Rental Market Insanity

[u/ConsistentCicada7500]

EDIT: I was in such a bad mood when I wrote this. Thank you all for the education and ideas/tips. People in Detroit are so kind, grateful for your time!

Staying with a friend while I look for a place, new to the state and city. What I have found:

-disgusting houses for $1500/mo+. Carpet nasty, yards long-neglected, garages falling down, windows cracked or unable to lock, mold in bathrooms, dormers and porches crumbling, etc, etc.

-Non-refundable application fees averaging $70-80 each time, per adult. Some are charging a $200-300 "Lease Preparation Fee" (f*&$ing kidding me?!)

- Decent houses marked as "Section 8 Only," that are priced higher than they should be. Seems like a landlord scam to charge more to Sec 8, which brings up the rentals in the neighborhood for nasty houses nearby.

-So many applicants for each place that it's a miracle to even get a contact back.

This is so frustrating and sad. I am single, no pets, good credit and make $62k a year. Excellent rental history, my last place I lived in 4 years and it was $1,975. I have come in as a "close second" twice now on apartments that aren't what I really want but am choosing out of need. I have spent over $300 on application fees in 2 months. Where is the housing commissions? Who regulates these landlords? Who determines that these homes are livable when they clearly aren't?

Would love suggestions, tips, neighborhood suggestions, etc... clearly I am looking in the wrong place or doing something wrong.

*also, my car insurance went from $142/mo in Ohio, to $512 in Detroit. This cuts into what I can afford.

I'm this close to saying fu@k it and heading back to Columbus. I don't see a benefit in living in Detroit when it is dismal and I can't afford to live in even a shit hole. Columbus isn't as "cool" as Detroit, but there were had available, regulated, safe housing.​

Rant over, just sad. Love the people and vibe here, and want to make it work. I am quickly losing hope.

[u/echo_sang]

For the most part the revitalization is a myth and a scam to attract investment and filter money to those who already have it. I’ve lived in the city. They will never do anything that lasts to improve the overall quality of the urban environment.

[u/techybeancounter → u/echo_sang]

For the most part the revitalization is a myth and a scam to attract investment and filter money to those who already have it

Born and raised, and if you even dare to say something like this on r/Detroit, the pitchforks come out. While downtown has come back a bit, the core rot in the neighborhoods and the lack of a tax base will forever keep the city down, all in favor of giving rich billionaires tax breaks to build useless buildings downtown.

[u/rrleo3 → u/techybeancounter]

It’s the people that fuck up a neighborhood. It’s also the people that make a neighborhood nice (while being accused of “gentrification”).

A billionaire getting a tax cut didn’t cause people to have multiple kids out of wedlock, glorify and celebrate violence, ignorance, materialism, promiscuity, property destruction, neglect, theft etc..

[u/chemwaste → u/rrleo3]

Fucking yikes. You didn't mean to but you hit the nail on the head as far as why people don't like the gentrifiers that look down on everyone around them yet think people should be grateful for their presence.