Current Events > Damn, trying to rent in Seattle is a crap shoot

(+) Yeah! (+)

People really out here renting out a 180 sqft apartment.

hey like new york and la now

On the upside, that 180 sqft apartment is a steal when you consider the price is only $3,000...

In some ways, this market seems deliberately engineered to increase FOMO and prices. Seattle only requires a 20 day move out notice and landlords are legally obligated to lease to the first qualified application. This means that all rentals are basically a race. This almost assuredly benefits the rich as they are the ones that put down money and documentation at the drop of the hat, with an even higher willingness to pay more due to limited opportunity.

You could replace Seattle with pretty much any other place.

"Closet. A literal closet. Utilities not included. $900 a month."

Southernfatman posted...

You could replace Seattle with pretty much any other place.

At least here in Austin I can usually rent a place a 6-8 weeks before I move there reliably.

i'd suck it up and live in shoreline or something, not really sure why everyone's clamoring to live within 500 feet of downtown considering the whole area's built on wet sand and overdue for a catastrophic earthquake >_>

KhlavicLanguage posted...

i'd suck it up and live in shoreline or something, not really sure why everyone's clamoring to live within 500 feet of downtown considering the whole area's built on wet sand and overdue for a catastrophic earthquake >_>

If I'm honest with you, I can't say I know what I'm doing. My only priorities are being with 30 minutes of my job (in the industrial district) and being within like 20 minutes of my girlfriend's place (which is a bit north of downtown). Unfortunately, large increases in travel time to both seem to bring only modest savings.

live in a more rural city outside of town if possible, hell, Im leaving a huge metro area for a smaller town later this year simply because I can flip my townhouse for so much money and get a home on a big piece of land and have enough profit to boot

Doesn't Seattle have a huge tech hub? Wonder if it's super expensive in comparison to the Silicon Valley in northern California

KhlavicLanguage posted...

i'd suck it up and live in shoreline or something, not really sure why everyone's clamoring to live within 500 feet of downtown considering the whole area's built on wet sand and overdue for a catastrophic earthquake >_>

I've been looking to live in shoreline but I haven't found a place that will charge what I can afford. And thats already half of what I make from minimum. Living on your own In Seattle with minimum is nearly impossible. Unless you can accept that you won't have a kitchen. And have crap parking space.

I live far south right now. And moving back North is more difficult than I thought it would be.

Maeiv posted...

Doesn't Seattle have a huge tech hub? Wonder if it's super expensive in comparison to the Silicon Valley in northern California

It does have a tech hub. From my understanding, the very rich live in Bellevue. Like most other US cities right now, there is also a massive rent hike that seems to be going on in the city. I'm seeing 40% increases from listings two years ago (likely why they are unoccupied in the first place).

SamsungGearS2 posted...

live in a more rural city outside of town if possible, hell, Im leaving a huge metro area for a smaller town later this year simply because I can flip my townhouse for so much money and get a home on a big piece of land and have enough profit to boot

I probably will in a year or so. When this lease is over, I am hoping to move in with my girlfriend. We can reevaluate the living situation from there. She works in the heart of downtown, though. so I doubt our place would be cheap.

Jabodie posted...

there is also a massive rent hike that seems to be going on in the city.

wish they would stop.1400$ for any consideration for a rental now.

Jabodie posted...

It does have a tech hub. From my understanding, the very rich live in Bellevue. Like most other US cities right now, there is also a massive rent hike that seems to be going on in the city. I'm seeing 40% increases from listings two years ago (likely why they are unoccupied in the first place).

Bellevue is definitely THE rich go to place. If you spent enough time in Seattle. You can see the night and day differences in how many more household families Bellevue has. But that doesn't mean there isn't rich/successful/hard working people scattered all over Seattle. Lake Stevens has money everywhere around there. University, mount lake area all has money around it.

If you dont mind me asking, what's your budget?

RlP posted...

If you dont mind me asking, what's your budget?

I wish it could be lower, but realistically I'll probably need to be in the $2k ballpark.

2k aint that bad. You can get an open bedroom (maybe with some luck a 1 bed) around that price in downtown. At least you could before covid.

If that's the best I could afford I'd probabaly just buy a RV or camping van until I could find better accommodation.

Even then it beats the hell out of housing saw in silicon valley where you're living side by side with like 2 or so dozen people essentially renting out a mattress space for like $2500. Also you're sharing the one bathroom and kitchen, lol.

Sadly I can't find the video anymore for some reason. But I had alot more privacy in basic training. Hell, deployment even.

Prismsblade posted...

If that's the best I could afford I'd probabaly just buy a RV or camping van until I could find better accommodation.

Even then it beats the hell out of housing saw in silicon valley where you're living side by side with like 2 or so dozen people essentially renting out a mattress space for like $2500. Also you're sharing the one bathroom and kitchen, lol.

Sadly I can't find the video anymore for some reason. But I had alot more privacy in basic training. Hell, deployment even.

That sounds terrible, 2500 for shared space should instigate riots.
Here in Seattle a little over a year ago. I found a place for 1'100. But there was a community kitchen with two stoves. And 40 apartment studios. I told the lady I just couldn't do it. Was insanely depressing to stand in one of those rooms.

RlP posted...

2k aint that bad. You can get an open bedroom (maybe with some luck a 1 bed) around that price in downtown. At least you could before covid.

Yeah, but I was really hoping to get a studio closer to $1500. That's becoming very unrealistic if I don't want a place that isn't a shit hole and has in unit laundry (I've lived without in unit laundry for 8 years through undergrad and my phd... I'm tired of it)

CountDog posted...

there was a community kitchen with two stoves. And 40 apartment studios

i gotta agree with that situation. that's a no go.
i lived in a hostel for a few weeks during my rough times. had to share a kitchen too but only used it maybe twice.

Why so expensive? I thought they just raised cattle

Listed today.

Move-in date this weekend...

Gratz TC, also I found the video I was referencing if you care to watch. It was actually in LA and beds space cost was $40-50 a night back then. No idea now assuming it still exist.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H_ILu-R-Nz8

Prismsblade posted...

Gratz TC, also I found the video I was referencing if you care to watch. It was actually in LA and beds space cost was $40-50 a night back then. No idea now assuming it still exist.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H_ILu-R-Nz8

Nah bro I'm trying to move in September lol. I would need a proxy to tour on Thursday at noon (middle of the work day) and probably sign the same day for a move-in this weekend. I'm just saying the move-in times are stupid close to the listing days.

Jabodie posted...

Listed today.

Move-in date this weekend...

thats insane no time for clean up or repairs

CADE_FOSTER posted...

thats insane no time for clean up or repairs

This was a renovation, so this one actually makes sense. But there's basically 0 chance for me to get the place without paying a full month of overlapping rent.

damn

So it's pretty clear now that to have a reasonable shot at any place, I need to have alerts and send a request to tour/application within an hour or two of a listing. The same day is just too slow if I'm a few hours behind.

Jabodie posted...

Yeah, but I was really hoping to get a studio closer to $1500. That's becoming very unrealistic if I don't want a place that isn't a shit hole and has in unit laundry (I've lived without in unit laundry for 8 years through undergrad and my phd... I'm tired of it)

I lived in a studio in downtown Seattle which cost $1500... in 2020 during the height of the pandemic when all rent was heavily discounted. It would be impossible to find anything under 2k now (and if you factor in parking, probably 2.5K+ even for a studio)...

I know West Seattle is cheaper (though not as nice). It's also close to the industrial district. Have you looked from Fairmount to North Admiral areas?

I've taken a look at West Seattle, but I think the drive was too far from my girlfriend for visiting often like I want to. I'll take a look at Fairmont and North Admiral later.

Right now it seems like it's less about the price existing and more about getting in contact with a landlord within an hour of listing. The ones that basically don't go within the day are so bad that it's no wonder people aren't taking then.