Rent prices for young grads

You bet. D was living in Manhattan with two roommates in a 600 sqft 1 bedroom (converted to 3 with temporary walls) for a total of 4000/m. Renewal rent in July was jacked up to 7000/m! 75% increase…but hey, they had a doorman. Moved to Brooklyn to get twice the space, an extra bathroom and total around 4000/m.

Rents in DFW have been soaring, even in the suburbs and despite increased supply with lots of new apartment complexes being constructed everywhere. My DD has chosen to live at home, even with a 6 figure salary, and I expect that she’ll stay for 2-3 years. We’ve been helping her bf find an apartment in a suburb near us and the rents are crazy. Studios aren’t really a thing here and 1 bedrooms are starting at $1,300s/mo. A friend’s son got a nice 1 bedroom downtown and is paying more than my mortgage.

4 Likes

I think Nevada is a possibility in retirement for one kid. The other kid it might be Spain.

1 Like

Many rents are more than a young person would pay for a mortgage. It’s the down payment and the idea of putting down roots that are difficult when you are young.

My daughter could have purchased a house and looked when she was single. But she was unsure of staying where she was working at the time. I really don’t think it was maintenance issues but more of she kept thinking she wasn’t going to stay in that area.

She’s now in a townhome and the mortgage (with insurance and taxes) is quite a bit less than they were paying in rent.

Rent is only going up and now that interest rates are up, buying isn’t as attractive either.

4 Likes

My 2022 grad lives in Los Angeles and shares a 2B 2BA apartment with one roommate. They each pay about $2200/mo plus utilities. This is rather tight on her $70k salary, but she got a signing bonus and will get a year end bonus as well. She works from home 3 to 4 days each week.

We are also suburban Iowa, where the unemployment rate is less than 3% and rent for a 2 bedroom 1000 sq. foot apartment can be $1,000 to $1,200. At some complexes a garage is included in this price.

1 Like

It is pretty common for apartment rents to exceed mortgages of parents and older coworkers.

When I started work in 1984, my coworkers were stunned that I could afford $435/month for my 2 bedroom apartment (where I did have a student intern with me for one semester, I think charging $40 or $50/week). They had been in their houses a long time, with lower interest rates… so they only paid about $300/month for their mortgages. I think our mortgage for smaller starter one was $700, due to the $12% interest rage.

That is about 30% more than my ds paid when he first graduated and moved to L.A. in 2018 and was in a 2/2 apartment. He was in Santa Monica. Not a posh place - no amenities, but updated and each apartment had a single designated parking spot in a garage. And, they were only a mile from the beach.

That would be not digging close to the wall. Experts will say it has to be 2:1. If you are digging 3’, 6’ away from the wall. I thought maybe there were better ways. It is an ugly dig.

My reply button is gone, so this is a reply to the previous post. Many existing basements in older houses are 2/3 legal height, so not a whole lot excavation is required. Foundations get reinforced in the process and windows added. The city sits on 7 hills, so plenty of room for daylight basements. Some homeowners convert those basements into ADUs and rent them out… to our new grads. :slight_smile:

4 Likes

Except in my case, my house is only 5 years old, so we aren’t talking about am old house or old mortgage. The young person could definitely get an apartment that is significantly cheaper, but some rents in more expensive parts of the city are now exceeding mortgages on large suburban homes. This is new for this area and crazy to me.

1 Like

We’ve been in our house 20 years. It’s worth about 1.3 million and our mortgage payment is $1,800 a month. Our oldest is looking at 1 bedroom apartments for $2,300 a month. It’s obscene.

10 Likes

Back when I lived in SF, I saw quite a few homeowners and apartment building owners, with homes and apt. buildings, that were built before cars became “a thing,” and wanted to add a garage to put their park their cars and/or increase rental income.

Amazingly, this company seems to be still in business, because I remember them being the “go to” company back in the day. No affiliation whatsoever.

http://www.addagarage.com/

1 Like

Not the experience of anyone in our family. So me pandemic deals as buildings emptied out, but the increases from pre-pandemic levels occurred at renewal. Your experience was very fortunate!

Yes! That is case where I live. Every new apartment complex that’s been built near us is “upscale” with multiple pools, yoga classes, a concierge, immaculate landscaping, etc. I’m not saying people should live in a dump, but is a pool with a waterfall necessary?

5 Likes

Exactly! I know plenty of grads who make decent money, but they’re certainly not wealthy. It’s hard.

1 Like

It may not last. They are now on month to month lease having completed the year.

Amazing. I guess if you can enforce retroactively, you can do just about anything. At one point, I tried to excavate the crawl space. After contractor said 2:1, I gave up. I’ve seen basement dug up that way. It would be better not to have done.

Son in Cambridge has had month-to-month since his first renewal (apartment in private house). It seems kindof helpful in Boston area where 9/1 is the major shift-date, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on situation. Is that a common practice in Boston area? Everywhere?

When you have a private house the landlord is more willing to do month to month In my managed apartment, if I go month to month, I get charges a $700 a month surcharge (crazy right).