Submitted by sbenzing100 t3_11t7o97 in WorcesterMA
Anyone else getting priced out of their apartment? Got my place two years ago for $1500. Last year rent went up $150. Today my lease renewal came in saying they’re hiking the rent by $300. That’s $450 in less than two years. Seems like a lot for a bare minimum 1 bed 1 bath
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You and I both know 80k is an exaggeration
I'll meet you at $70k, but that's my final offer.
My GF makes 50k a year and has 2 bedroom apartment off of Grafton St that she pays $950 per month for.
I do not believe that is the norm for such an area
It is . Go in Craigslist and just look
Craigslist I would say is not even a normal place to look for apartments. Half of them are scammers trying to steal your information, the other half, the place is probably not up to code and your roommates are a family of rats living in the walls.
Sometimes you get lucky with certain places. On average though that’s way below market value for the area. Go on the Trulia app and set your max price at $1200, and see how quick most of the apartments disappear. On average 50k would get you the bare minimum qualification for rent being 1/3 your gross income, then after state/fed taxes, insurance and 401k savings it’s going to be closer to half of your actual income going towards rent. I’d say the 60-70k range is more like what you need to live comfortably in your own place.
Sounds about right for what I had off of Grafton Street about 25 years ago, factor in inflation. Up until recently our 2/3 bedroom on Lincoln was 800... Started at 500 back in 2002, went to 625 somewhere in the late 2000s of early 2010s...
My first apartment was a 3 bedroom on Washington street between Kelley Square and Crompton park, for $845/month that I shared with two other roommates. That was in 2010. Now I pay more than that for a 350 square foot studio and my rent is still on the low end of the spectrum.
Gentrification is massive issue in the city. My company has lost employees who have been unable to find affordable housing. I am currently also in the same boat. Even if you are shown to be a great long term renter most landlords right now are willing to take a risk and double or triple prices. They are gambling on getting people from Boston area willing to commute. But I know first hand this is not working out. In the end many apartments are sitting vacant. Either way I heard that they are looking into passing new rent control laws. NPR says its a statewide issue geting worse. *EDIT write your local and state officials. Tell them how long you have been a renter and where you have lived. Most will actually read your letters. Let them know what is happening and we need action sooner than latter.
gambling on tenants that don't/barely exist while making your current tenants homeless. American dream.
Yup and then if they cant find a tenant the landlords will then apply to make the apartments section 8. But to my knowledge they have no control over who the apartment gets rented to. Also heard horror stories from some on that wishing they had kept the good renters.
They can’t deny anyone because they’re on section 8 but I think the applications are still subject to things like the credit/background check, eviction history and having enough for the move in deposit - basically every other criteria besides income because that would be taken care of by section 8.
They exist enough to justify all the new luxury housing going up downtown. Either that or the rental market is about to collapse.
I think you can see pros and cons for the luxury renting market in regards to rising interest rates. Buying a house is unattractive at the moment, but also the number of people who can pay higher rents is shrinking. Bad time to become a landlord as you're competing against people who have locked in interest rates and can charge less if they have to.
A lot of these people coming from Boston don’t have to commute.. they’re working from home 95% of the time and commuting into Boston maybe once a month for an in person meeting or event. I don’t see this problem going away, unfortunately.
I'm a landlord in the city. About half of my new tenants are from Boston area
Definitely priced out of housing, might have to downscale to an apartment, and we make good money. Problem is I don't see a reason to pay $2600 a month on a 2 bedroom house rental.....in Worcester.
I’m already in a 1 bedroom apartment in a small complex. The rental hikes are insane
Agreed. Considering going back to my hometown a little more north because of this. 1600 for a one bedroom is more than I thought I’d have to pay two years ago.
If I resigned my lease I’d be paying 1950 for a 1 bed 750 square foot
That had better be the nicest 1 bedroom I've ever seen. What the hell....
I'm in a studio, and a small one even considering that. Was $950 in 2020, $980 for 2021 and 2022. Going up now to $1100 for this next year. No amenities included in the rent, either. I can just barely afford it, thanks to not having any debt, but I'm inches away from being homeless on any a good day. I only make 45k a year.
My cousin has worked at UMass for 15 years ("unskilled" service position, but it's union and everything) and only makes $20/hr. He got priced out of Worcester. Had to move to Southbridge to find an apartment less than $1000.
Granted, he has some intellectual disabilities and could probably find resources to help with housing, but he doesn't want to.
It's sick that someone who has been with the largest employer in the city for 15 years isn't paid enough to live here.
Landlord here. I rent to family/friends at much below market rate because I'd rather have tenants there that I can trust than try to maximize profits. Haven't raised rents since I bought the property a few years ago.
As much as the housing market has gone insane the last few years, the increase in Worcester property taxes is a significant driver in landlords upping rent. My property taxes increased 33% over the course of 3 years. City officials love to brag about lowing the per thousand tax rate, but at the same time they've jacked up their assessments which has significantly increased homeowners property taxes.
But Worcester had to have s stadium that no one at least I know cares about. I doubt home owners even showed up to the city council meeting to debate the cost. But in the end the renters take the hit due to apathy in local politics. I also heard a rumor that it may get a lot worse. Seeing a number of city employees leaving before the news drops.
Our assessment increase this year was like +40K on a 1300 sf condo, this compounded for multiple units would be very painful. Yiiiiikes!
I rent a 3 bedroom off of Vernon St for $1700. My landlord is a normal guy who just wanted a good person renting from him. I find this pretty good considering where I’m from on the north shore the average going rate was $2200-2400 for a one bedroom, no utilities, no pets.
Any prices in Worcester are going to be preferable to pretty much anywhere east of 495 lol.
Yeah I’m enjoying the difference in cost of living compared to Boston and north shore. Been there for a few years now and it’s j crazy as to how they don’t have a cap on the rent. I’ve seen some crazy rental prices.
Last year, my apartment went from $875 to $1500 when a new landlord took over and evicted everyone that was paying the lower rent and couldn't go up to the new rent. Needless to say, got evicted... now I am paying a mortgage for a house for nearly the same cost.
Happened to me in 2021. My rent was going from $800 to $1250. I scrambled and found a shithole for $1050. Just had to move out of there because of issues with ants, mice, and a douchey property manager. I just checked Zillow out of curiosity, they slapped down those ugly gray laminate floors and now that unit is going for $1350. It’s fucked
ETA: These were all 1 bed 1 bath units. Only water/sewage was included in the rent. Laundry was in the building, but required quarters (that was fun during the coin shortage). Parking was a free-for-all on the street. I'm appalled reading these comments that $1350 may now be a low/reasonable price for a 1b1b in the area!!!
Anyone have a one bedroom available for June? Hahaha leaving my place now because it’s overpriced for the amount of space and the walls are way too thin
Try Caroline st
Anywhere in particular or just keep my eye out? Thanks
It's called Botany Bay Properties. They have multiple properties around Worcester but I know Caroline st is 1 beds.
From what I know the rents not as price gouged as other places, so good luck!
I paid water/sewer and utilities in my apartments so idk what kind of excuse that is. Tax and insurance don’t equate to the increased people are seeing.
Damn. I thought everyone was exaggerating until I pulled up rental listings. I grew up in Worcester and moved south to NC. I pay $2300 all-in on a mortgage for a 3k sq ft 4/2.5 house in a very nice part of Charlotte. I just can't imagine moving back.
Mine was hiked $375 over the last three years. Yeah, the landlords are pushing a lot of people onto the street. Mao's making a lot more sense to me these days.
I left 2 years ago because we got bumped from 1550 to 2200 with no warning. All 3 floors moved out.
just moved out of my $1200 1 bedroom apartment and saw it listed online for $1800.
I left Fitchburg last December where I paid 1300/month for a 2 bedroom that had an extra room and the landlord listed it for 1800 when I moved out. In Fitchburg. It wasn't that great a neighborhood.
Sadly, the increase is just being passed to the tenant as everything has gone up. Friend of mine has some utilities included units. Between the price hike for utilities and property tax increase, after expenses, they are making less today than they were 2 years ago and will need to raise the rents as leases expire. They may be currently operating at a loss after all the bills are paid.
During Covid some tenants did not pay rent, but landlord still had to pay the utilities and mortgage. I am thinking some of the increases are to offset this loss.
I agree that there is a problem, as everything has gone up double digits, except people's income. I see both sides of the rent increase.
You should start a tenants' union
100% this is accurate. Everyone I talk to is either trying to find a new apartment because rent is going up or scrambling to figure out how to pay it. I'm part of a group that's trying to fix this tho and prevent people who make less than 70k (or more tbh) from having to move out of the city altogether. Plus work for better living conditions in rentals because the other issue is you pay this much money and there's mold and mice and you can't get the landlord to do anything about it. We're having a meeting next week to talk about housing in the city if anyone's interested.
I moved out last year to Virginia. It’s snowed once for a quarter inch this year so far. I pay $1500 for rent, a 2 bed 2 bath with 900sqft. I feel for all of you still there
One thing never to do if you don't like wasting time and energy; Get into a LANDLORD BAD debate on Reddit
bye bye
$450 in two years sounds about right. Our fearless leaders have pumped so much money into the economy in the last 3 years that it's disgusting. Many cities and towns are STILL trying to figure out what to do with all the COVID money they got and didn't really need. Now the Guv is paying off student loans. Minimum wage is now $15.00 and they are pushing to raise it again to over $20....THEN these same fearless leaders sit around and wonder why inflation is so high! They caused it with these policies and their solution is more of the same policies! LOL. Prepare for $3000/month rents because it's coming soon.
Landlord costs have gone up 10-40 pct for all of the following: city taxes, water/sewer., electric, gas, house insurance --in just 2 years!
Damn. Sounds really hard to be a landlord. Maybe they should all stop.
Wahhhhhhhhh
Are you fucking stupid? Everything you listed already gets thrown on to the backs of tenants anyway. I've never lived in an apartment with utilities included either.
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Agreed. My parents have a multi family rental property that has doubled in assessed value in only 2 years. Their neighborhood of mostly single family homes went up minumally compared.
Eta: My parents don't make any profit. They always charge below market rents. All income goes to costs and repairs. This year the taxes alone increased enough to equate an $80 per month per unit increase cost. Down vote all you want, but that is a cost increase that needs to be passed on, or they will lose the property to taxes owed. Not every person wants to be a homeowner. Not everyone can save the down-payment. They are providing a service to renters.
The OP isn't talking about your parents then. An $80/mo increase in cost does not justify a $300/mo increase in rent.
The $80 mentioned previously was just for taxes. I don't know the particulars of that building, or even most buildings in Worcester, but I know other members of my family have buildings that the landlord pays for heating costs (one is electric heat and the other is natural gas). Repairs have gotten more expensive from a material and labor standpoint too.
Landlords need to be okay with making less profit.
Most rentals don’t even cover utilities anymore.
Sell the fucking house to someone who needs it if it’s a burden.
fuck landlords they don’t pay for that shit it’s in the rent
NativeMasshole t1_jchqy9i wrote
Pretty much everyone making under $80k is getting priced out of Worcester. There's not even that many places in the entire county that are affordable for people who aren't making $30+/hour.