Thursday, February 18, 2016

Wow-That's a Different Problem to Have


As DD#1 continues to call, and call, and e-mail, and e-mail leads on apartments, she is facing a new problem. Apparently the community she is moving to, has a significant stock of units that have income requirements. She actually will be making too much money to qualify to live there. I am all in favor of affordable mixed housing in communities; but odd to think a young woman, up to her eyeballs in student loan debt, who has essentially been unemployed for three months, is considered well off. 

It explains why some of the rental ranges seemed incredibly low. Some rents though, would eat up 60-65% of the net salary at the maximum rate for a single adult. That seems crazy!  She may not be asking all the right questions, so has some follow-up calls to make today. She's secured three appointments to view this weekend, and we have the two fall back plans if nothing works out for the end of the month. She is very nervous about starting the job, having a place to live, meeting new people, and starting life over as she puts it "for the 13th time in 2 1/2 years." That is how many times, not counting each of the RV stops last spring, she has moved out, to a new place, and back in with us since she finished her undergrad degree in December 2012. I hope 13 is a lucky number for her. 

10 comments:

  1. I am all for subsidized housing for those that need it but having said that, last July when Eldest son was apt. hunting he found a great place to live that was very reseanably priced. Once he called he found out it was subsidized housing and his teaching job would make him ineligible for their income guidelines.
    This place was brand new with all the bells and whistles, a gym, pool and community center.
    The unsubsidized place he could find that was closest to the monthly rent of this great place was $900 mo./1 bedroom and it was old and filthy, rundown with no perks.
    The subsidized place was $650 mo/1 bedroom. To get a place equivalent to the subsidized one would have cost him $1500 mo/1 bedroom.

    When Hubs and I were young and looking to rent our first apt. in NJ we found a place that had high income requirements(which would have eaten up 75% of our income)but they gave you a substantial discount if you paid your rent on time. The discount was 2/3 of their monthly price. This is how they kept out "undesirable renters". Crazy!

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    1. This one was 650 a month, with max income of $13,000 for one person. Even if they paid no taxes, that leaves very little to live off of, but I'm sure you'd be able to give them great budget tips.A few on Craig's list looked sketchy. she's not moving big city, but large enough that she needs to be cautious.

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  2. It's crazy how some things work now. I was reading about someone that used the average American income to "purchase" health insurance. She ran the numbers and when she was done there wasn't enough money to live on. Tell me how to make sense of things.

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    1. I hope Saturday is fruitful-she's reworking her numbers.She's pretty creative, so her only wants are clean, safe, and affordable. She'll make it homey.She also can stay on my insurance until 26 so can keep a little more take home until January of 2017.

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  3. I don't understand the way things work now either. It seems that some of the younger generation is actually penalized for their job with little consideration for the student debt they might be carrying.

    Son3 (still a student) lives in a rathole because we pay his rent (until he graduates and it can't cost more than his dorm), so they base everything entirely on our income. It seems an overpriced unsubsidized rathole is all we can afford.

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    1. My son had a run down smelly walk up, shared with three others, and it still was $500 a month-his share in Milwaukee. While close to campus, the only saving grace, it cost a fortune to heat. Daughter did a bit better, cute little apartment with one roommate, about $450 her share, but she had a bus stop from campus, plus then a few block walk which I wasn't happy about, but a busy street at least.

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  4. Usually there isn't enough affordable housing so that is surprising! Hope she find something nice!

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    1. There might not be. Who knows how many application for each unit. As most things, timing will be everything.

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  5. As a student, KL is paying a fortune for a tiny room with shared bathroom and kitchen. She has been looking at flats with her friend for when they finish uni this summer, and have found really lovely, spacious, stylish city centre apartments for reasonable money. Her share would be less than she is paying now for the tiny room. Now all she needs is for her employer to increase her hours so that she can afford to move once uni finishes. She really wants to stay in Manchester, so we have everything crossed that her part-time weekend job becomes something more.

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    1. I wish her luck-that's exciting, and perhaps until her employer can increase hours, maybe thee is an opportunity to supplement with a second part time? I know my son is cobbling together a {portfolio" career right no. As my daughter has always had many room mates, and is starting out again in a new place, she wants to live alone. she would have been happy with a studio . We'll see what turns up this weekend.

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