Nearly $8000 for luxury one bedroom apartment. Money to burn. My house payment is about $1200 per month for 2800 sqft in one of the nations largest cities and that includes property tax. Plus I have equity on the house which has doubled in value over the last 10 years. Financially I really do not understand dumping cash into a lease without equity.
Rents are dropping across the US
221–230 of 400 posts
Re: Rents are dropping across the US
#222"across the US" as in "in expensive coastal cities." I don't know the broader trend but, anecdotally, I know people who have/are in the process of moving out of cities for more rural locations. One couple I know just moved out of a major Northeast city to the coast of Maine. Others are seriously considering vacating NYC etc. With many tech industry jobs mostly WFH until the end of the year and the future in general u…
anecdotally, in LA, house rents seem to be going up while apartment rents are fluttering down, depending on locality. rather than moving out of the urban areas, folks seem to be looking for a little more separation from strangers, possibly also more WFH space.
Similar in SF.
Rents for SFH seem about the same as per-COVID, while apartments are dropping.
Re: Rents are dropping across the US
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe just don't lead with "I'm from the big city, hate guns, and love abortion" when introducing yourself to your new neighbors.
Well, no one would actually lead with that, but I've met people in the Bay that have lead with "What are your pronouns?" and "How do you identify?", either of which may make for an awkward (or worse) first impression in a lot of other places.
I have been to the Bay Area (10 years ago) and didn't have this problem, but going there soon, can I just say 'A copper pipe' or whatnot or that will hurt their sensitive souls?
FFS, just ask who they are, what they like to do and see if there is something in common. This politica bullshit really need to end (it is ok for more close relationships, but if the first question I get is if I am Right or Left, I will just insult he person somehow)
Re: Rents are dropping across the US
#224If 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…
We just canceled our lease two weeks ago. We had a large apartment in one of the new high-rises in Downtown LA. The last offer was 3 months free and 2 parking spaces free if we stay for 12 month lease, which comes to 34% discount on the rent including parking. Other buildings are offering by default two months rent-free and they will pay the movers if you decide to move in. DTLA is a special place as it has plenty of…
> The last offer was 3 months free and 2 parking spaces free if we stay for 12 month lease, which comes to 34% discount on the rent including parking.
Someone should make a website to share offers that they received like this. It would be super helpful to better understand your local market and negotiate come renewal time.
Re: Rents are dropping across the US
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anecdata here. I just rented out my house in Austin last week. We had 14 people vying to sign a lease, and several wanted to bid above the price we are renting for. The real sticker - 10/14 were moving from SF/LA/NY because they can now work from home. Our rent is above market in Austin, but way below what they are used to paying. All that to say, you may see the opposite of a slowdown.
Wait until the pay cuts for remote workers hit.
Not to mention the crunch when only ~5% more jobs go full remote in the next few years instead of the "anticipated" 40%.
Re: Rents are dropping across the US
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It'll be a better city all around with fewer people and lower rents. Possibly. It depends who leaves. If it's mainly people that are decently high earners and provide a lot of the tax base, it will be dark days for the city for awhile. Budgets will be cut as a combination of the tourism collapse and loss of income taxes will compound to create a crisis for the city. These things domino quickly as shops close, real…
While I'm sure there are exceptions, I imagine a lot of the people who talk about gentrification or who toss out off-hand comments about the Disney-fication of Times Square never actually saw 42nd Street late at night in the 80s or have conveniently blocked it from their memories.
I remember it. In fact, I even helped build models for the 42nd street renovations as a side gig in school.
Time Square was as filthy and sleazy as one would expect from exposed underbelly of the beast. It is definitely cleaner now, but there is a different repelling aspect to it. But the fact remains that outside of 42nd Street New York City had a genuine character and energy that off the charts and far removed from an open air market mass tourism destintation.
I sorely miss sitting in front of Fanneli's in Prince street and nursing a pint and chatting up _neighbors_; or catching the local music scene in Bowery or East Village; or walking gingerly past the 'made guys' on Mott Street while avoiding looking Gotti in the eye; or going to that run-down theatre on St. Marks or that other one near Kennedy Center. One could walk for hours those days without a single side-walk rage incident; and of course our brunch hangouts were accessible if we showed up reasonably early. (Brooklyn is kinda the Manhattan pre Guilliani Light and that is where I have self exiled.)
I mean, for God's sake, we used to have a Kid Robbot right on Prince street. Now that store is selling nail polish and makeup. Yes it is cleaner now, but damn I miss that New York.
Re: Rents are dropping across the US
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
> People don't live in downtown SF because they need to, they already live there because they want to. Maybe downtown SF is just the lesser of two evils between SF and SV because of job location. Maybe they really want to be with their extended family in a suburb of Cleveland.
Wouldn’t the lesser of two evils in that case be somewhere around San Mateo? You’re roughly equidistant, IIRC, from SV and downtown SF there, the only geographical disadvantage being that you’re effectively cut off from the East Bay. But, for some, that’s not much of a disadvantage at all.
I lived in San Mateo for a few years, right off 92 between 101 and 280 on the top of the hill.
It was an ideal spot for 92/280 access. But while it was equidistant from everything of interest on a map, traffic was often so impossibly bad that everything was equally prohibitively inconvenient to reach. And forget about parking in SF after you've managed to get there, not on any busy night everyone else is out on too.
If you want to access the SF night life regularly, San Mateo isn't really a convenient place for it. Maybe via Caltrain+BART@Millbrae? That wasn't easy from my place, our location was very car-optimized.
I did prefer the San Mateo weather to SF or Berkeley though, even up on the hill we got way less cold damp crap weather ruining our nights out on the deck.
Re: Rents are dropping across the US
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 eve…
With you on this. There was never a lack of things to do in new York and with a tiny apartment little incentive to stay home.
Back in the suburbs now and the kid would spend his Saturdays watching TV if I didn't stop him because the alternative is ... the one playground in driving distance? The movies? Target?
People really underestimate the volume of activity you can put in front of a young kid in a city.
Re: Rents are dropping across the US
#229"across the US" as in "in expensive coastal cities." I don't know the broader trend but, anecdotally, I know people who have/are in the process of moving out of cities for more rural locations. One couple I know just moved out of a major Northeast city to the coast of Maine. Others are seriously considering vacating NYC etc. With many tech industry jobs mostly WFH until the end of the year and the future in general u…
> With many tech industry jobs mostly WFH until the end of the year and the future in general uncertain, a lot of people, especially those with leases coming up for renewal, are thinking this is a good time to make a move. Once the pandemic ends and employers stop allowing WFH again, there might be a large surge in pricing as suddenly everyone wants to get back into those cities.
remote work has a self-reinforcing dynamic. the office is not as attractive when half the employees are not around. people get spoiled by having so much more control of their time. Plus the pandemic is dragging too long already and we are still nowhere near next winter's wave.
Re: Rents are dropping across the US
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
The pandemic is here for at least 1-2 years in that time many businesses will have perfected WFH/remotely where possible. So I don't think they will go back to previous way of doing things that easily. Another thing is this pandemic also has shown the risk factor of having most of your workforce in one place/city. So even if businesses don't do wfh they would probably go for more satellite offices in smaller cities.
1-2 years lol
minimum