and time consuming. He now pays someone to come once a month.
Rents in Greater Boston and north, south and west have gone up by 25%, at least. There are bidding wars. I don’t know a single apartment available for the same rent as last year and I know the market well. Leases provide reasons to evict.
Many renters cannot find a place at all. Landlords are taking advantage of the tight real estate market and charging large increases in rent.
I don’t know where you live but that is the picture in my state.
I thought Boston had a lot of rent controlled units, I used to live in one in Brookline area. In fact, I just looked up identical apartment I rent years ago, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths is $3800. That’s pretty decent. Here in my hood, one word to describe single family rentals is ridiculous. In fact if not for my art work, I wouldn’t mind leasing it and move overseas to Europe to live for a while. Much smaller house than mine has rental tag of $8000 and above.
I’ve read that article before and I’ve read the Salon advice column post it mentions. Buying a home is stressful and while there are lots of advantages to owning a home, we do really push home ownership as the be all and the end all, when it may not be right for everyone…
We live in a suburb of Seattle and our two both rent in the city with their partners. Finding a decent place to rent is hard. #1D and her fiancé are staying put in their apartment, don’t think they can ever buy, and turned down our offer for down payment gifts. #2D moved in with her BF earlier this year. They ended up with an apt in the same building he’s lived in. (Good owners make all the difference.) I’m sure they’ll buy at some point, but no idea where.
The 1973 split next to us just sold for $1.3M to a microsoftie. The 1950’s rambler across the street will probably sell for well over asking, $800k+.
In 2-ish years there will be two light rail stations within 3 miles, one only a 15 minute walk. That’s caused every house to go up in price beyond the Seattle % increase. Zoning has changed as well, so houses are being torn down and replaced with multiple townhomes on the property, each selling for well over $700k. Putting 10 or 20% down is becoming out of the realm of possibility for people not techies with huge incomes.
My daughter’s fiance bought a house for them for around $325k in the small city where she goes to medical school. They closed early in January. Probably very good timing, but who knew?
