Can someone explain why rent is so ridiculously expensive in the US?

[Yavin4MFC]

I'm sure Millennials are to blame. /s

 

[AudriTwo]

I'm sure Millennials are to blame. /s

Nope. Thanks, Obama.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Interesting: Here in Holland, utilities are never included in the rent price, which means you can expect to pay another 100 euro/ month for electricity and gas and 60 euro for water.

Also, from the complete discussion, I get the idea that more, if not most appartments in the US come with the furniture..

Varies. My apartment complex has both furnished and not. They charge a couple hundred more for furnished two bedrooms. Two bedroom furnished is $300 more. But for the most part they replace a lot of that furniture after someone moves out.

Stove and refrigerator are always included, this is just kitchen table, sofa, chairs, beds, nightstands. That sort of thing.

I pay $325 for a one bedroom. That includes water, sewer, and garbage pickup. We have to pay for our own electricity and internet. Although there is an option now for having internet included for an extra $30 a month. They bring in a 100mbps down / 7mbps up connection to each building and that's shared over a router via wifi only with 8 apartments. So if everyone is home and watching netflix or mfc it could get a bit slow. So I just bring in my own connection all to myself.

think there's also a lot of amenities that can jack up your rent, as well. Have pets? What if they're on the "restricted breed" list?

Mine charges $50 a month extra per pet. That's dogs and cats. Snakes, mice, and rats (anything besides cat, dogs, and fish) not allowed. You can have an aquarium for fish no charge but it's in the contract if it leaks you're paying full cost of repairs, which may include full carpet replacement. So it's just not worth it IMO.

And whether or not you want a washer and dryer in your unit will determine the price. Also, whether it's a 2 bedroom, 1 bath...or a 2 bedroom, 2 bath. I always just assumed the 2 BR, 2 BA units would cost more, but that's actually not always the case.

For me they do it a bit different. The complex here is several buildings, and each building has 8 apartments in it. So on the main floor in the breezeway there's a small room that has a washer and dryer. One each per building. So yes we share, but it's never really busy. And it's right outside my door, so i don't even put on shoes or socks to do laundry. They charge $1.50 a load for each washing and drying. But it's still cheaper than having to buy one or pay higher rent for one included I think. And there's trees right behind each building. So everyone has clothes lines out there. Most everyone hangs up clothes for a few hours to dry. Saves money. Way better than going to the laundromat.

 

[mickerd]

Supply/demand dynamics.....it's a pretty basic concept.

 

[halfmoonxoxo]

Rent is high in my area. It is why we got a townhouse instead. A few hundred to several hundred dollars cheaper per month than renting an apartment.

 

[LuxVendetta]

This thread is depressing. There are some big cities I would love to live in, but I'll never be able to afford it. I'm going to be stuck in this hell hole forever. I'm in a small town where rent is dirt cheap in comparison. I'm renting a 2 bedroom house with a den, 2 car garage, washer/dryer, and lots of land for $840/month. To be fair, if this same house was directly in town and not in the sticks, it would probably be closer to $1500. That's still pretty cheap though compared to some of the prices on this thread. I've rented a one bedroom apartment in town for $600, and another one for $400. Some of the apartments here cost twice as much or more, but I've always been able to find something decent in my price range.

 

[Lelo1]

The best way to reduce rent is to build more affordable housing.

Developers don't want to build affordable housing, because it's less profitable. Investors don't want affordable hosing, because it generates less income. Home owners don't want affordable hosing because it reduce the value of their home. Duplex owners don't want affordable hosing, because it cuts into their profits. Banks don't want affordable housing, bigger loans means more profits.

Part of the challenge is US pay has been static for over 30 years. While every thing else, including home value continues to rise.

There are people who are trying to disrupt the current market. Mostly it falls into the category of rapid housing. 3d Printed, Prefab, builder block kits, cargo crate conventions, allot of these technologies stand a greater chance in rural areas, more access to land. But they also have to battle the stigmata of trailer parks. And these technoloigies usually don't retain value like traditional house.

 

[Jesse Angel]

Major city apartments are always insanely expensive, and that's mainly due to the limited space cities have for their dense populations plus demand for these places. For the rent of even a one bedroom apartment in Los Angeles, you could easily live in the suburbs of a different state. Still, though, the rent for where I'm moving in my area (central Florida) is a little high. $820/month for a two-bed two-bath plus a portion of the water, trash, and sewage plus you pay your own electric, which is pretty much standard unless you live in an apartment complex for college students. I'm only 19, and right now, I'm not ready to commit to a house with a mortgage so my only other option is to rent. Renting kinda sucks because you're basically throwing away a bunch of money each month for permission to live in a place that you don't even own. It's not an asset like a home, and mortgages in my area are usually cheaper than rent. Since I live in sinkhole central, homes are typically cheap. my family bought a three-bed two-bath house for under $40k.

 

[Yavin4MFC]

http://affordanything.com/2015/11/24/is-renting-better-than-buying-should-i-rent-or-buy/