Submitted by temporaryCognition t3_11c6i0o in RhodeIsland
We want to know if there are places to rent under $2000 that aren't run by slumlords because that's definitely not the case on Zillow. Our budget is around $1500. Is that possible anywhere in the state?
Wow ok good to know. Why is this such a huge problem in the state
Old buildings and old infrastructure, from the days when lead pipes and lead paint were the norm.
Lead remediation costs money, and landlords aren't super interested in taking care of the issue. They just paint over the peeling walls and leave it to the renter not to eat the paint and get their own filtration systems. (Note that Brita filters do not remove lead.)
As for rats, we're in a city with lots of places for them to live. Although Providence instituted standardized garbage toters over a decade ago, that doesn't stop folks from feeding wildlife, having stacks of wood for their fireplaces, and doing other otherwise benign things that make the city appealing for them. Holes in old foundations make easy entries into buildings.
That lead problem is the same one I'm facing in Portland. It's been difficult to find a place where I don't need to worry about lead. Rats aren't the best but I can deal with them.
The tenant laws favor the landlord.
Lol aaand here is the person that spews nonsense because that’s the way they feel and not actual facts.
Anywhere in a royal blue state like RI the laws favor the tenants.
No they don’t. I used to own a 4 unit in Providence and the laws favor landlords. MA has better protections for tenants.
I’m on the phone testifying and writing emails every session to stop more bad bills from being passed. We have a woke government that thinks no one should have to deal with anything bad. Example don’t pay your rent, purposefully damage the apartment and then get evicted. The eviction is clearly the only thing gov cares about. God forbid you’re a white landlord. May as well roll over and pray at the feet of Rachel Miller for the sins of some white guy in Alabama 200 years ago. MA is worse but doesn’t mean RI is landlord friendly. TN, AZ, GA. That’s LL friendly
lmao woke
You have never had a correct thought in your life. Have a wonderful day!
You can make as many reports as you want about unsafe conditions but they never come to inspect because the Health department is purposely underfunded. The only people who think the laws favor the tenant are landlords.
Oof that's rough
Tenant friendly state
>Our budget is around $1500. Is that possible anywhere in the state?
No.
Yes it is. The problem is the fees after base rent and the possibility of renting from a slumlord. Rent prices are slowly stabilizing as home values drop.
Yes
Walp. Why is the state so expensive
Supply and demand. Little space vs. lots of people needing apartments. My apartment is 1200 and that's on the low end. My landlord is a good guy and I know he could get much more, even though there's no parking or laundry. I expect him to raise it to at least 1500 this summer. Living here is just expensive.
That's unfortunate
It is. I'll never buy here, just biding my time till I can move to NC where I can afford to buy a house.
We're trying to move somewhere cheaper than the west coast but still has snow. Is Connecticut cheaper than Rhode Island?
I doubt it. CT has a reputation for being a super expensive place to live even moreso than here.
Wow I guess you have to pay a lot for a coastline
Yep, unfortunately!
Lol you guys aren’t the only ones that figured out it’s cool to be an hour from beaches and mountains. Demand high + supply low = pay to play, friend.
Exactly. RI is expensive because people want to live here. It's pretty awesome.
I'm from Maui so I'm just trying to look for something familiar. I can't afford staying there because of how much everyone wants to "play" on Maui but it looks like it's the same everywhere on the mainland.
I’m just giving you a hard time.
I know, it's ok. I was just giving you some shit back
What are you actually looking for though? RI and CT have opportunities that range from being a 5 minute drive from a small city, to living in suburbs, to living quite rural. If you want to be within a 10 minute drive to a downtown as well as close to the water, yeah, that’s going to be expensive. I live just over the border of the Providence line (I own) and I occasionally look at Zillow for funsies and it’s crazy to me that I could theoretically rent my house for 2300 which is the rate in my neighborhood (I pay 1500 for my mortgage, bought in 2021). New England is an expensive place to rent in. We have a shit load of great colleges that are geared toward (let’s be real) rich white kids, and their parents will pay $$$ to rent for them, driving up prices. We have low crime, great schools, good hospitals…and in RI, you’re like an hour-ish from Boston, one to two hours from Cape Cod, three hours from NYC, and can drive to New Hampshire or Vermont for weekend mountain getaways, or up to Maine for a foodie weekend in Portland. Sorry for the long post, but I think it’s probably worth understanding that New England is not some secret place no one knows about. It’s a huge rich person summer playground depending on where you are. It can still be quite affordable in a lot of areas, but it’s going to be incredibly hard to find those opportunities from the west coast, because as someone else mentioned, everything here is “I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy.” And just so you know where I’m coming from, I’ve lived in Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, and now Rhode Island. If you think you might be moving to New England for the long haul, RI is, imo, probably the best investment just because of how centrally located it is from the major cities in the northeast. Much much easier to be here if you have the ability to WFH from one of the major cities.
I'm from Maui so both the rents going up for rich white people and the I know a guy who knows a guy makes sense to me. Eventually we're interested in buying a house that's maybe suburban to rural. That's where I would prefer to live. I would bite the bullet and live in the city though. From what you've told me I might be better off renting for a while and just visiting a lot of the areas I'm interested in before just buying a house.
Yeah for sure. I’ve lived in 5 states (Colorado too) and two other countries on two other continents. New England isn’t my absolute favorite, but it does have a quaint vibe, and if you have even middle class money, it’s wonderful. RI is just south enough that winters aren’t terrible (we barely got snow this year). If you’re young, living right near downtown Providence or in Newport might be super fun, but if you consider buying in the future, there’s so many cute small towns that are still not far from everything. Honestly in the summer, all the cute little villages in the small coastal towns are just as popular as “the city.” IMO, one year is not enough time to do everything and make a decision about staying long term or not. Like I said, Boston, the Cape, NYC, the mountains and coastal Maine are all things you’d probably want to check out too.
Maybe like, Delaware or Maryland might be cheaper options? I'm not sure, I've never looked at properties there but they definitely get snow. I feel like New Hampshire is expensive. Maine might be cheaper, but super rural for the most part. Portland (Maine) is the only area I know of that's fairly populated hut I think it's also pretty expensive.
Eastern CT is pretty affordable. Can find places for rent easily under 1500
Nice, I'll definitely look into that
Def not. One of the higher tax rates in New England also
That's good to know.
Snow and coastline under $1500/mo?
Under $2000. I can hope.
You can move to Philly if you can deal with the crime and grime. Houses and rent are pretty cheap here. My partner and I have a very large 3 bed 3 bath for $2,400.
I’m currently trying to relocate to either Boston or Providence. But I feel like Philly was a good starter city to get me outta the south. Once you make friends and network here it’s easy to make friends in surrounding states because the northeast is so small. It’s not my forever place but there’s things I do love about it.
There’s a great access to NYC, Baltimore, NJ, and beaches. A New England road trip is only a 4-5 hour drive which isn’t bad either. If its all you can afford— I would suggest it. Save money, get better jobs, and then make the move to New England.
After moving to Philly, I started working in and making NYC money. This goes a long way in Philly. It’s allowed me to save money for wherever I’m gonna permanently settle.
The crime stats are gonna blow you away, but if you’re not involved in a gang or drugs you’ll be fine. It’s very localized violent crime between people who know each other. Don’t move to North Philly.
I’m on to better things but Philly has been an experience let me just say that. I’m glad I moved here because there’s truly no place like it. Can’t stay forever, but I’ll always appreciate it being my stepping stone.
Just wanted to add that the metro area here is huge so you don’t have to live right in the crime and grime. There’s plenty of smaller areas/towns surrounding the city. Check out Manayunk.
This is really useful to know because I do like the idea of being on the outer edges of the city. I was in gang territory in SF and they kept to themselves. But knowing that the commute is so short is helpful. I've been considering Atlantic City for the same reason. I just want a place where the weather is better than Portland OR but it sounds like literally anywhere is better.
I’m glad it was helpful info for you! Flourtown, Germantown, and Cherry Hill (that’s NJ) are some other nice ones.
I quite like Atlantic City. Way less hectic than Philly, but you still have that great location.
I hear you on Oregon. Either way, moving to the east coast is a great idea. Just a matter of where fits you best.
I’m originally from Florida and moving this way improved my quality of life ten-fold. Most states have great healthcare, great proximity to other cities/nature, tons of top-notch schools, access to immense history/art, and you can find higher paying jobs here.
If you were able to handle SF crime/HCOL, I think you’re good in this general area then.
I wish you luck on finding your new home! Feel free to message if you need any other advice. It’s not easy but so worth it.
Thanks that's super encouraging! A lot of online videos spin it like if you don't end up in a perfect part of New England you're just gonna drown in crime and misery so it's nice to hear that things are more normal than that. I'll definitely message you if I have any questions :)
To be frank, good apts (like good jobs) in RI are hard to find “unless you know a guy”. By the time you hear of a good place it would probably get rented to a friend of a friend before your application gets completed. I’m not trying to discourage you but just want you to know it will definitely be hard for you. A lot of people use realtors to find apt from what I hear.
That's good to know. It makes sense since it's a smaller state
Best of luck - if you know people who live here may I suggest sending them all messages letting them know you’re looking and to keep you in mind if they know of any. You never know. They can send you pictures of for rent signs. Some people are old school around here and don’t necessarily post online just right on the window.
Thanks. Unfortunately I have only one acquaintance but I'll nag them anyway
i just hopped on zillow and see a bunch of options. here's one for $1500 in narragansett (a beach town): https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/109-Ninigret-Rd-B-Narragansett-RI-02882/2100260113_zpid/
There are many options if the OP is open to location in the state and size.
Yeah I'm open to basically anywhere in the state. I just want to be relatively close to jobs so not too rural. But rural to me is like a 40 minute drive where you see nothing
Follow where the jobs are. If you secure decent jobs in RI and you can afford $1500 within a 40 minute drive, I think you will be fine. This state is TINY!
Thanks yeah I definitely don't mind driving
Expand your search into MA too, Attleboro, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Swansea, Fall River all within 20-35 mins of Providence. That is more commutable than say Newport RI or Narragansett.
Ah ok I'll look into those two. I appreciate it.
it's hard to get 40 minutes from anything in RI. rural rhode island is very different than being rural in a big state. eg, i live in a rural area and am 35 minutes north to providence and 35 minutes east to the beach.
Yeah that sounds totally fine.
agreed
Oh holy shit that's awesome thank you!
i was surprised. narragansett rentals often go by the school year cause people can make bank renting homes in the summertime.
Ah that makes sense. I didn't think a college town would be so expensive but I guess they're renting to rich kids.
These houses are known as moldy mushroom village, it’s a great price in a good neighborhood, but a bit musty.
Yes, it is possible.
You will get a lot of no it isn't possible but this is because most of the people complaining about rent in this forum want cheap rent in exactly the location they want to live. I'll get downvoted for saying it but it is my observation. Yes, stupid soulless apartment complexes can suck. Yes, living in Washington Park or South Providence comes with negatives. Sure, Woonsocket or Chepachet are pretty far from everything as RI goes. But you can find places.
The problem is that in this forum you will basically get the same 8 neighborhoods recommended, and then people will complain that they can't afford the rent. You can scream about housing as a human right etc. but we still live in a capitalist market society. When everyone wants to live in the same place, it makes it more expensive.
Now, beyond reddit, it is still a problem - your $1500 budget is actually pretty generous by RI standards (i.e. income and 30% rule) and there are a lot of people that can't afford that. There is a lot of work to be done.
Yeah I'm from Maui so I don't think anything is going to beat the rent to what you get for the money ratio going on there. I'm definitely down for anywhere in Rhode island. I'm not picky. I just want to be close enough to jobs that it's a short commute, but seeing as the state is the size of Maui that's familiar territory for me.
Honestly, try to find something out of Providence itself at least for your first year. I haven’t really looked at apartments in 5 years since I moved, but even then it was slim pickings in the city itself. I could be wrong but you’d probably get more bang for your buck further away (and nothing is actually far from wherever your job will be). The issue with providence apartments is 1) scams 2) great on paper and then you get there and it’s actually a shithole in an area you don’t love. Move to the burbs if you can, less to worry about. Secure a job first and if it’s something towards or in Boston, move closer there/along a commuter rail if you can afford.
Thanks that seems to be what everyone agrees on here
Pocasset mills or try Seekonk (very close to Rhode Island)
Thank you
Maybe Woonsocket.
[deleted]
It's not generally a great place to live.
Could you explain why?
Just not the best neighborhoods, crime, shit like that.
Ok thanks
[deleted]
No offense but please don’t bring that judgment with you when/if you move here. Respect the people that live here (already) or those that are claimed to live in more “undesirable” places.
I wasn't sure if it was a serious piece of advice because there wasn't enough information given. I genuinely don't know anything about the place and I wasn't sure if I was being told to check out this location sincerely or if the comment was dismissive.
But I definitely didn't mean it to offend anyone. I was just confused.
[deleted]
I was saying in your price range. Like all cities there are good and bad neighborhoods. Most rents in Rhode Island are high. You use to find it reasonably to live. Now landlords want outrageous amounts for what you pay for. Always be careful that you don't get scamed. Good luck on your hunt.
Thank you I appreciate it. I'll definitely check out the area
I have lived in Woonsocket for over 30 years now. My house was broken into once, and my car twice over that timespan. While there are drugs and crimes everywhere, I feel safe here. The rents do range from 1200-25,00 a month, presumably depending upon how long the property owner has owned it and how many rooms it has and so on. I do believe that it is possible to find something for your price.
Thank you that's really good to know. Most other places sound like they're definitely not in my price range. I've only ever lived in "bad" neighborhoods and I've been broken into a few times but most of the time it's been fine for me. Broken into once in 30 years sounds like a really good statistic to me.
When are you looking to move? I have a 1-bedroom in Wayland Square available April 1st for 1850… definitely not a slumlord property. Let me know if interested
Oh I appreciate it but we are moving next February.
With that budget you want the mountains of West Virginia.
I'm not against it if their laws are reasonable and it snows.
Rents expensive but utilities in this state are insanely expensive. Be prepared for very high utility bills. Just make sure you factor this into your rent and budget.
Ok that's frustrating but thank you.
I know of at least one place in providence that rents for less. (It is taken but there must be others)
Yeah I'm thinking I just need to dig harder. I've gotten a lot of great suggestions on where to start though
I think 2k is a stretch. Maybe $2200. Our place even allowed dogs. I think if you look outside or the East Side you can find something (near Brown.) We rented a place in Federal Hill in PVD for that price that had 3 beds and I genuinely liked our neighborhood. I never felt unsafe and lots of great restaurants within a reasonable walk. Only reason we moved is we had a baby in Aug and a third floor walk up was a problem for us so we decided to finally buy something. The building we were in was well cared for. In the 6 months we were there the stairwells were painted, and they were regularly cleaned by a cleaning service. Also, our landlord regularly and quickly responded to our service requests. (V2 management I think.) Admittedly we were a bit limited in our rental options bc we have a dog as well. So I’d guess actually if you need less or equal to 2 beds you might be able to find something around there.
In case this is helpful to OP, I live in a third floor walk-up two bed one bath apartment very close to Federal Hill with one designated parking spot and laundry in the unit. It’s $1625, the property management company sucks, and dog poop abounds on sidewalks and mulched garden beds—for a present day comparison. Confirmed living in New England is quite expensive, and Rhode Island is no exception (although Prov is cheaper than metro Boston)!
Thanks that's encouraging. We may be able to swing that price if there are good job opportunities there.
OP is open to the entire state! They can find something with that degree of flexibility.
I pay 2200$ for a 2 bedroom in north Kingstown but it will definitely go up. Maybe around 2k you can find a place in providence or Pawtucket but 1500 will be almost impossible
Thank you. That's a pretty intense amount of money
I just rented a place for $1525 in Cumberland. It’s nice too. I’d rather keep a good tenant than make a little more
Damn man you looking for new tenants?
I am but in Woonsocket. And it’s definitely not as nice lol. 4th floor, basic but clean and it’s only $1150
Pre-Covid yes, now not likely
Rip so I've been seeing.
It sucks. Gone are the days of renting to save for a house, rent is more than a mortgage.
Whatever you do…DO NOT rent from Rent Prov Realty.
Ok I'll definitely note that.
oof why not?
I got a 2 bed in Cranston for $1554 you can definitely find nice apartments for your price range if you search for them
Thanks I'll start looking in that area
Any specifics on WHERE in Rhode Island? It’s not a big state but it’s also more than a single city.
Anywhere that's affordable at this point.
Land lord and slumlord are synonymous. If you look in northern Rhode Island and have decent credit, there is housing you can swing a mortgage on with that budget.
Ahhh yeah but that sounds like a huge commitment. We may not stay there longer than a year
Thats a low budget, try out in the sticks like Burrillville rather than the cities of Woonsocket and Central falls. You might find a good place, and its better than living in those dumps.
I mean, the dumps is relative. I live in Portland now and there's no escaping violent meth and fentanyl addicted people no matter where you live so I'm sure Woonsocket is doable.
Mobile Methadone van won't shut down there in spite of public health officials....Its not needle city but its trying pretty hard.
I mean if the van is stopping people from overdosing that's definitely not the issue
Still has to listen to the health officials for various reasons. Are they sanitary? Are they giving out methadone properly? Are they performing the worst idea since we started helping addicts and handing them 10 needles for one used one? If nobody is in charge we get a free for all, and that is not useful to anyone.
I've lost three people to drugs and I can promise you, what they do in the clinics is. Better than the streets and what they do in the clinics do help because they're not shooting literal poison into their veins like they would on the streets. I don't think you've involved yourself enough with these programs or with these people enough. I've been working with them for over ten years and I have hands on experience backing my claims up. This clinics literally save lives. But I don't want to debate whether or not they're beneficial. I just want to know if Rhode island is affordable.
I am down two, and I can tell you rehabs and clinics are just a business supported by fools who think the addict will get better. Sometimes they will, but you obviously know in most cases its just delaying the inevitable. What they turn into is dirty needle handouts with needles littering every corner of the state and to operate without approval just shows their arrogance. Its long past time we got the weak enablers out of the way and got serious about stopping the flow of drugs in this country.
May I ask why you’d want to move to RI?
For the beaches and the snow and the fact that it's a blue state. It's also located in a close proximity to new York and family in Boston.
MrArkAngel11 t1_ja1xply wrote
For the love of God do not rent from Pioneer Imvestments. Literally made a post about them today. Lead in the water and paint. Raw sewage dripping into the kitchen. Rats in the walls. Currently being sued by a bunch of tenants and renters