Wanted Home to Rent that I can actually afford

There has GOT to be someone in this area that doesn't NEED to make the full market value rental of their property? Or perhaps someone that has had a recent change and finds themselves in a big place all by themselves and needs a bit of help?

1 adult, 3 kids, 2 cats will be displaced in July/August. Rentals and apartments are crazy high and generally fly off the market.

PM to contact

 

Whether somoeone "needs" the full market rent is irrelevant. The market is what it is and I can't blame anyone for making what they can on their property. If it's too expensive you might want to look in a larger area. There are cheaper rents outside of local neighborhoods. Going farther south, west will give you lower rents. Many of us have lived outside the areas we have wanted to in the past so we can have what we need.

The 2 cats don't help. If I owned a rental property it would be with no pets. Most places charge more for pets which only increases your costs.

 

LOL. Do I need to make the full market value on my rental? Lets see...mortgage plus HOA plus taxes plus insurance plus maintenance equals full market value. I should eat some of my cost because rent is "crazy high"? Ditto on the previous cat comment...thats an easy additional $1500 deposit.......

 

This is correct. Markets set rental prices. Rents are pretty high across the board right now because of at least two things: 1) people are scared to invest in a home fearing that for the short term, it won't provide a decent return on their money or worse, it will decrease in value, so they rent until the market settles back down, and 2) people need more assets to get loans to buy houses than they did pre-housing-colapse and most people don't have the cash sitting around. Both have increased demand for rental units, and with the supply remaining relatively constant due to the slowdown in construction from the housing colapse, the prices go up.

If you are struggling to make rent, relocating to a lower-rent area is a good idea. Ashburn isn't really know for being cheap. You can also look for income-restricted rental units. Here's the website for the county office on the matter, maybe they can help? http://www.loudoun.gov/index.aspx?nid=1813. If you make too much money to qualify for these rentals, then you'll have to look at cutting other expenses in order to make rent. I read somewhere that you're not supposed to spend more than 28% of your gross (pre-tax) income on housing, but that seems pretty high to me.

 

The 28% is sort of a 'mortgage rule', this is what underwriters look for in an acceptable ratio. The reality is, people do tend to spend more than that on housing...hence the collapse. (Utilities aren't included yet they are necessary)

 

I definitely have looked in other areas. I am of the mind that "it never hurts to ask"