Is there a housing crisis in your area?

[peeonme]

These WWII bungalows that were built and financed through Veterans programs still exist and most have been well maintained, at least here. You will see neighborhoods with house after house being these two bedroom, one car garage homes when couples raised families and then the parents sold them around retirement ages for a good profit. They saw their homes as their retirement nest eggs, and rightly so.

Most areas around Detroit that have these track houses are high rent districts, meaning most are rentals and are owned by professional landlords that do little more than slap on some paint if the place is empty. A 2 br 1 bath just north of 8 mi. rd. will rent for 1000-1200 per month.

 

[mikey3000]

In Toronto you can't touch even a basic semi for under a million and rent for a one bedroom will cost you upwards of $2k a month.

 

[LilBit]

This *just* showed up in my FB news feed: https://azdailysun.com/news/article_ba6fd53d-75aa-5053-82aa-cbf61423353d.html

 

[NotHardUp1]

There will always be crises of housing, but it is relative.

Additionally, it's up to all of us to decide how long to stay in a place when we cannot afford it. Employment is at record highs, even if low end wages make housing very difficult.

We can relocate and work in a place where housing isn't unaffordable. If we choose to stay and then wind up homeless, that'a cue to consider leaving.

 

[Paradigm]

Assuming TickTockMan is in teh Salem on teh East Coast, I live about 50 miles west of there, and yes we have a housing crisis too, though nowhere near as bad as yours.

I think there are many issues that go into this - the lack of buildable (and affordable) land, the fact that our housing has to be stronger built due to the climate, short building season, and a desperate need for better transportation are some of the issues that are harder to overcome. Still, there are many I think we can do something about - zoning regulations particularly in the suburbs that encourage either huge houses or condos, the domination of builders instead of individuals, lenders who won't finance small homes or lower income purchasers, lenders who insist on "traditional" huge colonials, poor infrastructure, and this idea that all work belongs in the city core and all living in the burbs. That last one is a major issue for us - I think we need to decentralize our work places, and that starts with a much better transportation model.

Of course, most of the crisis can be traced back to one instant, when Boston removed its rent controls and suddenly everyone wanted to up their rents.

 

[72-Jay]

Housing costs (both rent and to buy) are ridiculously high here as well, I frequently see houses selling above the asking price!
Where I live is outside city-limits(though not that far outside)...costs are even worse if you live in the city.

There was this article about housing costs in todays paper.

 

[TickTockMan]

That fee usually goes to a screening company that does background checks on prospective tenants. They have to verify that the tenant has sufficient income to pay more than just the first months rent. It also goes to criminal record checks, eviction histories, etc. Landlords are not allowed to profit from these fees and have to provide written documentation if they turn someone down. Landlords are often left holding the bag for deadbeat tenants that have to be evicted or who damage the property. The tenant can be taken to civil court, but good luck collecting that, unless the tenant should need to get a mortgage or borrow other monies in the future, where they have to clean up their debts first. In my state, the counties have some excellent housing options for elderly and handicapped that are income based. The minimum a tenant would need to come up with is 30%. Most of these are very new housing, too.

I meant people wouldn't even tell me if it was a ground floor apartment unless I paid. I can't do upstairs. I shouldn't have to waste money just to find out if the apartment would even work for me.

 

[TickTockMan]

There will always be crises of housing, but it is relative.

Additionally, it's up to all of us to decide how long to stay in a place when we cannot afford it. Employment is at record highs, even if low end wages make housing very difficult.

We can relocate and work in a place where housing isn't unaffordable. If we choose to stay and then wind up homeless, that'a cue to consider leaving.

So you are saying just relocate and it is hard to find work?

Many living month to month can't afford that even if they have nothing else keeping them where they are. Also it sounds like housing is in short supply in a lot of areas so moving may not help much anyways. The places I know of with cheaper housing are small towns with little to no work. Many can not afford to drive an hour to work when the gas prices go up and down so much. That is why most of my family work for a casino, the largest and most steady employer in their area. It is about the only place around that pays more than the basic wage.

 

[sixthson]

I meant people wouldn't even tell me if it was a ground floor apartment unless I paid. I can't do upstairs. I shouldn't have to waste money just to find out if the apartment would even work for me.

Were you dealing with a large management company? That's ridiculous that they refuse even basic information.

 

[TickTockMan]

Were you dealing with a large management company? That's ridiculous that they refuse even basic information.

Large and small companies.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Were you dealing with a large management company? That's ridiculous that they refuse even basic information.

Sadly, it's a sort of class exploitation that has become more common. The real goal is to exclude low income people. They could be sued for discrimination, but these policies get them 3/4's of the way there.

There is quite a bit of unethical dealings especially around apartment marketing. They spam the free sites and break all the rules with their listings, making it much harder to find private listings by individuals when one is searching. There's basically no one at the helm in the listing sites, so they don't police listings.

Apartments are the net for the underclasses, and are the front line when it comes to exploitation. As usual, the poor have little recourse when they have so few affordable options.

 

[NotHardUp1]

So you are saying just relocate and it is hard to find work?

Many living month to month can't afford that even if they have nothing else keeping them where they are. Also it sounds like housing is in short supply in a lot of areas so moving may not help much anyways. The places I know of with cheaper housing are small towns with little to no work. Many can not afford to drive an hour to work when the gas prices go up and down so much. That is why most of my family work for a casino, the largest and most steady employer in their area. It is about the only place around that pays more than the basic wage.

I'm saying faced with desperation, you can be desperate in an area with reasonable rents instead of an area with exorbitant rents. As for entry level low wage work, it exists across the country in all places. If you're unemployed and have no skills to get higher wages, then you have to start at entry level. Sitting around and not trying any options is a cancer that results in slums and multi-generational sub-employment.

Being at the bottom of the heap always has meant hardships and a greater struggle. It always will. I had to work my way up when I left teaching. I started in factory work, and it took years. I lived in efficiency apartments, cheap, crappy, and it was fair. All of it gives one incentive to move up and have better.

I'm not in favor of making public housing nicer than what the working class gets.

My perspective comes from personal experience. Mother was a consummate maker of excuses and ultimately a permanent resident in public housing. From the time I was old enough to remember, she had a terrible history of not going to work. She'd miss. It was shitty for her employers. She had skills too. She worked for a printing company, a lawyer, and several jobs where she used more than basic skills.

What became evident through her friends and connections is how common her pattern was. Not going to work indeed leads to not having jobs. Not having jobs leads to living in public housing. Compounding all this was the break with family and personal support systems. As I've helped homeless people over the years, this pattern has been obvious. Many of them are not mentally ill, but are certainly completely estranged from all sense of family and community, and therefore, are desperate when setbacks come. Complete independence from community is a very expensive proposition.

Poverty is a cycle. I saw it when still in junior high and determined to break out of it. You could look around and see how minimal things like having a phone, having a functioning car, were lost by people who didn't have the drive to keep these basic necessities. Once both of those are gone, employment is nigh impossible unless there is public transit.

 

[TickTockMan]

I'm saying faced with desperation, you can be desperate in an area with reasonable rents instead of an area with exorbitant rents. As for entry level low wage work, it exists across the country in all places. If you're unemployed and have no skills to get higher wages, then you have to start at entry level. Sitting around and not trying any options is a cancer that results in slums and multi-generational sub-employment.

Being at the bottom of the heap always has meant hardships and a greater struggle. It always will. I had to work my way up when I left teaching. I started in factory work, and it took years. I lived in efficiency apartments, cheap, crappy, and it was fair. All of it gives one incentive to move up and have better.

I'm not in favor of making public housing nicer than what the working class gets.

My perspective comes from personal experience. Mother was a consummate maker of excuses and ultimately a permanent resident in public housing. From the time I was old enough to remember, she had a terrible history of not going to work. She'd miss. It was shitty for her employers. She had skills too. She worked for a printing company, a lawyer, and several jobs where she used more than basic skills.

What became evident through her friends and connections is how common her pattern was. Not going to work indeed leads to not having jobs. Not having jobs leads to living in public housing. Compounding all this was the break with family and personal support systems. As I've helped homeless people over the years, this pattern has been obvious. Many of them are not mentally ill, but are certainly completely estranged from all sense of family and community, and therefore, are desperate when setbacks come. Complete independence from community is a very expensive proposition.

Poverty is a cycle. I saw it when still in junior high and determined to break out of it. You could look around and see how minimal things like having a phone, having a functioning car, were lost by people who didn't have the drive to keep these basic necessities. Once both of those are gone, employment is nigh impossible unless there is public transit.

Okay. Makes sense.

 

[FPNY]

I think realtors are also artificially inflating real estate prices to pad their pockets. They all attend seminars on how to "get top dollar to make top dollar." i think a lot of their practices are borderline illegal.

Thr market sets the price hon. Realtors read the market and price accordingly. You think a realtor can charge 500,000 for a 100,000 property and people will buy? It doesn’t work like that. We try as hard as we can to price properly, normally the seller feels their property is worth more because it’s the best house and has the heavy duty nails. You want to compete so you take a over priced listing and then ride the asking price down until the BUYERS decide it has value and buy. With the internet buyers know every property that is for sale and every property that has sold...they know how much similar properties should be...

 

[NotHardUp1]

I don't argue with what you posted, FPNY, but in all the transactions I have been in, the realtors only have a limited interest in reaching the fair price of the house, from both the seller and the buyer side. Commissions are based on the price. Inspections and conditions often have an aspect of conspiracy in them to keep the whole thing going. Every single inspection I have had has materially misstated substantial aspects of the home.

It's like having one foot on the train as it pulls out. People are rarely willing to get off.

 

[medic1]

G and i were very lucky. I already had a one bedroom flat which i bought just over ten years ago. After G finally left the Army, we found that having the one bedroom was just not feasible anymore.

So we went house hunting, again we found ourselves in a better position than most.

My flat had increased greatly in value over those ten years, and being right bang in the city centre, the location was very desirable. I managed to sell it for a very handsome profit, that and the golden handshake G received from the Army, made us very desirable prospects for sellers.

We were lucky to find a two bedroom flat that we both liked quite quickly, and because we were able to pay a very substantial deposit, we have found ourselves in the position of having a very, very low monthly mortgage payment. We took out the mortgage over a ten year period, then it is ours, lock, stock and barrel.

We are one of the lucky few, who because of our circumstances were able to view, offer, being accepted, and moving in, all within a three month timeline.

However i see the terrible conditions that people do have to live in, either because of their financial situation, family issues, or medical backgrounds. When i make some house calls to see a patient who is too ill to travel to the practice, i am often left shocked and speechless at the state of their houses. Often the most vunerable in society. The sick, mental or physical, or the people receiving a pension, usually those over the age of 65.

We write letters to the council, or their housing association, but often there is nothing they can do. We are just not building enough "social housing" for those in the most dire of needs.

When i see a young family, comprising of both parents and two children, having to live in a single room, in a bed and breakfast hotel. It really strikes me just how fortunate G and i are.

 

[NotHardUp1]

I grew up in awful places. I'll spare the details. But I also grew up in some decent places, so I've seen both. And I had wealthy friends and saw their homes and it was like another world. But we were friends. I didn't covet their homes, just rued the poverty I had lived in. I was eager to get on with my life, get out of college, and make my own way in the world. It never occurred to me that I'd ever be wealthy, nor was it a goal, and I never have been.

When I taught school, I made less than high school dropouts who worked in the missile factory or at the paper mill. I lived in small apartments with old crappy plumbing and windows and all sorts of indignities. But, each one was my home, and I was proud to have it and not be living at home. I planted flowers, had friends over to eat, worked side jobs and bought used furniture, and made my way gradually up. After 10 years or so, I bought an old house by painting it inside and out for the seller in order to make the down payment.

It was a constant chore to fix up, never had central air or a furnace, and old bathrooms. But it was mine. And I paid on it for 10 years as a single home owner, making less than the median household income. I made flower beds. I repainted it over time. I furnished it. I remodelled the kitchen.

It really wasn't until I pulled up stakes and moved away from my hometown that I began making enough money to live in modern homes. I was 45 by then.

My work took me far away, and had uncertainty, and I leased for several years before settling in Albuquerque. Then, I had several years of staying put but eventually my employer closed the factory and I had to spend many months working on my house to ready it to sell there.

I help others, but I get really tired of busting my ass to make everything work, and working long hours, only to hear others complain about what they don't have when many of them have never worked hard. It's not that there aren't those waylaid by tragedy, but there are LOT more who have been in the backwaters because going to work regularly never appealed to them.

 

[DantheManFL]

It seems things are bad all over.

There's not a single US state where a minimum wage worker can afford a 2-bedroom rental, a report says.

There's not a single state, county or metropolitan area in the entire United States where a full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour can afford a modest 2-bedroom apartment.

And if those workers wanted to? They'd have to work 122 hours a week. Every week. All year.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/14/us/minimum-wage-2-bedroom-trnd/index.html

 

[NotHardUp1]

A minimum wage worker must get an efficiency apartment, rent a room, split an apartment, or live at home until saving enough or earning more.

It's taken two working people to afford a house for a long time now. That's not a change.

 

[TickTockMan]

When i make some house calls to see a patient who is too ill to travel to the practice

Is that common over there? I have not heard of that over here in years except once for my grandmother in 2009 and that was because she was an hour away from her doctor so he went to her.