So, take the above with a grain of salt because it is, after all, green text. The numbers may be bullshit. The entire thing may be bullshit. Who knows.
But that said. $2000 monthly is more than my mortgage, utilities, insurance, internet, cell phone, and fuel expenditures combined in the same span of time. That is insane. (With what I overpay towards the principal on my mortgage puts me above that, but I wouldn’t technically have to. I’d just like to actually own my house some time this century, or at least before I’m dead.)
Why anyone would deliberately choose to live that way is beyond me. There isn’t anything special about my situation; I live in the here and now, at precisely the same date and time as this dude, in the same country, in a major metropolitan area. I’m not an executive, CEO, or landlord. I work in the durable goods industry, for fuck’s sake.
2000 a month isn’t enough for my 2 bedroom 30 minutes from the nearest city. But it was an upgrade from my 2600/month 600sqft apartment on the outskirt of said city. Fortunately we don’t pay utilities due to the shady number of rented dwellings on the single property. But we pay more for shittier Internet, and are limited to 1 cell phone provider option. Congratulations, you bought at a good time. I don’t hold it against you, but I ask that you understand that the market isn’t like that any more. We’re looking at 600,000$houses in our current neighborhood, 750 to be in the edge of the city, and they aren’t exactly ready for habitation, but that’s okay, they’ll be bought and flipped (poorly) and resold for 50% more on top of current asking by next summer.
I really don’t, but I’m also not dumb enough to try to rent in Hollywood. I live along the Baltimore-Philly-NYC corridor. Not exactly the middle of nowhere. Housing prices are insane since the pandemic here too, but not nearly as insane as spending $2000 a month to rent a bunk bed and a desk. (No word on what his gym membership costs, either.) As others have said here in these comments, they’re getting whole apartments for the same or not much more money. At that rate, Ikea will sell you a desk; all you gotta do is ask. That’s a $600/month come up right there, compared to this lunacy.
Even at today’s ludicrous interest rates, the mortgage on a half a million dollar home is somewhere around $2807 monthly, principal and interest. For someone willing to spend $2000 a month on nothing, that doesn’t sound like much of a stretch to me. Normal suburban homes around here have settled down to $350-550k, or you can buy a condo for a little over $100k. Spend less, pay less.
Seems to me homeboy works remotely. Does he actually need to have a Hollywood address? I’ll bet you he doesn’t. Even if you want to be “minimalist,” or whatever the fuck, a van to sleep in the back of or a trailer on the outskirts of town will still be yours after you’re done paying for it. FFS.
Just a note that while most mortgages are cheaper than most rental rates, the down payment is the hard part. I’d love to spend 1500 dollars a month on some crapshack that I can remodel myself, but having to scrape together tens of thousands of dollars is an almost insurmountable roadblock.
To be fair a desk isn’t just a desk at shared workspaces. You’re paying for a receptionist, phone hookup, business mail delivery, and pretty much all of the ancillary stuff a company would provide. Some people can just literally roll out of bed and boot their laptop up. Other people need professional spaces to take meetings in and whatnot.
Hollywood sucks, the only time I’ve been there in the past couple decades is when someone visits and wants to see it. But it does have some interesting things to do there. I’ve also lived in a couple small, rural towns. While a lot of small, rural towns would be preferable to Hollywood, honestly a lot of them wouldn’t.
Meanwhile I, living less than a hundred miles from the green text, can’t find an apartment to rent for under $2k, and the median house prices for the county are north of a million dollars. If by some miracle I could put down 20-30% down, the mortagage would still be $4k. My electric bill alone is over $300. I’m glad it’s working out for you, but I would be interested in knowing where you’re at, because this shit here isn’t working.
I live in a decent sized city (but not what I’d call a large one -certainly not LA size) Good luck finding a one bedroom apartment for under $2000 if you want a place without roaches, mold, and bullet holes. The OP suggesting it might be that expensive someplace like downtown LA doesn’t seem crazy to me.
It’s not one or the other though. Op could find a room for rent in a house that gives him more privacy that just renting a bed, even in LA. The expense isn’t really the issue, it’s the shit conditions he’s choosing to live in.
Two bedroom apartment where I am is 2500. And that’s because our land lord is nice and just looking for some extra money. A two bedroom actually goes for 3k easily.
Your mortgage doesn’t go up at the same rate as the market though. What year did you buy, because my in-laws just sold their mobile home for $700k @ 7% interest.
Yeah, I mean, I have a roommate. We share a single family house with 3 bedrooms, and splitting rent and all utilities are $1600 each, and i live in the super nice area, with a washer and dryer down the hallway from my bedroom. I live in a large city. I’d shoot myself if I had to pay $1400/month to just rent a BED. With no privacy and surrounded by others. This guy, if a true story, is fucking crazy. At that point, he’s making choices to live like that. To assume that the way he’s living is common is asinine.
So, take the above with a grain of salt because it is, after all, green text. The numbers may be bullshit. The entire thing may be bullshit. Who knows.
But that said. $2000 monthly is more than my mortgage, utilities, insurance, internet, cell phone, and fuel expenditures combined in the same span of time. That is insane. (With what I overpay towards the principal on my mortgage puts me above that, but I wouldn’t technically have to. I’d just like to actually own my house some time this century, or at least before I’m dead.)
Why anyone would deliberately choose to live that way is beyond me. There isn’t anything special about my situation; I live in the here and now, at precisely the same date and time as this dude, in the same country, in a major metropolitan area. I’m not an executive, CEO, or landlord. I work in the durable goods industry, for fuck’s sake.
2000 a month isn’t enough for my 2 bedroom 30 minutes from the nearest city. But it was an upgrade from my 2600/month 600sqft apartment on the outskirt of said city. Fortunately we don’t pay utilities due to the shady number of rented dwellings on the single property. But we pay more for shittier Internet, and are limited to 1 cell phone provider option. Congratulations, you bought at a good time. I don’t hold it against you, but I ask that you understand that the market isn’t like that any more. We’re looking at 600,000$houses in our current neighborhood, 750 to be in the edge of the city, and they aren’t exactly ready for habitation, but that’s okay, they’ll be bought and flipped (poorly) and resold for 50% more on top of current asking by next summer.
Assuming they aren’t just rented out.
You live in a high cost of living area. I don’t hold it against you, but I ask that you understand the market isn’t like that everywhere.
Cost of living (COL) is relative to the area …
I suspect you live in some small town or rural area
I really don’t, but I’m also not dumb enough to try to rent in Hollywood. I live along the Baltimore-Philly-NYC corridor. Not exactly the middle of nowhere. Housing prices are insane since the pandemic here too, but not nearly as insane as spending $2000 a month to rent a bunk bed and a desk. (No word on what his gym membership costs, either.) As others have said here in these comments, they’re getting whole apartments for the same or not much more money. At that rate, Ikea will sell you a desk; all you gotta do is ask. That’s a $600/month come up right there, compared to this lunacy.
Even at today’s ludicrous interest rates, the mortgage on a half a million dollar home is somewhere around $2807 monthly, principal and interest. For someone willing to spend $2000 a month on nothing, that doesn’t sound like much of a stretch to me. Normal suburban homes around here have settled down to $350-550k, or you can buy a condo for a little over $100k. Spend less, pay less.
Seems to me homeboy works remotely. Does he actually need to have a Hollywood address? I’ll bet you he doesn’t. Even if you want to be “minimalist,” or whatever the fuck, a van to sleep in the back of or a trailer on the outskirts of town will still be yours after you’re done paying for it. FFS.
Just a note that while most mortgages are cheaper than most rental rates, the down payment is the hard part. I’d love to spend 1500 dollars a month on some crapshack that I can remodel myself, but having to scrape together tens of thousands of dollars is an almost insurmountable roadblock.
To be fair a desk isn’t just a desk at shared workspaces. You’re paying for a receptionist, phone hookup, business mail delivery, and pretty much all of the ancillary stuff a company would provide. Some people can just literally roll out of bed and boot their laptop up. Other people need professional spaces to take meetings in and whatnot.
Better then living in Hollywood.
Hollywood sucks, the only time I’ve been there in the past couple decades is when someone visits and wants to see it. But it does have some interesting things to do there. I’ve also lived in a couple small, rural towns. While a lot of small, rural towns would be preferable to Hollywood, honestly a lot of them wouldn’t.
than*
Meanwhile I, living less than a hundred miles from the green text, can’t find an apartment to rent for under $2k, and the median house prices for the county are north of a million dollars. If by some miracle I could put down 20-30% down, the mortagage would still be $4k. My electric bill alone is over $300. I’m glad it’s working out for you, but I would be interested in knowing where you’re at, because this shit here isn’t working.
I live in a decent sized city (but not what I’d call a large one -certainly not LA size) Good luck finding a one bedroom apartment for under $2000 if you want a place without roaches, mold, and bullet holes. The OP suggesting it might be that expensive someplace like downtown LA doesn’t seem crazy to me.
It’s not one or the other though. Op could find a room for rent in a house that gives him more privacy that just renting a bed, even in LA. The expense isn’t really the issue, it’s the shit conditions he’s choosing to live in.
Two bedroom apartment where I am is 2500. And that’s because our land lord is nice and just looking for some extra money. A two bedroom actually goes for 3k easily.
Shit is fucked out here.
Your mortgage doesn’t go up at the same rate as the market though. What year did you buy, because my in-laws just sold their mobile home for $700k @ 7% interest.
Yeah, I mean, I have a roommate. We share a single family house with 3 bedrooms, and splitting rent and all utilities are $1600 each, and i live in the super nice area, with a washer and dryer down the hallway from my bedroom. I live in a large city. I’d shoot myself if I had to pay $1400/month to just rent a BED. With no privacy and surrounded by others. This guy, if a true story, is fucking crazy. At that point, he’s making choices to live like that. To assume that the way he’s living is common is asinine.
The average 1 bedroom suite in Vancouver BC is 2,500.
2500 what? Canadian Pesos? If so, that’s USD $1854.67.
Sorry, I didn’t know we only use USD here.
If you’re going to compare two things it only makes sense if you use the same units of measure. The article is discussing American prices.
I could just as well say an apartment in Japan costs “369,105” and not specify. Hey presto. Now my number is bigger than yours.
that’s 3,357.58 canadian peso, which is larger yes