@105 - generally concure, although I think the main concept is not just tie together. More so it's bend not break construction. That's why wood frame construction holds up so well in a quake.


@58 - your browser is your friend. Cheap finishes don't equate to less safety. There are things you can legally skimp on and things you can't.

We've owned a small rental house and a rental duplex for over 25 years, and we've been so lucky to have (mostly) great tenants.



A couple of "things":



Since WA state has no income tax, whenever there are levies and bonds to be passed--for necessary things like education, parks, transportation to name a few--the costs of these are rolled into property taxes. Our taxes and insurance costs have skyrocketed but we can't really pass all those costs onto our tenants, so we're not even covering costs.



Seattle has really tough laws that protect tenants.



If landlords are fair, responsible & reasonable and their tenants are too, there is little turnover in those properties.



Some landlords are greedy and some don't maintain their properties. Some tenants wreck properties at huge cost to landlords. It's a trust thing.

I'm glad you found somewhere to live, but I hate this article. Yeah, finding a livable and affordable place in this city is really difficult. Everyone already knows this.

You sound middle class, employed, childless, and married to someone able-bodied and working. So there's not exactly suspense over whether you were going to find a lovely, affordable place of your own to live. It's just you complaining that you had to work for it a little, and also smearing landlords for not giving you, a total stranger, preference over 20 other people that got there before you, in an incredibly tight market. And you're NEW hear, so you're obviously part of the problem, no less so than all those new people with BMWs. God, just get over yourself already.

Welcome to New York City, just w/o the infrastructure or mass transit, and free ferry. My advice........move to NYC.

There are so many inaccurate blanket statements about rent control, it's more of a way to blame it, rather than other factors, including greed. There is not one negative assertion I have not heard over many years that is not either an outright myth, or is not universally applicable. Rent Control in LA works for both tenants and landlords. It would also work in Seattle if there was not a State Law that prohibits it. Thank former mayor Charlie Royer for lobbying the legislature for that.



Rent Stablization allows for increases based upon local inflation/CPI. It does not lower rents. When a tenant moves out, the rent can be reset to market rate. And it's applied only to buildings constructed after a defined date. That covers existing affordable units very well. New construction after the established date is exempt. Enforcement is strict, landlords are not allowed to let their buildings fall apart or harrass tenants to move out in order to increase the rent.



No where does it say that a property owner is guaranteed a profit on a rental. But developers can set it up that way at the expense of renters and buyers too. The difference is, in Seattle it's still the Wild West of Development, and they have been getting away with it for so long, the damage is permanent. Until the next big earthquake, and it litterally levels the playing field...

I have rented here for 24 years and was forced to move 3 times in 4 years during the last bubble due to outrageous rent increases (50 percent or more), and condo conversions. Before that, I lived in places in Ballard for 10 and 7 years respectively. They were all family-owned and managed, until they sold out at over inflated prices. Right of first refusal in a condo conversion means nothing in those cases when there are only superficial improvements and the price is not even close to reasonable. Besides, these were was still built as an apartments. Location, location, location.

I finally landed on my feet just at the right time 4 years ago, and found one of the few remaining family owned duplexes in a decent neighborhood (and not the South End). They seem in no hurry to sell, but things certainly are closing in again in the neighborhood.

Another bubble. And this time, it is going to be devastating for this city. Seattle is not as resilient as some want to believe. In fact, they never were. The level of hubris is high, again, and is reflected by some posters here. It is not sustainable.

It is not simply a matter of supply and demand, it is manipulation and lack of intelligent planning and zoning. Generally, Rents have NEVER gone down in the 24 years I have lived here. At best, they plateau. Why? because sitting on an overpriced vacant unit is a tax deduction primarily, and for other reasons to complex to mention here. Those large numbers of new apartments in Ballard that are vacant are not lowering rents. They may offer a month free, or 6 months of parking, but not a lower rent. That's how Seattle and increasingly foreign and out of state "investors" roll.

What #102 leaves out, is that developers are not paying nearly as much here as in other places for the privilege, and those payments they do make are often a lot lower too. That's why they have been concentrating on Seattle for the past 10 years especially. No impact fees. No rent stabilization ordinances.

And the Shoddy construction is very evident in the quads that will not manifest itself fully for about 10 years when they start to become ghettos. Confidence in an unlimited number of high-paying jobs, unplanned growth and density, and people who can pay those rates.

Newsflash: No one is guaranteed a profit, and it is not the job of government to ensure a profit. But that is what has been happening. And that's how it rolls, until people wake up and start demanding something that is actually worth the money and impact fees that can be applied to affordable housing and infrastructure FIRST.
Time to cut through the BS on taxes and fees too. The rate at which rents have risen and continue to rise are far, far above the tax increases and inflation. Development is relatively cheap here. If the profit was not enough, we would not see high end development almost exclusively here.

@102 "Average rents have increased very little over decades when adjusted for inflation"

What universe do you live in?!?! When I moved to Seattle in 2004 from the suburbs, I paid $650 for a 500sq ft 1 bedroom apartment in Cap Hill. That exact same apartment today rents for $1600. That is almost $1,000 more than what I was paying for it in 2004. I was finally forced out of it in 2009 when the rent jumped up to $1050. My salary certainly has not risen anywhere near enough to be able to afford to come up with an extra $1,000 a month to live in the same place I did 10 years ago. This is an issue many of us renters are facing. Every year, we dread knowing that our lease is ending because we know we are going to find a notice tacked to our doors stating that the new lease will be an additional $200+ a month if we plan to stay. We know we will be forced to go look at apartments and get excited that we found one that is semi-affordable only to show up and see 30+ other potential renters milling about and filling out rental applications. I blame in part HGTV. Now thanks to these nonsense flipping shows, every hipster and douche bag out there feels entitled to granite counter tops, a kitchen with a back splash and other nonsense that just adds to the price of rental units but doesn't add any actual efficiency or usable value to what we pay for. Landlords are flipping older affordable housing units in order to bring in tech dollars and outside money that will pay more. As such, the affordable housing units are disappearing left and right and there is nothing to replace them. Most of us that are true middle class are being priced out of Seattle.

An average studio rental in Capitol Hill for instance goes for about $1100 if not more. I barely make $48k. After all the taxes, benefits, 401k and everything else come out, my check barely scratches $1100 bi-weekly. Now out of that, take out for a student loan, groceries, transportation costs, insurance and everything else, and just about paycheck to paycheck. Coming up with another $200+ every 12 months just isn't happening. Being forced to move every 12 months is also super costly. Moving costs, first/last months rent, deposit (that very few ever get back) and all the other costs wipe out what little savings I have every 12 months. It is tiring and many of us are sick of losing our homes and not being able to feel secure where we live because we know we will be losing our homes. It's just a matter of when.

I look forward to the next dot com crash and the demise of these start up tech companies that are bringing in outside labor and forcing rents to ridiculous amounts by paying "programmers" six figures to sit on their ass all day. Of course it is not just programmers flooding the market and driving up prices but it has sure as hell been one of the main factors that are causing property companies and managers to jack up the rents. I'm not one to be negative but I hope all of you living in la la land that make good money and judge the rest of us get a wake up call one day in the form of a pink slip.

@113 - personal attacks are born out of ignorance or deception. What's your agenda? I clearly stated average without giving hard numbers because it was off the top of my head. If I'm off it's immaterial and I invited anyone who honestly cares to educate themselves.





Your personal situation, if true, is unfortunate. However, a one sample rebuttal is no rebuttal at all to my statement. I believe Seattle has around a 5% vacancy rate now or 6% including lease up, so based off of that and personal knowledge your claim and others of 30+ competition for apartments are either statistical outliers or gross exaggerations.





As stated already, I have sympathy for the average renter. The gap here is in real wage growth. Raising min wage, taxing landlords, or rent control might be popular ideas, but they are vote grabs that, if anything, exacerbate the problem.





Wishing misfortune on the tech sector or others is ridiculous. Those new jobs create more jobs for everyone, including the lowest skilled workers. I guarantee you that if thete is enough of downturn in the economy here the political scale will swing right rather than the current far left direction. Food for thought.

At risk of sounding like a total jerk here, what about actually buying a place?
I managed it, I am single, just one modest office-admin sized income, and I decided on that path. It wasn't that difficult! Really!! You might be surprised, seriously.
There are still a few affordable condos around.
Granted, I am not in the middle of the city like I used to be, but I have 640 square feet in Greenwood on the edge of the park, for less than I was paying for rent in Eastlake!

And a 30 year fixed rate means your payment never goes up!

Chandira, your gross property taxes owed can and will go up, as will other residual costs. Also, you are on the hook for many expenses a landlord would typically cover, as well as HOA dues (which also tend to increase as residence age and maintenance issues pile up). Your costs don't disappear once the mortgage is paid off.

Any time you prevent a group of small business owners from facing meaningful competition by severely restricting market entry, you should probably expect a good number of them are going to act like eccentric assholes. Why not? The artificial, NIMBY/Gov't created shortage means they can jerk you around as much as they like without fear of ever losing a dime for it.