I came very close to having to leave back in February. My renewal was due and I had still hadn't found employment. My roommate also wanted to move on so I reluctantly had to decline to renew. It was very painful to watch other people look at my apartment. However, a few days later I was offered a job and with no one having taken the apartment I was able to renew. My roommate also renewed with the understanding that we would find a replacement for him at the end of the lease.
My roommate has since found a one bedroom apartment in Providence, Rhode Island which he moved into last month. Unlike Boston, it is possible to rent a one bedroom apartment in Providence for under $1000 a month. A year ago, I had a job interview with a law firm in downtown Providence. Had I got that job I might very well have made my down there too.
But I found gainful employment here in Boston. And truth be told I don't want to leave the apartment I've been for the past decade. I'm in a relatively quiet neighborhood. It's pedestrian friendly, near public transportation and there is a community center with a swimming pool. What more could I want?
Well, a new roommate for starters.
Of course, this is difficult proposition. When I moved in here with Christopher in September 2008, we had already known each other for more than 6 years. Now I face the prospect of a complete stranger. It could be great. I could also end up with a roommate with both a financial and philosophical aversion to paying rent. I had one such roommate and it cost me a fortune.
Yet it has proven difficult to even have people look at the apartment. In the past month, I've had five people look at the place. All from very divergent backgrounds and all very nice, but they wanted to look at other places. This is a nice way of saying they aren't interested in moving in with you.
I was actually scheduled to show the apartment to a couple this morning, but they didn't show up. They didn't tell me they were behind schedule or contacted me to reschedule. Not so much as an apology. I wonder if they had any intention of seeing the place. I cannot help but think this was a scam for my address and phone number.
Indeed, most of the responses I've had to my ads have been scams. I can't tell you how many text messages I've had asking him to get in touch with their daughter by email, telling me to click this link (malware anyone?) or offering to send a cashier's check to pay for the rent sight unseen.
After all, rent is no easy proposition in Boston. A decade ago, I was paying just under $1000 a month for a basement studio apartment in the Fenway. Then I got notice from my landlord that they were going to renovate the space and that I would have to leave. (As it turned out, someone else moved into the apartment. I guess the landlord just wanted to get rid of me for some reason unknown to me.)
In any case, Christopher was in a similar situation. So we joined forces and found this place. When we moved in, this two bedroom apartment cost $1150. This cut my rent almost in half. Come September 1st, the rent goes up to $1875. All things considered, this is a cheap rent for a two bedroom apartment in Boston. There are some studio apartments in this city which are more expensive. All things considered, I'm lucky. Had I tried to move into this apartment today, I am easily looking at a rent well over $2,000.
Not surprisingly rent control is making a comeback of sorts. But it is decades late and many dollars short. Besides even if Massachusetts were to reinstate rent control (which was abolished in a 1994 state ballot initiative) it would set the controls at already high prices. What is needed are rent reductions. But landlords are here to make money and that ain't gonna happen.
As it stands now, I have exactly four weeks to find a new roommate.
If you live in Boston, I have a room to spare.
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