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Rents are dropping across the US

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Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#151

Post by pengaru »

paulgb wrote: post #62
spamizbad wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe not so good for those who were especially attached to either the vibrant city life or busy office life. I don't understand this reasoning. Was city life not vibrant when rents were 1/3rd the price? If anything, "hypergentrification" tends to have a sterilizing effect on city life. To be honest I'm kinda looking forward to it. Nothing against HENRYs (High earners, not rich yet)... but their "cultural tastes" a…

Yes, I've been thinking of this the same way. As someone who plans to stay in NYC, I'm looking forward to a time when WFH is more normalized and people who live in cities are people who want to live in cities, not people who need to live in cities. It could be win-win for both types.

> people who live in cities are people who want to live in cities, not people who need to live in cities

I'm not under the impression that the droves of techies riding free company shuttle buses from SF to Silicon Valley want to live outside of the city.

Maybe that's a uniquely SF thing, as I believe Silicon Valley still employs more tech people than SF, despite SF becoming a tech hub itself post-mobile. People don't live in downtown SF because they need to, they already live there because they want to.

People tend to leave expensive cities to start families.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#152

Post by tartoran »

jdhn wrote: post #149
taylorhou wrote: post #94

If I were a renter right now and in an urban area with a lease renewal coming due, I'd 1000% call the mgmt co's bluff. Context: my firm provides back office services to 50k+ rental units across the nation and unless you're in some oddly hot market, most mgmt companies currently are holding their breath that their renters don't say anything and renew at the same price. If you're reasonable, you can easily negotiate a…

Do you see this in non-hot markets as well (aka the Midwest)? My lease is up in July, and I don't really want to move, but any chance to knock even $50 off my monthly rent would be nice.

Give it a try, you’ve got nothing to loose. And also look around, you might find something better for the same price or cheaper and possibly nearby. Your landlord would loose a lot more if they don’t make a counter-offer, especially if you’ve been a good tenant

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#153

Post by doh »

slg wrote: post #150
doh wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you, that's a good context. In the building where we moved in 3 years ago from SF, they didn't offer any free rent at point as they were completely full. However, the larger point stand. Most building did offer around a month of free rent to new tenants in last couple of years.

Interesting, I got 4 weeks free when I moved to the area in 2017. Although I am sure there were places that didn't offer that. The closer a place gets to being full, the more important it is to renew leases at the full sticker price rather than reaching 100% occupancy. I know I was able to bargain down my rent during my last lease renewal because the building was still offering free rent to new residents.

We renegotiated 3 times a significant discounts as more supply started seeping in. In our last renewal we got 3 months free and 1 parking spot free.

Whenever we spoke with neighbors they were so thankful that they didn't increase the price that they immediately signed. In fact of the maybe 20 people we spoke over the years, none attempted to renegotiate their lease.

My expectation is as PPP is now running its course a lot of white collar jobs will be terminated which will put pressure on the housing market as whole. I believe we should see a dramatic drop in prices by early next year (nobody really buys/sells during holidays).

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#154

Post by tartoran »

paulgb wrote: post #98
taylorhou wrote: post #94

If I were a renter right now and in an urban area with a lease renewal coming due, I'd 1000% call the mgmt co's bluff. Context: my firm provides back office services to 50k+ rental units across the nation and unless you're in some oddly hot market, most mgmt companies currently are holding their breath that their renters don't say anything and renew at the same price. If you're reasonable, you can easily negotiate a…

Thanks for the insight. Any perspective on NYC specifically?

Lots of people are moving Upstate from NYC and relatively few new people are moving in: schools are closed. During this time of the year lots of youngsters would normally move in but that is not the case. Rents should drop for sure. Realtors are also bluffing the price up because of a higher omission they get.

Anecdote: I know a realtor who jacked up the price of an apartment in Queens by $250 because it was supposedly under the market price and the landlord priced it wrong. That realtor found the people to move in, but I think what they did was utterly wrong, greedy, etc

So insist, look around and don’t settle for less (in this case for more than you're willing to pay for, and subtract some from that). If there was a good time to bargain now is the time. Be picky! I've seen such oddities in this dirty city, apartments a few feet from the train station - imagine the unbearable noise - which rent for nearly the market price minus 1-200. I've seen apartments with caved in floors rent for almost the market price.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#155

Post by ghaff »

est31 wrote: post #132
ghaff wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps. Although the sense I get is that a lot more WFH/remote (admittedly not the same thing) is going to be the new normal at a lot of tech companies.

Many companies are announcing it but I don't see a large trend of announcements yet. There will be a growing niche, and maybe the large wave is yet to come, but for now, we haven't reached that state yet you describe.

No. I expect it to be more organic and under the radar. Some percentage of employers and some percentage of employees at those employers. And now you come into the office and only a third of your team is in there on a given day and, at some point, you're "Hey. Is it really worth commuting in for the snacks." And maybe you decide to all come in on a given day. But a couple people move a few hours away...

My point is that norms can shift without big company announcements so long as companies don't actively prevent them.

I do think this is going to become a big deal for people as they consider current and future jobs. It's probably also going to be a big issue for onboarding junior people.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#156

Post by jdhn »

baybal2 wrote: post #49

> 'Pandemic pricing' is here. Rents are dropping across the US I don't understand the negativity, are most people here are rejoicing that they get cheaper rents in major cities?

CNN is acting as a mouthpiece here for landlords. Landlords don't want rents to go down, so they are reacting negatively to this news.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#157

Post by nsnick »

treeman79 wrote: post #103
asveikau wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe this sounds strange, but I think there is also a category of people who prefer suburbs or exurbs and are really bitter that the pendulum has swung back to cities in the last ~20 years. They are really eager to see a trend out of small amounts of data. Or proclaim urban life dead, now and forever. I personally feel strongly in the other direction. We had the infamous "white flight" and car-centric communities an…

Kids change mindset. Kids love yards. They love the little creek that runs past. I love the safety. Small neighborhood, we all know each other and look out for the kids that run around playing.

The problem with suburbs is they don’t allow kids to get any amount of independence because they must be driven everywhere by their parents. I moved from a US suburb to a small city in Europe when I was 12 and it was liberating. I could suddenly walk or bike downtown alone.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#158

Post by Androider »

treeman79 wrote: post #103
asveikau wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe this sounds strange, but I think there is also a category of people who prefer suburbs or exurbs and are really bitter that the pendulum has swung back to cities in the last ~20 years. They are really eager to see a trend out of small amounts of data. Or proclaim urban life dead, now and forever. I personally feel strongly in the other direction. We had the infamous "white flight" and car-centric communities an…

Kids change mindset. Kids love yards. They love the little creek that runs past. I love the safety. Small neighborhood, we all know each other and look out for the kids that run around playing.

I bought into this mindset, and regret it. That's what you do when you have kids, move to the 'burbs, right?

We moved from a big city to suburban hell a few years after having a kid. In those first years, we took our kid to museums, parks, playgrounds, etc. all over the city. Now there is jack shit to do in the suburb we're in except going to the mall, cannot walk anywhere, have to use the car 100% of the time to even go to a shop. A backyard is a sad place compared to something like Central Park. I feel so sad for my kid. If the prices keep going lower in cities and remote work becomes the norm, we're moving back. (Un)fortunately my wife hates it here too, and we've often talked about moving back to a city.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#159

Post by hcknwscommenter »

kerkeslager wrote: post #53
Avalaxy wrote: post #5

> "It has been crazy," Freund said, "but we definitely got a very good deal." This reads like a parody to me. Paying 5000 dollars per month in rent and calling it a good deal. That's more than what many people even make in salary.

Exactly. If you're making enough to pay for a $5000/month apartment, you're renting by choice, and I don't care if your rent dropped. Get back to me when people who pay rent because they don't have the option of buying get some benefit, and I'll care.

"If you're making enough to pay for a $5000/month apartment, you're renting by choice"

I don't think that's right. E.g., SF house and rent prices, assuming non-WFH policies require paying 5000/mo if your household is larger than 2 people. It's not a choice unless you happen to be blessed by rent control or rich enough to afford the 400K in cash for the down payment.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#160

Post by tartoran »

ghaff wrote: post #144
sbierwagen wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe ghaff is referring to COVID effects, not rent. Right now in most cities all bars, restaurants, theaters and nightclubs are closed. If you can only leave your Manhattan apartment to buy food, then you might as well be living in Poughkeepsie, and saving $5k a month in rent.

That and even post-COVID a lot of those bars, restaurants, theaters, and nightclubs may not exist any longer.

Mangattan has been partially a ghosttown even before the COVID pandemic. If you walk around Manhattan, almost half the commercial space is empty, it has been empty for the past few years actually and now getting worse. The bubble is popping

On the other hand it might be a good idea to be on the move and buy/rent something cheap.

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