Attn: Renters who renewed their leases this year...

[DipDipDive]

Did your rent go up in price?

Our lease expires at the end of the month, and our landlord waited until today to let us know that our rent will be raised $25 per month. Not bad, I guess, considering the fact that electric is the only utility not included in our rent, and the economy is in the gnarliest of shitters. Still kind of annoying though.

How much was your rent raised, if at all?

[mikizee]

Mine has gone from $220 a week to $245 a week in 3 years. Not bad. If the owners kicked me out and put it up for rent again they could get about $275 a week.

My house sold at auction about 6 weeks ago for $310 000. The new owners wanna move in so I have to move in November :(

[jabumbo]

a week? that's wild man...



i only renewed a lease once so far, and the only nice thing the landlord did for us is say that if we renewed before a certain day, we would keep our same price (all their other similar places were going up $150 a month).

but i guess in the end it didnt matter on their end since they dicked us out of the security deposit...

[hitmonlee]

from $400/week to $420/week (increase effective june 2, rent set at 420 for 12 months). this is the first increase since i've lived here (1 yr).

pretty fucking happy since many of my friends are getting $50+ rent increases.

[russhie]

Yeah, my landlord and I 'struck a deal' that the rent would stay the same for the next year if I promised to shut up about security upgrades to the house after it was broken into.

So that means the rent will stay at $320 p/w for two years - almost unheard of in Melbs. Our last place jumped from around $350 to $450 a week, rental bidding wars argh.

[na§tee]

shit, i thought australia was meant to be cheaper. about £200 a week? (also, what is it with the weekly rents?) christ almighty. £800 bucks a month. does that include everything? all the bills? any sort of council tax you have to pay?

because i pay £275 a month on rent alone and i thought that was expensive. another £50 on council tax, and another £50-60 or so in utilities. so about £400 on my flat per month in total. i could get a decent mortgage for £800/month. hell, you can get a one-bedroom flat here for about £500/month if you looked hard enough.

my thinking has always been if a month's rent is more than my monthly wage % 4, i'd move somewhere cheaper, or seriously consider buying somewhere.

[roosta]

Rent has dropped in Ireland this year for the first time in 4 years. Which is a fucking relief.

[hitmonlee]

shit, i thought australia was meant to be cheaper. about £200 a week? (also, what is it with the weekly rents?) christ almighty. £800 bucks a month. does that include everything? all the bills? any sort of council tax you have to pay?

because i pay £275 a month on rent alone and i thought that was expensive. another £50 on council tax, and another £50-60 or so in utilities. so about £400 on my flat per month in total. i could get a decent mortgage for £800/month. hell, you can get a one-bedroom flat here for about £500/month if you looked hard enough.

my thinking has always been if a month's rent is more than my monthly wage % 4, i'd move somewhere cheaper, or seriously consider buying somewhere.

well unlike UK, we don't all get paid monthly. also a month isn't a set amount of days, so to me, charging by the week makes more sense (ie. renting in december costs more per day than renting in february - how do you work this out when people move in/out etc).

i also live in a 4 bedroom house. so my rent is $420 divided by 4.
$420/week = £205/week

then you have to look at what we earn.
$625/week = £306/week

so i pay around $105/week rent out of $625 pay

= 16% of my income goes on rent
work out the percentage of your income spent on rent, and then you can make comparisons nasteeeee!

also yes, most of australia is in a housing/rental crisis at the moment. everyone is either looking to rent or buy, and there simply isn't enough accommodation for everyone. and i'm sure you know how the law of demand and supply works.

oh yeah and my rent is cheap for my area - about $100-200 less than average for a 4 bedroom house.

australia is anything but cheap - i am unsure as to why people get that perception. australia is a huge country with a tiny population - consider how much it costs to import stuff here - and then distribute it across a huge fucking country. foreigners always complain about the cost of food/coffee/alcohol here - especially americans - as our dollar has gone from being 50% of their dollar - to be almost equal. the pound is still killing the AU$ though.

[na§tee]

work out the percentage of your income spent on rent, and then you can make comparisons nasteeeee!
hey, there is no need to get defensive - why do you do that? i wasn't going "OH MAN THOSE CRAZY AUSTRALIANS. THOSE FRUITS! YOU'RE GETTING RIPPED OFF! THEY'RE SO BACKWARDS! LOL WEEKLY RENTS!" i know things are different, so i was merely asking where those discrepancies lie, which you kindly elaborated on. thankyou. :/. i thought you were spending £200 a week YOURSELF, not divided by four, which is why i was shocked.

[hitmonlee]

i think you completely misread my tone. i had heaps of fun doing those calculations. i was genuinely excited. i wasn't being mean :(

[na§tee]

oooooh. ha ha. sorry. :o i thought you were being in a gurn. i am a in a bit of a bad mood this morning : (

how about them australians huh? on the INTERNET. doing MATHS. ENJOYING IT (icy) in their WEEKLY-LEASED HOMES! fuckin' fruits! i knew they were batshit crazy! getting their kicks from the percentage sign! ; )

[camo]

my rent is £600 or $1200 for a one bedroom flat in a converted mill.

http://www.victoria-mills.com/


That is my absolute limit as far as renting goes so I'd move if it ever went up.

[ms.peachy]

Our tenants' leases expire in July and in August. The couple who have the one that expires in July will not have a rent increase, but the ones for August will (if they choose to stay). We'll try to keep it minimal but we pay the heating cost for that place, and also we've had a tax increase in that area, so we have to pass that expense on unfortunately.

[trailerprincess]

I don't have anything to comment as I don't rent but I am dead pleased that I finally exchanged on both places on Friday so I move into my new house at the end of the month.

That's all I have to say on this matter

[camo]

Well done H, hope all goes well (y)

[trailerprincess]

Thanks :D

[Praying Mantis]

IM just curious about renting. I own a house. For those that rent whats holding you back from owning as for the most part the mortgage will be cheaper and the tax benfits are better as you can itemize (at least in the US). Is it the initial downpayment or just not sure of what you want or where you want to be?

[russhie]

It's too hard to get a mortage on a single income to buy where I want to live. That's why I rent - it's more flexible while I'm young. Plus I can live in trendy inner city suburbs.

[na§tee]

http://www.victoria-mills.com/

heeeey, camo: <cheesy tv voice> do you have a five-star lifestyle? </cheesy tv voice> ; ) i want a ***** life! where do i sign? nice place! i'm jealous.

It's too hard to get a mortage on a single income to buy where I want to live. That's why I rent - it's more flexible while I'm young. Plus I can live in trendy inner city suburbs.
i agree. if i paid a few extra hundred i could probably afford a mortgage somewhere.. dangerous. and with a toilet in the garden. this way i save some bucks and get to live in a place wikipedia notes for its mixture of "young bourgeois bohemians" (hmm, not i) and "large population of domestic cats". the cats are the selling point. elsewhere in glasgow, they'd probably get shot and eaten. not really.

[camo]

heeeey, camo: <cheesy tv voice> do you have a five-star lifestyle? </cheesy tv voice> ; ) i want a ***** life! where do i sign? nice place! i'm jealous.

It's a bit like living in a holiday camp. I do get free tennis, gym and oversized chess though. The site looks nothing like that image though...it's not due to be finished until the end of the year.

[na§tee]

oversized chess?!

i'm moving in!

[camo]

oversized chess?!

i'm moving in!

Yeah like Chess pieces that come to your knee. Heather wants me to teach her but I can envisage arguments (we had one when I was teaching her how to serve in tennis) so I'm pretending that I've forgotten how to play.

[abcdefz]

Mine's jumped 8% per year since new owners bought it.

[camo]

thats a lot!

[abcdefz]

Yup. :(

[mikizee]

IM just curious about renting. I own a house. For those that rent whats holding you back from owning as for the most part the mortgage will be cheaper and the tax benfits are better as you can itemize (at least in the US). Is it the initial downpayment or just not sure of what you want or where you want to be?

Its not cheaper here. To rent my place costs $245/week. Even with a $50K deposit mortgage would cost at the very least $450 a week.

I won't be buying a house any time soon.

[abcdefz]

I don't want the responsibility.

[Praying Mantis]

I didnt realize the cost of buying outside of certain markets. I bought back in 2000 during the great mortgage rates. Through a first time homeowners program my wife and I were able to buy w/ only 3% down for a 30 yr. note. Our rate however was at 7.5%. Over the next yr. as the rates got lower, we were able to refinance . We then went from 30yrs. to 20 and from 7.5% to 5%. We also took at a home equity recently to buy a new car. So, b/w the mortgage and taxes, home equity we pay around $1400.00 a month. Then figure another $280.00 for utilities and cable.

But we can deduct all interest and property taxes on our taxes which give us a nice refund.

[HEIRESS]

IM just curious about renting. I own a house. For those that rent whats holding you back from owning as for the most part the mortgage will be cheaper and the tax benfits are better as you can itemize (at least in the US). Is it the initial downpayment or just not sure of what you want or where you want to be?

Id be getting a mortgage on a single income and I think I could maybe get approved for something along the lines of an apartment. I refuse to buy anything without land right now. its basically the main reason.
Im tempted to just buy a slab of affordable land in a good area but its still iffy.
also, I dont have wealthy parents that could back me up if anything went wrong (extended sickness, loss of income etc). thats also been holding me back.

[b-grrrlie]

We pay monthly rent, and as I live in the suburbs, in a really old house (built 1947) my rent is really cheap considering.
Next January/February all the plumbing and electricity is gonna be re-done so the place is gonna be
upside down and really dusty and dirty (and we have to use bathrooms/toilets provided in containers outdoors)!
I'm gonna empty my whole living room (I've got too many records, books and videos to be ruined if I leave them there)
as the dust gets everywhere however you cover your stuff.
Then I'm gonna do a new flooring there, without telling the owners as they'd put the rent up even more
("raising the standard"). We're getting at least one free month, but then the rent goes up about 5-8%...

And as I've got really low paying job right now I pay more than 20% of my income (before taxes) in rent :(

[hitmonlee]

IM just curious about renting. I own a house. For those that rent whats holding you back from owning as for the most part the mortgage will be cheaper and the tax benfits are better as you can itemize (at least in the US). Is it the initial downpayment or just not sure of what you want or where you want to be?

- already in debt
- can't afford to buy in the areas i wish to live, don't want to buy and rent and move up the property ladder that way
- like the freedom of being able to move
- like the freedom of not being responsible for things that break/go wrong

[jackrock]

Mine went down $400 :cool:

[BangkokB]

I'm no leasing it: I like risk though. Last time it didn't work out so well.

I'm paying about 750 USD per month.

I want a place that's around 2K per month but people in hell want icewater. Plus things are so hectic right now:I'm thinking about
A)Moving back to the States to be a predatory Lender
B) Going on Holiday to Amsterdam til I Overdose
C) Eatting a grilled cheese sandwich with that lettuce that's cooked in butter
D) Being a high end $ Launderer just for the fun of it and see if that won't get me killed

Oh, Life: What an Adventure