Wages lag as rent prices skyrocket

Wages are not keeping up with the surge in rents in South Florida, forcing many tenants to make sacrifices and difficult choices between basic necessities and paying their landlords.

While rents in the region have increased on average 22% more than last year, revenues have only increased between 8% and 10%, according to ATTOM Data, a real estate data provider at scale. national.

“This is not sustainable because tenants who pay more than 50% of their income on housing costs have very little quality of life,” said Dr Ned Murray, associate director of the Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center of Florida International University.

This is forcing South Florida renters to make tough decisions, from getting rid of a car to digging up cash on rainy days to making ends meet. Worse still, some find themselves put on the street.

Here are some of the sacrifices Southern Floridians had to make:

A choice between his car and his apartment

Coleen Salzer, a crime scene investigator living in West Palm Beach, had to sell her car earlier this year in order to pay rent on a house she had been renting with a roommate for three years.

“When I had to take care of car payments, auto insurance and lease payments, I couldn’t do it,” said Salzer, 50. She uses a take-out car provided by her employer to get to and from work.

Although they got fair increases at his job, they did not keep up with rising rents in the area. She said it made it almost impossible to afford a place to live on your own. Most apartment complexes charge high prices for smaller apartments with few basic amenities, she said.

“It’s getting frustrating,” said Salzer, who has lived in South Florida for eight years. “I have never seen rents so high.

Change their lifestyles

Scott and Lorie Trotter moved with their two daughters, aged 20 and 17, from Atlanta to South Florida in July. The shock of the rent sticker hit them immediately.

The Trotters pay around $ 4,500 a month for a four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath house in West Boca Raton, a neighborhood they chose because of the school zone for their youngest daughter. They were competing for rental housing against people who offered a full year of prepaid rent and only got a lease for their house by offering $ 500 more than the asking rent.

They pay almost double the amount they expected to get if they rented their home in Atlanta.

“You have to change your lifestyle because of it,” Scott Trotter said. Her family has had to cut spending in other areas, including eating out less often and postponing vacations.

Forced to take public transport

Donald O’Connor is a teacher in Broward County. He rents a small studio in Pompano Beach that lacks basic amenities, including a stove.

This has not been easy. Most of O’Connor’s meals are cooked in the microwave, and he tucks his clothes in plastic bins as his studio has no storage space.

Some weeks he can’t afford to put gas in his car, so he takes a bus to work. He will skip meals when the going is tough, especially to afford prescription medication for his seizure. He’s doing his best not to dip into his retirement account.

O’Connor said he tried to move, but his salary as a teacher didn’t give him many options to find affordable rent in the booming market.

“To have everything they want – first, last and safety – you have to have almost $ 6,000” up front, he said, which is difficult for his teacher’s salary. .

Under pressure and time is running out

Natalie Delgado has two weeks to leave the Hallandale Beach home where she lives with her family.

Delgado is the general manager of a gym in Pompano Beach and makes money as a fitness instructor. She has a budget of $ 1,500 or less per month for rent, but has not been able to find an apartment. Most are taken when she goes to complete an application.

“It’s a lot of pressure when you only have a certain amount of time to find a spot and you can’t,” said Delgado.

With rents so high, she also looked for a house to buy. But the housing market is not doing much better and Delgado continues to outbid. While she spends her free time researching new listings, she’s cut back on the things she loves to do – hang out with friends or see a movie.

“Salespeople need to think long term,” Delgado said. “They are pushing back their middle class neighbors with these rising house prices and rents. “

Weigh a second job

Heather Barfield, a teacher in Palm Beach County, is already planning next year. She sees what’s going on in the rental market and worries about having limited options if her landlord increases her rent.

Barfield, the single mother of a young girl, dodged a big rent hike this year, but may not be so lucky again. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay here because if they take me up there is nowhere to go,” she said.

Already, she has cut back on trips to see her family out of state. But that may not be enough, so Barfield is considering taking a second job to start saving money.

“Putting a roof over my daughter’s head is the number one priority,” she said.

A living wage, but few options

Shari Hattis said her salary as a supply chain consultant should ensure her a comfortable life. Yet she still struggles to find a decent apartment near her work in Boca Raton.

Anything she finds is either too expensive or not worth the rent, she said.

So for now, Hattis lives with the parents of a friend of his.

Hattis said she worries that the apartments available are at the top of her budget, which gives her little flexibility in an emergency in her life. Other apartments do not feel safe for her.

“I shouldn’t have to choose between paying for my car or paying rent,” Hattis said.

Florida tenants forced to make sacrifices