I live in what is probably the most affordable apartment building here in Eau Claire Wisconsin. I was just informed by my landlord this evening that he has sold the building and I have be be out by the first of February. Unfortunately he doesn’t have anything else right now, but told me he would let me know if anything opened up.
The building is being made into expensive rental units starting at $800/month, which is pretty high for this area. My rent, for comparison has been $280/month since I moved in here 5 years ago. The entire neighborhood has slowly been creeping toward gentrification. I had a feeling this day would come.
Right now couldn’t be a worse time for this to have happened. Not only is it the middle of winter, but I quit my steady job last October when I found a different job where I thought I would be making more money, and I did at first. But business has been slow and I’ve been working only around 15 hours a week for the last five weeks. I’ve been hanging on by the skin of my teeth and living mostly off savings which are now almost gone. I don’t have the money to move if I wanted to. I’ve been looking for other work, but not many businesses are hiring right now. Imagine that.
The only thing I can think to do at this point is to get a hold of some of the city council members and urge them to somehow replace the affordable housing that has been lost by this deal. Not that they will give a damn.
Well, good luck to the new owners. They may find the units going begging at the higher price. This does not seem to be a good time to be investing a lot of money into properties with the expectation of commanding higher rents.
My God, that’s going to put a serious hurtin’ on your finances, DJ! I live in Georgia and am paying 635.00 a month for my two-bedroom apartment which includes water and garbage pick-up, and I thought mine was over-priced, since it’s for senior citizens, which I didn’t qualify for when I first moved in, but do now!
You’ve already said that this is the most affordable housing you have found, but can you find a temporary roomate situation till you get more hours, and will this involve storing stuff?
I’m sorry to learn of this hardship, and wish you the best of luck. At least you have January to find something. I hope you find something suitable, even if it is just temporary. I know it’s gonna be difficult since you are only working 15 hours, but would it help to go on unemployment?
Another option is rooms for rent. A(pleasant?) side effect of the unsteady economy is people looking for extra ways to make ends meet, so there will likely be a surplus of people renting unused extra rooms, often on a rather informal(read no lease and no deposits) basis.
It does involve some sacrifice of privacy, but its far better than the alternative. I personally have rented rooms with 4 different households in my life so far(5 counting my brother), and all have been pleasant experiences. But I loath living by myself beyond almost all other things.
The downside is, of course, reduced privacy. No watching TV in the living room in your underwear when the boarders have 3 young daughters, for instance. The upside is potentially absurdly cheap rent… I lived for 3 years in a room for $200 a month, no utilities, had free run of the house, and ate with the family in the evenings(meaning a home cooked meal every day for a single guy!). Naturally there were a few modest restrictions, like no parties that weren’t OKed by them(I was free to join in theres, and they celebrated my birthdays with me), and things like minimal noise after 10pm. Oh, and I got roped into being the 4th man for bridge on occasion at one household with an older couple… >_<.
It’s probably pushing it, but if you could get them to let you stay until June, you could probably get another decent priced apartment lined up when all the college kids go home for the summer.
Go to your city’s Rent Board and check out the laws. If you have a lease the new owner may have to honor it. If not, go to court and plead “hardship”
I had a similar situation–a church bought the six-family I had lived in for 18 years to tear it down and put up a parking lot. They threw six families into the street! Fortunately, I found a cheaper apartment in a nicer part of town very quickly. May you have similar luck.
I don’t think a landlord can just walk in on Feb 1st and toss you out. If it takes a little longer, they’ll just have to deal with it.
Put an ad in the paper for a roommate. Many people are in the same boat as you and would be happy to find someone to split the rent with. The other suggestions for a room to rent are excellent as well.
Good luck. Hard times out there, for sure, but people are pulling together to make ends meet. I think you’ll find something.
Another thought…are your neighbors suffering the same plight? Maybe you can find something with someone you’re friendly with.
Thanks for your replies everyone. I am friendly with a few of my neighbors. I’ll have to see if any of them are willing to go into a roommate situation. I’ve boarded with families in the past as well. That worked out to varying degrees of success. I will do it again if I have to.
I think the new owners have plans on tearing everything up immediately. I’ve already seen construction crews going over the property. My landlord said that they have plans on doing a $400,000 renovation. So obviously they have deep pockets. I am sure they have a professional construction crew who are specialists in urban type designs. I guess it couldn’t hurt to talk to them since they are the ones who are effectively evicting me. I doubt they will have any use for me. I think it is a development firm that bought the property.
I’m going to the city to find out exactly what they had in mind for the current tenants. Nothing I’m sure. It sure will feel good putting them in the hot seat. There is at least one guy on the council I’ve always wanted to do that to. I’ll have to find out how he voted specifically. Am I wrong in thinking that a good representative would have at least put up a flyer somewhere in the building? Maybe not. Is that reasonable to expect? I guess I don’t know. I feel like I should have been told.
I wish I had known when this was being discussed in the city council. I’m assuming it was, nobody in this city makes so much as a chalk drawing on the sidewalk without prior approval from the city council. Not that I really could have done much except attend the meeting and give my 2 cents during the public hearing. Still it would have been nice to know. My rep is going to hear about this specifically.
Where do you live? If it is in a large enough city try Craigslist, Shared Rooms for cheap accomodations. Admittedly it is hit or miss, but there are generally plenty of people looking for last minute housemates.
I live in Eau Claire, WI and even here $280/month is considered cheap. You get what you pay for, of course. Still, affordable housing is becoming increasingly rare.
I got an official letter today and it stated that January rent will be free. The whole building has been notified as of today and I’ve already mentioned to one of my neighbors that I’m looking for a roommate. Everyone here is in approximately the same boat I’m in.
I may move out of town. Post your suggestions, I’m open to anything. I’m especially interested in Pennsylvania and Maine. Maybe I’ll just save up as much as possible this month since rent is free and just . . . take off.
I’ll give craigslist a try. The city is big enough to have an active presence.
I love how everyone is astounded by my low rent. Start living within your means, America. Please!
I just want to chime in, $280 a month?!?! Here in Northern Virginia, my small one-bedroom apartment, which was built in the 1940s, was $1,200/month. Before that, a small 2-bedroom townhouse was &1,800/month. My friend rents a one-room studio apartment for $900, which is really cheap for the area. By boyfriend is about to start renting one room in a group house for $600/month. Count your blessings!!
Oh, I have. Don’t think for a moment that I don’t know that I have been blessed with affordable housing. I’ve lived in more expensive cities and apartments which is why when I found this I jumped on it immediately. I don’t expect this sort of lightning to strike twice.
If the local old-timers are to be believed this apartment building was built in the 1920’s and was originally a canning factory. It was cut-up and remodeled into cheap-assed apartments in the 1970’s and was grandfathered in from such requirements like handicap accessibility and energy efficiency requirements. It’s also in a neighborhood which has stigmas against it such as occasional homeless people begging for change. I wound up making acquaintances with a few of them over time.
Few people wanted to live here. The landlord himself is something of an old timer and can’t understand why anyone expressed interest in his building for that very reason. He jumped on the chance to sell it when offered, obviously.
Progress is what it is. This part of town is becoming something else. I had hoped that all of the wealthier people moving into my neighborhood would open up business possibilities for me. But, apparently that wasn’t in the cards.
DJ, do you have a lease or not? If so, what is the term? Are you sure that the time period in which they’re trying to kick you out is legal?
If you have further rights under landlord and tenant law that would allow you to avoid moving until a time more convenient to you, you’d be a fool not to take advantage of them.
Seriously - if the new building owners are required by law to honor your lease, it doesn’t matter what their plans are as far as tearing down the building. Look into it - even if you give up and decide to move out anyway, some money toward a security deposit on a new place and some money for moving expenses are going to be chump change for the new owners - you should be able to get some cash from them, but you have to know your rights first in order to bargain effectively.
THAT is unfortunate. Still, I’d bet you can effectively squat until they went through the entire eviction process if all other measures fail, just have your bags packed and ready to go when the Sheriff comes a-knockin. I’m not a lawyer and I’m not familiar with laws in Wisconsin, but I’d guess this is the case.
If you can bump to $450 (which is what I pay for my CAR, btw) there’s a house in Bloomer and another in Cornell for $650. Both houses as opposed to apartments though, so there’s that and if transportation is a problem, both of those look like they’re out in the sticks.