Chasten Buttigieg says he and Pete couldn't afford more than a 1-bedroom apartment in DC

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Chasten Buttigieg is still adjusting to his new life in the nation's capital, but one thing has become clear to him: The city is too expensive.

That's what he told The Washington Post in an profile published Monday. The former middle school drama teacher moved from South Bend, Indiana to Washington, DC in January for his husband Pete Buttigieg's new job as President Joe Biden's transportation secretary.

One of the couple's "favorite" pastimes is scrolling through real estate website Zillow, trying to guess the prices of properties in DC and then being blown away by the actual cost.

"We're doing fine for ourselves, and [yet] the city is almost unaffordable," Chasten told The Post. "Which tells you how extremely unaffordable it is for many people."

The couple resides in a high-end 800-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, The Post reported. They secured a longer lease for $3,000, with two months rent-free, according to the outlet.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/chasten-buttigieg-says-he-and-pete-couldn-t-afford-more-than-a-1-bedroom-apartment-in-dc/ar-AAMAeTD

[dsc]

1. from the original source

The Buttigieges themselves moved into an 800-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment near Eastern Market. “We couldn’t afford the one-bedroom-plus-den,” Chasten says. They chose the high-end building because of its location and the security it offered — the couple has faced threats and even a break-in back in South Bend. Rent for currently available two-bedrooms start at $5,650, though Chasten says they got their one-bedroom for closer to $3,000 by locking in a long lease that gave them two months rent-free.

The 5,650 is more than I make a month.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

3. Same ... before taxes even ...

And if I was paying $3K/mo for 800 sq ft ... I'd be pretty bummed I gotta say ...

[dsc]

5. that is insane

I looked at teachers' salaries in DC and with my current level of education and years of service I would make considerably more than I do here, it would be 104,199. That works out to 8.683.25 a month. Between this insane level of rent (that apartment costs about 3.5 times what my apartment does) and the extra taxes, my disposable income would be considerably less.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. Good thing they really love each other, cause 800 sq ft is close quarters for 2 people (nt)

[dsc]

4. No kidding

I live in a 2 bed room duplex apartment which is at least 1.5 times a big as that.

[Celerity]

13. So many childless couples would KILL for a 74 sqm (800 sq ft) flat in Stockholm, London, Paris, etc

At least in the inner city.

I know a tax attorney and a civil code attorney (both work for the government here, and they are sambo, not married) who have lived for 8 years together in a förstahand (first hand rental contract, SO hard to get now) 33 sqm (355 sq ft) L-shaped studio in Vasastan (posh neighbourhood here in Stockholm). Their small flat would rent for around 20,000Kr (2300 usd) or even more on the open andrahand (second-hand rental) market.

The suburbs are easier, but suburbs in the EU are not often like the majority of suburbs in the US. They are often the worst parts of a metro area. Inner city London and Paris make DC look like Ohio, rent-wise too, and Stockholm is getting there.


andrahand 30 sqm water view flat in a posh inner archipelago island suburb, Lidingö

this is VERY near to 2 close friends of ours, we could walk to their house in 4 or 5 minutes from this flat (don't even ask how much that house would rent for, lolol, plus they have owned it since 2005ish, so it has went up in value at least 4 or 5 fold)

[Hugh_Lebowski]

21. This is why I live in Arizona, rattling around in a big house for under $1600/mo on a 15 year :)

Downtown PHX is only a 20 min drive from my place too when there's no traffic, which is most of the time. Granted, it's Phoenix not Stockholm

I check Hong Kong prices from time to time cause I used to live there and love that place ... it's absolutely freaking insane there if you want to live in a nicer area/building.

[Celerity]

23. I lived in The Peak (HK) for 3 years as a young child (age 3 to 6, 1999 to 2002), the prices are

just MAD there now (already were even back then).

[KentuckyWoman]

20. I was raised in a smaller house than that.

2 parents, 5 kids. If course none was used for bathrooms and closets. ( outhouse and outdoor hand pump)

I live alone now in just over 500 sq feet and think it roomy. Though the shower is a little tight.

The biggest place I have lived was 825 sq ft. My sisters house in GA. 4 adults.

I think it depends on perspective and how the space is laid out.

[elleng]

6. Saddens me.

[Tomconroy]

7. DC is one of the most expensive places in the country.

[Walleye]

8. Will Rogers: " it's a great country, but you can't live in it for nothing"

[cadoman]

9. would it really be so horrible to let our representatives work from their home states?

Do we even need to through the theater of flying people into DC? Is it improving our level of representation or making it worse?

I'd rather have my representative where I can see them and keep them in line. Every time they hang out with the K Street crowd they get in trouble.

[Treefrog]

17. Well, he's not a representative.

[sir pball]

10. He can't afford more than a 1 bed in one of the most expensive DC neighborhoods*

I just signed a lease in the Woodleigh Park neighborhood of DC, about three or four miles away from where he's living...not too far from the Harrises, as a matter of fact.

900sf 1-bed, security, gym, parking, all utilities for $2000.

The Eastern Market neighborhood is only slightly less expensive than AOC's luxury new-construction apartment down in the Navy Yard neighborhood, which is probably (for apartments at least, the Georgetown neighborhood is 1% pricey but it's houses proper) the most expensive part of DC - it's price comparable to the elite neighborhoods of Manhattan such as the Battery Park City neighborhood, or Riverside Drive.

[DFW]

11. There is a reason that Joe Biden commuted each day to and from Delaware

He could afford Delaware. You can get deals on Amtrak if you do one route as a commuter. With his deserved rep as "the poorest Senator," he did the 90 minute train trip each way every day for decades. As one who usually has a commute between 2 hours and 7 hours, each way, to work every day, depending on what country I have to be in, I know what a workday that entails. It doesn't allow you a lot of down time, which is why I take my vacations in a far away land (the USA) in a different time zone from my work (I'm on Central European Time). I do NOT want people calling me at all hours of the day and night--preferably not at all!--while I'm here in the States.

[peppertree]

12. Memories of California

[MustLoveBeagles]

22. That dude cracked me up

[ThunderRoad]

14. $5,600 for a 2BR? Where?

Rents for 2BR's in DC start at $5,600? Where is he looking? I own a coop unit in Capitol Hill Tower, 2 blocks south of AOC's building in Navy Yard. My tenant pays $1,900/month; 1BR, 700 sq feet, no parking. You can get a 2BR for $2,600. I used to live in a 2BR in the Velocity, also in Navy Yard; $3,200/month, 1,100 sq feet, parking spot, penthouse unit. Yes, of course DC is expensive but I honestly don't know what building in what neighborhood has 2 BR's that start at $5,600. My salary was far less than his $220,000/year.

[mucifer]

18. They need much better security than your tenants.

[erpowers]

19. I Do Not Know What He is Talking About

I am with you. I do not know what Chasten Buttigieg is talking about. I lived in D.C. at one point. During that time I looked into getting an apartment at a place called Columbia Plaza. It was located right in the heart of Foggy Bottom. The rent for a one bedroom there was less than $2,000 per month. I thought, maybe rent had gone up since I left D.C., so I looked up 2 bedroom apartments at Columbia Plaza. There are two bedrooms in that apartment complex that are less than $3,000 per month.

The only thing I can think Chasten is trying to do is make himself and Pete look like men of the people. I assume he was hoping people would not know how much his husband makes and that people would think he and Pete understand what regular folks are going through. However, Chasten's statement made him seem out of touch. It is crazy for the husband of a person who makes $220,000 per year to claim he and his spouse cannot afford a two bedroom apartment. It makes him look like he does not truly understand how much poor and middle class people are struggling.

[Celerity]

24. 'Rents for 2BR's in DC start at $5,600?'

He was talking about the building (high end, high security, plus a specific location) that they live in, not all DC rents for 2BDRM's on average.

[csziggy]

15. That' why when my niece got a chance to buy a 350 sq. ft. condo in DC she did

It cost her a lot at the time, but she lived in it for two years. Since then she's worked abroad and leases it out for much more than her mortgage.

It's only a studio apartment but it is in the DuPont Circle neighborhood so upscale and close to the US Capitol where she was working at the time. She usually has a waiting list of people when it's time to find a new tenant.

[DET]

16. Both Sides Now

I hesitated before posting this, but sometimes the truth isn’t pretty...

In hindsight, we regret selling the studio condo that we once owned in Georgetown. Also, the two one bedroom condos that we owned in Logan Circle (a neighborhood of beautiful old world style townhomes that was ‘in transition’ for years - from drugs and prostitution - until it finally transitioned to a yuppie haven a few years after we sold). Those places would rent for a fortune today.

For better or worse, DC is an expensive place to live. But it’s not easy being a landlord in DC. We had repeated problems dealing with the DC government (including an episode where they tried to claim possession of one of our condos for alleged non-payment of taxes (a mistake on their part)). They ultimately did confiscate and sell one of the parking spaces that we owned (along with those of a bunch of other condo owners in the building - believe it or not, those spaces were expensive). Fortunately, we didn’t have significant problems with our tenants, but if we had we probably would have been screwed, since tenants have almost unlimited rights in DC. Often, the only way to get rid of a problem tenant (especially if you want to sell) is to bribe them to leave. I recognize that people don’t want to hear that, but it’s the truth, and it has to be factored into the high cost of living in DC.

[George II]

25. Annual salary for a Cabinet Secretary is $221,000.