5 ms·

Possible the numbers are wrong, but "asking rent" means the non-rent-controlled price, ie. what you would get if you rented one new today.

gwbas1c 3y ago
Unless the laws changed, rent controlled apartments are rented out at market rate, and then price increases are strictly controlled. I lived in a rent controlled apartment in SF for a year. What was frustrating was realizing that I was paying significantly more rent than other tenants in similar units.
- DiggyJohnson 3y ago
  What you’re saying seems incompatible to me. Either they’re rented out at market rate, or their prices are strictly controlled. How did you end up paying more than comp with a rent controlled unit? That doesn’t make much sense.
  - blast 3y ago
    New tenants have to pay market rate to begin renting. Rent control kicks in after that and prevents the rent from increasing much. If the other renters had been there for many years, they'd still be paying market rate (plus a bit) from years earlier. That could be a lot less than market rate now. That's why renters in rent-controlled units tend not to move as much - as market rates go up, your rent gets relatively cheaper over time and that's an incentive to stay put.
  - strken 3y ago
    The rent is frontloaded. It averages out over the long run, but landlords charge more at the beginning of the lease to make up some of the difference caused by rent controls by the time the lease ends.
    - baby 3y ago
      To me it’s more like if you have a non-rent controlled place you have to make it more attractive with lower prices, which is OK as you can just increase like hell after a year.
      - killingtime74 3y ago
        If you increase it, people can just move
        baby 3y ago
        Imagine: you’re in the middle of crunch time at work, your wife is pregnant, you receive some notice that the rent is going to increase ten folds in two weeks, good luck.
        killingtime74 3y ago
        Imagine: you are a single techie living in SF, you get the notice and move to another apartment :D.
        baby 3y ago
        Why would you be single in sf
    - gwbas1c 3y ago
      It wasn't that way when I shopped for an apartment in SF. (Summer 2008.) The rent controlled landlords struggled, and didn't have much, or any, wiggle room for upkeep. (Just look at the Parkmerced saga. The place was a dump, but politics prevented them from fixing it.) I moved into my rent controlled apartment because it was a good deal; the non-rent-control apartments actually cost more at the time.
- baby 3y ago
  That’s the game. When I was looking for a place during covid I could have gotten some dope appartements for much cheaper than the rent controlled ones, hell they would even throw a free month sometimes lol. But I knew all of these would jack up their prices right after your lease ends. It blows my mind that some people don’t look for rent controlled apartments.

gwbas1c 3y ago

Unless the laws changed, rent controlled apartments are rented out at market rate, and then price increases are strictly controlled. I lived in a rent controlled apartment in SF for a year. What was frustrating was realizing that I was paying significantly more rent than other tenants in similar units.

DiggyJohnson 3y ago
What you’re saying seems incompatible to me. Either they’re rented out at market rate, or their prices are strictly controlled. How did you end up paying more than comp with a rent controlled unit? That doesn’t make much sense.
- blast 3y ago
  New tenants have to pay market rate to begin renting. Rent control kicks in after that and prevents the rent from increasing much. If the other renters had been there for many years, they'd still be paying market rate (plus a bit) from years earlier. That could be a lot less than market rate now. That's why renters in rent-controlled units tend not to move as much - as market rates go up, your rent gets relatively cheaper over time and that's an incentive to stay put.
- strken 3y ago
  The rent is frontloaded. It averages out over the long run, but landlords charge more at the beginning of the lease to make up some of the difference caused by rent controls by the time the lease ends.
  - baby 3y ago
    To me it’s more like if you have a non-rent controlled place you have to make it more attractive with lower prices, which is OK as you can just increase like hell after a year.
    - killingtime74 3y ago
      If you increase it, people can just move
      - baby 3y ago
        Imagine: you’re in the middle of crunch time at work, your wife is pregnant, you receive some notice that the rent is going to increase ten folds in two weeks, good luck.
        killingtime74 3y ago
        Imagine: you are a single techie living in SF, you get the notice and move to another apartment :D.
        baby 3y ago
        Why would you be single in sf
  - gwbas1c 3y ago
    It wasn't that way when I shopped for an apartment in SF. (Summer 2008.) The rent controlled landlords struggled, and didn't have much, or any, wiggle room for upkeep. (Just look at the Parkmerced saga. The place was a dump, but politics prevented them from fixing it.) I moved into my rent controlled apartment because it was a good deal; the non-rent-control apartments actually cost more at the time.
baby 3y ago
That’s the game. When I was looking for a place during covid I could have gotten some dope appartements for much cheaper than the rent controlled ones, hell they would even throw a free month sometimes lol. But I knew all of these would jack up their prices right after your lease ends. It blows my mind that some people don’t look for rent controlled apartments.