I ask that question because Steve and I are retired professionals, moderate income, not low, not poverty and certainly not wealthy. We are very responsible, we take care of property as if it is our own, sometimes better than a landlord takes care of it. Steve does plumbing, heating and electrical work so often we spend our own money to fix something, we always ask first, out of our own pocket. For instance, where we live now, we asked the landlord if we could have a screened in front porch. He said yes, he bought the materials and we put it up. This nice porch will bring up the value of the place, as the landlord even stated after he saw it up. Now the once wide open front porch, is a nice living space in spring through fall. We even cleaned out the nasty looking flower beds, also something the landlord noticed and was pleased with. We place very pretty flowers in the beds each spring, making the yard area very attractive. So being very responsible and having great references, we decided: How difficult can it be to find a nice place? Ha Ha!
I guess I don't get exorbitant prices for places with no garages, some looking dumpy, and of course nearly every one of them say: No pets. We have a cat. A cat is small with a litter box. Not the least bit destructive in any way. But anyway, go figure landlords. I looked at one on Craigslist (I have to see pictures, please) and it also said, no pets. This one is in the Ithaca area, more or less, I mean within a 50 mile radius it seems is the 'Ithaca area' to landlords. This place with 'no pets' had pictures of curtains that looked like bed sheets to me, two cages in the living room and a dog perched on the back of the sofa. Geesh! No pets? Then quit showing a pet in the picture.
Most landlords in the Ithaca area think they need to gouge college students. What college city doesn't anymore? College students are notoriously poor and so charging huge prices makes no sense to me at all. I saw one ad for an 8 bedroom house, charging each student $875 a month for each room. Nice work if you can get it, I always say.
So Ithaca is like the rest of the Finger Lakes area. If you are in a 50 mile radius of Ithaca, it's 'the Ithaca area.' Penn Yan, Geneva, Canandaigua and beyond, if you can drive to a lake, it's lake property. LOL I guess landlords aren't much for geography either.
Even the God forsaken Southern Tier now tries to ask exorbitant prices. Now we are talking the Olean, Wellsville area, which to me, is Boondocks, end of the world, middle of nowhere. Those places advertise: Need references and credit checks. OK So if they had not rented to all the meth cookers and users in the past, maybe a credit and background check might not be necessary. So now, everyone is a potential druggie? Apparently so. Credit check to rent? I hand out my Social Security number and birth date to no one unless I'm buying something. When did renting turn into buying anything? Geesh, yet again!
Even in the Prattsburgh, Italy Hill area, they think they have a gold mine. I lived in that area, once and believe me, it is nothing to write home about. Desolate, wooded areas, huge areas in fact of desolation and a war zone in hunting season.
Elmira, well this one is absolutely funny. One ad there said: "Bring a police report when looking at the property." Again, if they had not rented to every drug lord, meth user, crackhead, and bank robber in the past, maybe a police report might not be needed.
Do people realize all these areas, or most anyway, of NY State is considered the Rust Belt? This mean there are no jobs, most small towns in NY are dying at a rapid pace, NY is bleeding population and these areas have seen their hey day? Guess not!
So all landlords have gold mines, I guess, by the looks of things. But we keep looking and maybe, just maybe, somewhere, someplace there will be a 30 something or 40 something, or older, landlord who is reasonable, allows a cat, knows we do not intend to buy the place (well we will consider a rent to own if possible) and would like a retired, professional couple who are very responsible. Every landlord we have ever had was sad when we did not renew a lease, for whatever reason, because they come into their rental unit and see nothing but clean, neat and very nice.
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Not gonna pay $1200 to $3,000 a month for a shack!
Affordable, cute homes are now only in a child's imagination. How very sad America has become!
