What Do You Think Will Happen to Rental Rates?
April 4th, 2008
A friend of mine is moving to Charlottesville, Virginia, in a few months, so I was looking online at apartments in that area. (Full disclosure: I figured it’d make a great back-up plan if I decide to move)
Can I just say one thing: Moving to the South sounds like a better and better option. Why spend $1000 to rent a one-bedroom in Chicagoland when I could pay $500 to share an adorable place with a friend in Virginia?
Who decides these outrageous rentals, and do you think they’ll drop if real estate prices keep falling? Or will they go up since more people are renting than buying, so there’s a more competitive market?
Filed under buying/renting, questions |
6 Responses to “What Do You Think Will Happen to Rental Rates?”
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You’re generally able to negotiate rents quite well in Charlottesville.
These are the best sites I have found to search for rentals.
http://www.readthehook.com
http://c-ville.com
http://www.dailyprogress.com
http://brac.com
http://charlottesville.craigslist.org/
–Jim
http://www.realcentralva.com
I’m no economist, but I think that rents typically rise as more people rent - which people are probably doing now that they can’t afford their homes.
It’s a supply and demand thing.
But it may make a lot of sense to think about your career and what you want out of life, and then decide whether you can get those in Charlottesville (or wherever else you might consider.)
Not to run down Charlottesville at all– you’d have some fantastic career opportunities there. But are they the ones you want to become your defaults?
It might be good to look at the sunday paper in towns you might consider living in, just get a feel for what’s in the want ads and “living” section of the paper.
P.S. I think Charlottesville’s on the expensive side, since it’s a college town. But throughout much of the south you’ve got plenty of money to think about buying a house.
I live in CA, and houses here are ridiculous. A 2-bedroom condo next to me is listed for $470,000.
Real estate slow-down? It’s happening… but 20% off half-a-million is still way more than what I can afford.
I heard Austin’s a nice city, and real estate in Texas is so CHEAP.
i’m no economist, but i do have a background reporting town/state politics, so i was thinking of this (don’t know if i’m right) –
i was thinking that rents would go up, or at least the following factor would mitigate some of the lower costs associated w/ the buyers’ market, because school district budgets are skyrocketing out of control as they attempt to meet the costs of union contracts, unfunded mandates and the cost of health insurance for their employees. property taxes pay for this, and those are going up fast — the property owner is going to have to pass this on to a renter at some point.
Charlottesville is an interesting quaint town - some of the indie record labels I’ve heard have potential bands they sign play a gig at the local club and gauge the response before moving forward.
I’m surprised condos in my neighborhood that are $600K+ that sold. I’m dreaming of the day the condos in the neighborhood completely plummet when the economy gets worse but I can only dream …