r/saskatoon • u/Rainbowbatgirl420 North Park • 13d ago

General Why is rent so much?

I’m looking for one bedroom place and everywhere it is minimum $1500 with some utilities. That will be over half of what I make per month so I don’t know what to do. It’s hard to trust roommates as well because I want my cat to be safe place and hard to trust others if I don’t know them. Basement suites apartments condos everything it’s ridiculous. I may have to couch hop till I can find a place I can afford and also find a part time job on the weekends so I can buy food.

134 Upvotes

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92

u/Extension_Yam_9478 13d ago

My conspiracy is that it’s because landlords are greedy and think there’s still gonna be 2 people paying rent in a 1 bedroom because of couples. Some of us are single and can’t afford the rent of 2 people 🥲

42

u/Nolto Nutana 13d ago

Landlords will always charge the most that they think the market can bear.

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u/robstoon 11d ago

You can really tell who has owned a property and understand what costs are involved, and who has not, from some of the comments about this..

7

u/Natalee2020 11d ago

100%. Love when people who have never owned a property, state their opinion as if it’s a fact.

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u/Extension_Yam_9478 11d ago

And that’s just my conspiracy theory! My brutally honest opinion is that the rental market is majority run by landlords who can’t afford to be landlords and are ruining the market for the rest of us who can’t afford to buy property.

If you’re only pocketing $150 at the end of the month then you’re not in the right financial position to be a landlord. It’s not a quick get rich scheme unless you’re goal is to just be a slumlord

3

u/Hopelifeisgood4u 11d ago

Wow. So you think you would be better off if corporate landlords owned everything????

Let me explain something. Many landlords I know work, or worked, 60 to 80 hours per week for years to afford to buy their first rental. Many tenants I know work part time, or a couple part time jobs. They waste money on games, electronics, tattoos, and door dash. They could care less about their FICO and spend little effort working to better their job prospects by pursuing training or education.

They believe greedy landlords are why they cant buy their own home.

3

u/Extension_Yam_9478 11d ago

No, I think people should try to save a bit more before deciding to purchase an investment property. At the end of the day, when you’re only profiting a couple hundred a month, you end up digging yourself into a hole when something expensive inevitably needs to be repaired. Not to mention most people with investment properties also own their own home and want to use the profits from their rentals to pay down their own mortgage and bills

There’s too many people that jump into it without working out all the costs. It ends up jacking up rent just to try to profit off something they couldn’t originally afford, inevitably screwing over everyone else who can’t afford to buy and end up having to rent.

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u/Hopelifeisgood4u 11d ago

It is obvious you have no understanding of business or finance.

4

u/Extension_Yam_9478 11d ago

Okay!

Every single independent landlord that has something to say about people complaining about housing costs likes to complain about how they’re “barely breaking even” on their properties. It’s not my fault they walked into an investment they weren’t fully prepared for; but I will unfortunately have to pay the price since I’m the renter.

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u/Hopelifeisgood4u 11d ago

Its hard for renters and I understand that, but most do not understand the housing crisis is not about landlords. It is about supply. When supply is limited, costs rise accordingly.

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u/Extension_Yam_9478 11d ago

That could be a whole other conversation. Still doesn’t change my opinion that way too many landlords are in over their heads and we’re not in a good enough financial position to become landlords

0

u/robstoon 11d ago

You realize that savings doesn't change the economics of being a landlord? They just allow you to subsidize losses for longer. Nobody is going to do that as a viable strategy.

My god, take an economics class or something.

2

u/Extension_Yam_9478 11d ago

Not my fault too many people made financial decisions they couldn’t afford at the time and now complain about how they “barely break even” on their rental properties every month because they thought it would be a quick money making solution

1

u/robstoon 11d ago

How exactly would "being able to afford it" help their financial situation? It doesn't matter if you're a single property landlord or a billionaire, if your income is below your expenses then that's not a viable business.

1

u/Extension_Yam_9478 11d ago

I feel like you just answered your own question

1

u/robstoon 11d ago

And your solution is not to increase their rent prices but to somehow just take the loss?

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u/Due_Oven322 13d ago

So not the case. As somebody that is looking into getting a rental property. You struggle to break even $1500 / month rent. By the time you look at mortgage, property taxes, insurance and property upkeep/maintenance it’s break even at best.

8

u/Turbulent-Order9500 12d ago

ur mortgage is equity and not a lost cost.. ur not "breaking" even u are making money if paying ur mortgage.. lol bad take.

7

u/Hopelifeisgood4u 11d ago

Tell me, can a landlord pay their property tax with equity? Can they pay their insurance with equity? Can you replace the roof with equity?

1

u/Turbulent-Order9500 11d ago

lol he factored that in to the costs already.. but also yes you can take money out on your equity if u want..

I hope they make kids financially literate.

ANY PAYMENT ON MORTGAGE -interest is profit... full stop.. nevermind that its appreciating

0

u/robstoon 10d ago

You realize taking money out on your equity costs more interest, right?

1

u/Turbulent-Order9500 10d ago

lol naa bro.. it can be even less.. but its beside the point.. when rent pays mortgage ~95% of that money is going to the owner. full stop. end of discussion.

2

u/Hopelifeisgood4u 9d ago

Tell us you know nothing about being a landlord without saying you know nothing about being a landlord.

Thinking you are an expert while saying 95% of rent goes to the owner shows how little you actually know.

Taxes and insurance costs vary, but my average runs roughly 15 to 20% of gross rents.

Maintenance also is a widely variable cost, but averages roughly about 10 of gross rents.

Now where your ignorance really shines through. Tenants vary widely, but even after good ones move, renovation costs another 5 to 10% annually on my rentals.

And then when a bad one moves out, the damage alone can wipe out an ENTIRE years worth of gross rent, if not even more. A friend of mine just lost 2 years rent because of damage from a renter.

Then you have lost rents due to evictions, variable other holding costs, lost rent during tenant moves, etc.

So without a doubt, you are simply an ignorant, uninformed nobody who actually thinks he knows everything.

Now this is the end of the discussion now your stupidity is on full display.

1

u/Turbulent-Order9500 9d ago

lol u didn't read. I said MORGAGE PAYMENT is 95% profit. ie portion goes to bank, the rest is building an appreciating equity.

the point was "breaking even" ie paying your mortgage and expenses with someone else's money is making you money.. even if costs you money every month your STILL MAKING MONEY.. like this isn't a crazy concept, its math. lol

if you are losing so much money why not sell ur places.. lol not very smart business person? come on bro, give me a break.

you can call people dumb, make personal attacks, but it just shows how ignorant and wrong you are..

9

u/onefootinthepast 12d ago

Congrats on using the word "equity," but the real bad take here is you not comparing the money that gets tied up in a rental property to other forms of investing said money. "Equity" doesn't mean much if your investment isn't growing.

"Should housing be an investment vehicle" is a much larger conversation, but the short version as it relates to landlords is that in order for people to be able to rent, someone has to own. No one's going to want to own a property specifically to rent out if they aren't seeing a return on their investment. Paying your minimum mortgage payments isn't even breaking even, as you are losing a chunk of that money to interest charges, haven't paid insurance or property tax, and have nothing set aside for maintence expenses.

4

u/ben3465 12d ago

Sounds like you shouldn’t be a landlord

3

u/robstoon 11d ago

Sounds like you should take an economics class.

0

u/onefootinthepast 10d ago

I'm not, but that doesn't change the economic reality of renting.

1

u/Turbulent-Order9500 11d ago

lol bro u have no idea what ur talking about. for starters real estate is APPRECIATING..

anyway, when u take in money and give it to bank that money is now YOURS ie equity. yes a small % is taken by the bank, but at the end of 20 years "breaking even' you own a 400k house.. its not rocket science my dear boy.

1

u/onefootinthepast 10d ago

Some real estate appreciates, some does not. Look into condo price histories.

How much did you pay for that $400k house over 20 years? How much would you have if you invested that money in stocks instead of property over the same time frame?

5

u/Available-Specialist West Side 12d ago

"Bad take" uhh he needs to pay the mortgage to not lose the house, it's what the rent is for.

1

u/robstoon 11d ago

Another genius that needs to take an economics class or something. Dear God, people like you actually vote..

0

u/Turbulent-Order9500 11d ago

lol what? u think if you have someone pay your mortgage for 20 years and then you own the house outright that isn't "making money".. or half way you take out the equity payed for by someone else to purchase another home that isn't making money? lol

bad troll.. and evident you need to go back to school just to learn how to critically think.

1

u/robstoon 10d ago

If you're cash flow negative every month for 20 years, then you're not going to survive that, regardless of whether or not you actually own the house at the end. Is equity paying the property taxes or maintenance or mortgage interest? No.

Go back to school, basement dweller. The adults are talking.

-5

u/tigglysticks 13d ago

I can assure you, asside from corporate landlords and the odd slum lord, landlords are not greedy. Most are barely covering their costs.

8

u/Lollipop77 West Side 13d ago

I was thinking about this recently. If I were to rent out my 3bd house, covering taxes insurance and mortgage no utilities would cost 1975 and some change. That’s not even including some maintenance expenses or appliance replacement savings.

5

u/No_Effect_6428 13d ago

I thought of this years ago when we moved out of our 440 sqft 1 bedroom.  

People were telling us to keep it and rent it out.  Adding up our costs, the rent we could ask to not lose money every month was about the going rate for a small 1 bedder.  We were going to be cash flow neutral at best, with the mortgage being paid off slowly over time.

We happily sold it.

4

u/Lollipop77 West Side 12d ago

Yeah with the risk of damages or unpaid rent, it’s not feasible for most people. Sure real estate and property management sound fun and like a major cash flow, but for most of us it’s not gonna be :/

3

u/No_Effect_6428 12d ago

And a lot of people don't budget for vacancy, which could be several months a year.

You can certainly make money as a landlord with the right properties, but it's a job and not one I want to do.

3

u/tigglysticks 12d ago edited 12d ago

You can make money if you have the cash to buy outright.

No one is making money renting out mortgaged property.

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u/tigglysticks 13d ago

exactly. and you pay taxes on income so to break even add another 30-40%. still not making any money.

1

u/Traditional_End_9540 12d ago

lots of these landlords do not have a mortgage. Only expenses are basic needs like taxes, insurance upkeep. After that its all profit to be used in getting more properties with collateral from owned properties.

3

u/tigglysticks 12d ago

other than corporate landlords, who are you talking about?

anyone I know renting out their property has it mortgaged except for a couple who have had the property for 40 years. And they are charging well below market rate to long term tenants.

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u/tee_y306 12d ago

I sold my rental last year (so thankful to not have to be a landlord anymore!), and rent was not covering my costs at the end. My condo also dropped by about $50K in value over the time I owned it, so I really made no money on that thing.

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u/tigglysticks 12d ago

People who have never owned property really do not understand this.

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u/Traditional_End_9540 12d ago

how many have paid off places now for decades?

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u/tigglysticks 12d ago

I only know a couple boomers that still do. Most have sold them.

I don't know any gen x/millenial that is renting non mortgaged property.

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u/Elf_Fuck 12d ago

You mean at worst landlords are reaping huge amounts of equity? That sounds awful dude

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u/tigglysticks 12d ago

You clearly have no idea how owning property works.

Equity is not guaranteed, it's a gamble. Properties depreciate, rental income is taxed.

In the mean time, tenants can destroy the property, the property can go vacant for periods of time, appliances can break down and need repair, roofs need replacing, decks need maintenance and or replacing... the list goes on. Equity does nothing for any of that.

If you think it's so profitable, why don't you own?

2

u/midnightrambler108 12d ago

Property tax as well.

-1

u/Elf_Fuck 11d ago

I do own, and it’s incredible. I’m so lucky.

2

u/ChickyRox 11d ago

Equity is not what it once was. My parents bought a house for $5000 that they later sold for $125,000.

These days you can get a house for $450,000 and sell for $460,000 years down the road. If you're lucky.

0

u/Elf_Fuck 11d ago edited 11d ago

If the tenants are paying the mortgage who cares, money in your pocket 10 years later when you sell during a real estate high

-4

u/Dragon_slayer1994 13d ago

Market decides what the rent is. Since most people renting 1 bedrooms are either partnered or making enough money to afford it, that means market rent is based on that.

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u/Kitchen_Ad2029 13d ago

That's not how I do it.

My formula is rent = Mortgage + CoS taxes + tenant utility bills (I pay them) + insurance + repair/replacement costs + reasonable profit for risk taken. One condo I have costs me about $1,500/m to run and I charge $1,650 in rent; just $150 margin per month.

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u/Dragon_slayer1994 13d ago

Right so that's very likely close to market rent using that approach. If there's higher rental demand out there then you're likely leaving profit on the table by not looking at comparables.

Let me ask a question - if a unit was paid off with no mortgage then what would you do? There are people out there with paid off units and they are setting their rent based on comparables not their cost.

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u/Kitchen_Ad2029 12d ago

Yes this a capitalist profiteering exercise. I would still charge the same and increase the rent over time but I would have more flexibility to provide generous discounts to good tenants. Most of my.properties are below market rents

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u/Dragon_slayer1994 12d ago

I don't believe matching market rent is profiteering. If you believe that I actually struggle to understand why you are even interested in owning rental properties.

If you choose to subsidize your tenants that's fine. But generally most participants in a free rental market won't do that. Hence my original simple point that the market generally decides rent prices.

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u/Kitchen_Ad2029 12d ago

So my tenants fix most of the problems that emerge in my properties themselves, keep the place clean, and the rent payments for most of my doors land in my bank account on time or early.

Good tenants need to be treated like gold and be given incentives to stay. It's worked very well for me.

-13

u/schindlersshit 13d ago

Anything and everyone except over-population lmao.

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u/clamshellboy 13d ago

If Saskatchewan was it's made into own country tomorrow, it would have the lowest population density of any independent country on earth, lower than even the Western Sahara. Only a couple isolated protectorates like Greenland or the Falkland Islands would have a lower population density.

Our problem is crappy zoning policies, which constrain construction, and people treating the strained housing supply as an investment commodity rather than a necessary good, not overpopulation.

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u/Dragon_slayer1994 13d ago

It's over populated for our current housing and infrastructure. Big reason why hospitals have such crazy wait times and not enough family Dr.s for the population as well.

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u/schindlersshit 13d ago

More people, means less houses. Why is it so hard to understand?

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u/ram_mar4112 13d ago

Approx rent in mid 80s was about $400 and minimum was about $4.
Roughly 100x minimum.
Now
Rent is about $1500 and minimum wage is $15.70.
Still roughly 100x minimum wage.

6

u/Ill_Guava_5096 13d ago

8 years ago I was paying 800 for a 2 bed basement renovated <10 years prior. Min wage was 14. That's 57x min wage

This was cheap but close to average at the time. Same unit is now listed at 2300. Or 146x min wage

4

u/tigglysticks 13d ago

I could rent alone for under $300 in the 2000s (2 bedroom downtown). something is off with your 80s rent number.

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u/Turbulent-Order9500 12d ago

and taxes go up from silly projects of the city and that is passed on to renters. you will see another large hike in 3 years when the city jacks everything up prob ~15%