Use These Five Strategies to Find Affordable Rentals in an Inaccessible City
Living in a city like New York, San Francisco, or Boston often means spending a large portion of your income on rent, especially if you don’t want to live with roommates. This often leaves those living in more affordable housing markets wondering, or even asking, why don’t you just pack up and move somewhere cheaper.
While this may be an option for some, others have ties to expensive cities, such as work or family, or have other reasons why moving is off the table. But until more affordable housing becomes available, people who call these major metro areas home will have to figure out how to maximize their rental budgets. Because strategy is important in real estate, I turned to Andrea Neculae, research analyst at RentCafe, for some tips on how to find a rental you can afford in an unaffordable city. Here’s what you need to know.
How to Find Affordable Rentals in an Expensive City
A recent report from RentCafe determined how much living space you can get for $1,700 a month (roughly the national average rent) in the 50 largest U.S. cities. In one Memphis neighborhood, you can find a nearly 2,000-square-foot rental home for $1,700. Meanwhile, in Manhattan, you’re unlikely to be able to rent a 200-square-foot space for the same amount of money.
Here are Neculae’s findings from analyzing this data, which she says can help improve your chances of finding a rental that won’t break the bank in a notoriously expensive city.
Find nice places
Analyzing the research data, Nekula and the rest of her team noticed a pattern emerging in many large rental markets: the ring of zip codes surrounding the city center often has the best balance of price and location. “These places can become real gems without spending a fortune,” she tells Lifehacker. However, if you venture too far outside the city center, you may find that rental costs rise sharply in areas that have a mix of urban and suburban features. “They are now in high demand among older millennials whose families are looking for urban amenities in the suburbs,” Neculae explains.
Move your home office
It’s no surprise that people who work remotely often want to rent space with space for a home office. But before you spend your budget on extra room, Nekula suggests looking for rentals near coworking spaces. You’ll have to do the math, but it may be cheaper to rent a desk in a shared office than to pay more to rent a house with room for an office. “For example, in cities like Chicago and New York, eliminating an extra bedroom can save you between $9,000 and $20,000 per year,” she notes.
Consider the possibility of transit-oriented development
According to Neculae, you can save money by living in a transit-oriented development (TOD). Combining residential and commercial areas, TODs are designed to maximize access to public transportation, offering easy access to work and city amenities without the need to rely on a car. “Additionally, several states have announced initiatives to build more housing near transportation hubs, so you can expect to see more of these types of projects in the future,” she adds.
Look for rentals in the fall or winter.
Typically, more people are hunting for rental properties in the spring and summer, which means there is more competition for properties at this time of year and less room for negotiation, explains Nekulae. “If you’re hoping to find a good deal, consider searching during the fall and winter months when rental demand is typically lower, giving you the opportunity to snag an apartment you like, often at a special rent,” she says. Neculae recommends starting your search in early January or February to have the best chance of finding a property that suits your needs at a decent price.
Don’t ignore fees
If you find an apartment with a rent so low that it seems too good to be true, there’s a good chance it’s either a scam or you haven’t taken into account all the different fees the tenant has to pay on top of the rent. . “These not-so-obvious expenses, such as application fees, security deposits, trash removal fees or pet fees, can add up to a significant amount that will add to your monthly expenses,” says Neculae.