I am in apartment searching hell.

[smirkymonkey]

I found out at the end of April that my apartment was being sold and that I had to be out by the end of May, which doesn't give me a lot of time. However I had no idea what a nightmare it would be to find an affordable, decent apartment in the city of Boston.

I don't make a huge amount of money, but I make more than the average household income of the average Bostonian and yet I cannot find a decent studio to live in. Not even a one bedroom. A studio. The cheapest studios that aren't total shitholes are going for about $2,400 per month at a minimum. I just can't afford that with my student loan. Where are all these people who are making all this money to pay for these places?

I have even been searching out of city limits, but I don't have a car so I need to be near public transportation. Even so, those apartments are ridiculously expensive. What is wrong when you can't even afford to live in the city you work in?

I think I have a lead down in Ashmont, way down on the Red Line, but it's not a great neighborhood and it's kind of depressing. Years ago, when I wasn't making very much I could afford a nice one bedroom on Beacon Hill, but now I feel like I have been reduced to a place that I never thought I would be. My standard of living is going downhill significantly. I know that other people have bigger problems than I do, but this is just an illustration of how the purchasing power of the middle class has declined.

[CentralMass]

1. Is going further west, like Framingham, an option ?

[smirkymonkey]

3. Not really, since I don't have a car.

I have been looking up and down the Red Line but even everything there is still so expensive. It is just insane what they are charging for rent.

[gtar100]

2. Landlords - property owners - and their greed are to blame.

What makes the prices go up? Market forces? No, greedy people who own property who want more and more and more. It's the American dream - own property and let everyone else do the work.

Who said cannibalism is dead? It's alive and well in American capitalism.

[smirkymonkey]

4. I know. It makes me so angry.

How can anyone afford to live these days? Rent is just out of control.

[spooky3]

6. I'm sorry you're going through this. It's really hard on a single income

To afford to live in many big cities these days.

[smirkymonkey]

11. Thanks spooky.

It's just insane. I don't know how anyone affords to live here. You honestly need a six figure income to be able to afford the most basic standard of living in the city.

[Roy Rolling]

5. Land owners

It's been a good ten years of rock-bottom interest rates that favor real estate owners. They've gotten fat and greedy because of it. I know youncan't wait, but landlords have priced themselves out of the market. When the economy slows, as it always does, those $2,400 studios will be empty and the building in foreclosure.

Then it may be sold and you can afford a decent apartment.

Probably a month or two after the day the Earth crashes into the Sun.

[pnwmom]

7. Wow. $2400 for a studio IS crazy. And here I thought apartments were too expensive

in Seattle.

I don't know if there's anything that would be useful for you in here, but just in case . . .

https://www.jumpshell.com/posts/average-rent-in-boston

[smirkymonkey]

12. Thanks pnwmom! Interesting figures.

There are "affordable" apartments, but they all tend to be out in the student areas (Allston/Brighton/Fenway) and they are total dumps. Also, they are completely commute nightmares for me. I might have been able to live in something like that back in my 20's but I feel like I am too old and have worked too long and hard to live like that again.

I'm not looking for a luxury palace. Just a tiny, clean, modern studio in a safe area that is somewhat affordable. You would think that would be in the reach of a person with a relatively high middle class income.

[democrank]

8. Any chance of you sharing a place with someone?

Sorry you’re going through this.

[smirkymonkey]

13. Thanks democrank.

I have looked into that, but most people looking for roommates are very young and I am kind of over that. I lived with roommates in NYC and it was kind of a nightmare. There were a number of situations where I was paying rent and they weren't paying the landlord and we got evicted (fortunately my name was not on the lease). Also, they were very dirty and I got tired of cleaning up after them.

[2naSalit]

9. Seems like that's happening everywhere...

there is no affordable housing anywhere. I live 75 miles from the nearest city of 50K and no working person can afford their housing unless they are in subsidized housing of some kind. It doesn't matter how much you make anymore, the landlords will price everything too high... I guess it's become the American way.

[smirkymonkey]

14. I know, it's sad. I don't know how anyone does it who isn't extremely rich.

I feel sorry for people who do service work in the city and don't have cars. I can't imagine what their commute is like. They must have to live so far out. I am sure it is a nightmare for them. Don't ever tell me working people are lazy.

[2naSalit]

19. Back when I used to live in your area

as an adult, I grew up in New England, I recall all my friends had to either stay at their parents for several years after school or get a place with roommates, which is probably still the case. I know that even in the little town of 1200 where I lived for years it was also the case and even in the similarly small town I live in now, and we're talking rural Montana.

In this state the job market is broken up into distinct groups: government employees, tourism/service/hospitality, mining/timber, ranching. I know popular sentiment is on ranching but that is due to the visuals of the mass of land they dominate which is mostly Public Land. It is the tourist industry that has caused the housing debacle here, nearly 80% of all housing units, as described by US Census Bur., are VRBO and trophy homes. More $$ can be made on nightly rentals than long residential so that's what they are doing, especially if you are within 80 miles of a park of mountains or a river. And then the majority of tourists are now disrespectful of the natural wonders they come to see... many of us have come to the conclusion that tourism has gotten out of control and needs to slow down.

[Hortensis]

10. Dysfunctional income inequality is biting higher and higher.

I'm really sorry this is taking you away from your home, Smirky, threatening a place you never thought you'd be. I'm remembering when discussion was about low-level service and clerical employees who had to leave their cities and commute in.

It's happening all over of course. Down in Florida not just the working classes who'd lived on the coasts, and lakes, but middle class are being forced away from beauty to featureless inland. The kind of little mobile home cooperative just up an estuary from the gulf that we have a place in used to be far more common, but less and less. Developers of properties only the affluent can afford are hovering over every potential opportunity, and I can see the day coming when they're virtually nonexistent. We had to replace our coop attorney who was chivvying us toward selling. I wanted our wonderful little park to someday be a rare survivor, a relic of the past where people of relatively modest means still lived good on the water, with shopping a little bicycle ride and less away, but our reserves won't withstand a real disaster.

Good luck finding a place you genuinely like.

[smirkymonkey]

15. Thanks Hortensis!

It's just sad seeing how the middle class is being pushed out of the city. It is now only a playground for the very rich. Companies like mine subsidize the rents of young employees allowing them to pay ridiculous rents, but it forces the rest of us to suffer the consequences of an over-saturated and over-priced real estate market.

I never thought I would be so downwardly mobile at my age. At least I am employed. For now.

[Hortensis]

18. "Downwardly mobile" because too

much of the planet’s explosion of new wealth is being funneled to a relative very few, Including by enormous corruption, resulting in massive real estate inflation. Our generations really need to fix this.

[zanana1]

16. And then, you have to do the actual packing and moving!

I waited two years for a government subsidized, two room apartment. Moving from a house, choosing what I can live without, donating to various charities, and actual packing have taken a toll on me. I'm 67, so I'm not exactly a blur. Paying utilities for two homes until I get the house sold is alot of fun, too.

I hope you find something decent to live in. Rents are ridiculous, especially in a city like Boston.

[smirkymonkey]

17. Ugh, don't remind me. I hate it more than anything.

I am just going to purge everything. I want to give a lot of things away, and I have called services in the city but have not heard back from them. I don't just want to throw out perfectly good, useful things. There are the service people in my building so I think I will just let them know that they can take whatever they want for free. I'm not selling anything. I don't have time for it. A friend has offered to drive me to Goodwill so whatever they don't take I will donate.

Thanks for your good wishes zanana1! I appreciate it!

[Totally Tunsie]

20. Oh, smirky, I'm so sorry to hear of your plight.

It's been a very long time since I've had to apartment hunt, and just looking at MA listings for you today was eye-opening and frightening. I can understand what you're going through.

My d-in-law's mother commutes into Boston daily from Mansfield, and doesn't find it too harrowing. Think it takes her about an hour. But even in Mansfield, the rates are higher than I would have imagined. Another suggestion might be Attleboro, with access to commuter rail and units available around $1K/mo., one or two a little less. Here's one at $900, .7 miles from commuter rail, but it looks kind of small:
https://www.apartments.com/33-mulberry-st-attleboro-ma-unit-2-r/gm1vfsw/

In addition, I just spoke with my son, who lives in Franklin with good commuter service, but sadly the rates are climbing there also.

Good luck with your hunt. I wish there were some way to help you.

[smirkymonkey]

22. Thanks Tunsie!

I have to go into work tomorrow to fill out an application and print pay stubs/credit report for an apartment right next to mine and one on Beacon Hill. The rent is going to kill me, but it's not that much more than the other dumps I have been shown and I really want to be in a secure building that is close to the Red Line. The commuter rail is so expensive that it would add a few hundred more to the rent I would pay monthly anyway. Also, I am not a morning person, so I like being as close to work as possible.

Thanks again for your kind concern!

[Totally Tunsie]

24. Here's hoping your day works in your favor. It certainly adds to the stress

when you have to make decisions such as this in a hurry. Not easy to do.

Good wishes for a positive outcome, including a great new home!

[gristy]

21. Newton Corner has (or at least had) an express bus to S. Station.

At S. Station you can catch the Red Line to wherever.
Lots of apartments in Newton corner under $2,000 near the express bus stop:
https://www.apartments.com/newton-corner-newton-ma/?bb=t7xvnylxqHvzh2E&so=2

Good luck!

[smirkymonkey]

23. Newton is very nice!

I have shied away from looking out that way because of the Green Line, which is a nightmare, but I didn't know they had an express bus. South Station is only one stop from where I work, or an easy walk in decent weather. Thanks for the tip, that gives me another option!