Misanthropy Today

I’m apartment hunting right now, and like any other transitionary period in life, i’m being drowned in the unrequested shitstorm of advice and philosophies on renting an apartment in a recession/housing bubble.

Awhile ago everyone was saying that the housing bubble (foreclosures, etc) would cause rents to skyrocket. Everyone heard this once on the news and still parrot it to this day, without any proof. Humanoids are like that.

It’s just not true. Drive around Los Angeles and you’ll notice an abundance of For Rent signs. All the “move-in specials”. $99 deposits. First Month Free!

Those are not signs of a strong rental market.

A recession is a recession. People have less money. They scale back. Part of scaling back could mean moving to a less expensive area. Living in a big city is a luxury, whether you realize it or not.

If you moved from Los Angeles to Memphis you’d  have 40% more money to spend (assuming your income remained unchanged).

LA to Fresno, Ca would give you an additional 25%. If you have a profession that is completely portable (I don’t) it would make sense to move away.

Or move back in with your parents.

Or with friends.

Etc.

Notice how many lofts that were once for sale are now for rent, with 2 months free? Notice how many apartments are being called Condos?

Anyhow, if you’re renting an apartment in an urban area: los angeles, new york, chicago— it should be a buyers market. Haggle over the rent price. The deposit price. Length of the lease, etc.

Related posts:

1. On Whether The Recession Will Be Long And Deep Or Not
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