I think immediately it was just
a feeling of panic because
the money just doesn't exist.
In the pandemic Gabby Reese and
her boyfriend moved to their dream
city from small town, Pennsylvania.
Get engaged life in Denver is hashtag
goals until the realities of living in
this instagrammable metropolis sets in.
Then out of the blue,
he kind of hit us with OK,
it's going to be 2500 and he was a
real estate agent and he was like.
And if you don't want to pay $900
more a month then you're going
to have to buy a property.
For me, Gabby's rent went
from 1600 bucks a month
in Thornton to 25. 100 a 56% increase.
Take it or leave it.
We just felt like really at a loss like
there was nothing that we could do.
It happens in such a short amount of time.
It really does like the pressure
is applied and then it's like you
have to act fast and.
It's really overwhelming.
Gabby was forced to move further north.
Her story is a dime a dozen,
but if there are people who are
willing to spend the 900 bucks
more than that won't correct.
Realtor, Kelly Moyer says.
Skyrocketing rent is a matter
of inventory and demand.
Denver and the Front Range is
stuck in a lack of inventory issue.
You just have so many, especially young
people who want to move here that we
just don't have enough apartments and
townhomes and rentals to cover them
all. Renters are really vulnerable right now.
Jennifer Fox and Caleb Dickinson own Fox
Property Management in Lewisville, one of
the largest housing providers in the state.
Our occupancy rate is at 96% so
we don't have vacant properties.
You know when we put something
out there, it gets rented.
A quick sweep of Zillow
will make your head spin.
Rent.com says the average price
for a studio in the Lehigh
neighborhood averages $2163 a month.
It's 2598 in Cherry Creek.
$3083 in the Lodo neighborhood.
A studio even neighborhoods deemed
more affordable in the past,
have hit all time highs.
The vacancy rate in Denver is just over 4%.
People are looking at these inflated
prices that are put out on the
market and they are in good sense.
Anybody would look at it and say Oh well,
my place must be also worth that.
And so it is just naturally
inflating the rental market. Caleb
says rent generally increases
about 3 to 5% each year. In 2022,
they've seen it go up 2030 forty
or like in Gabby's case over 50%.
But just people who are living in
their homes paying their rent,
taking care of their space are going
to be evicted by rent increases
because landlords know they can
get higher rent and there isn't
a support structure for a renter
who just got their rent raised.
If you're priced out and you manage to
find something you can afford, good luck
being the chosen one to sign a lease.
It's incredibly competitive,
it's just like it is.
If you're buying a home so most
renters are completing with, you,
know up to 50 to 60 other applicants.
Kelly Moy recently had 64
applicants in less than 48 hours
for this Westminster townhouse.
The applicants were so overqualified
for this place and the the amount of
interest was really unbelievable.
Kelly rented. The townhouse
to someone who paid rent for
nearly a month before moving in,
and it's one of those sort
of rich getting richer.
Poor getting poorer. You know,
we we're having inflation all over the
place and So what an owner says is well,
my costs are going up.
I'm going to increase my rent,
but that puts 100% of this
inflation cost on the tenant,
who is not necessarily in the best
position to take on all of that inflation.
Fair no reality.
Oh yeah, I think likely we've set a
new bar and I think it's going to
be hard to come down from that bar,
but I'm not sure that it will
necessarily keep going up,
but I think a correction
may not be likely.
While the rental landscape is daunting,
our experts do have a bit of advice.
They say lock into your lease
term if that's an option for you.
Think about areas of compromise.
Do you really need that
garage or the walk-in closet?
Get a roommate, Realtors,
or even seeing families joining
forces to afford homes that fit
the lifestyle they want to live.
And they also say this sounds small,
but be specific with that application.
Make them personal, brag about
paying rent on time and cleanliness.
Whatever you can do to put
yourself ahead of the fray,
because again, 5060 people.
Just trying to rent a one or two
bedroom apartment townhome that
is the reality of the situation
right now. Yeah and you think about
the years when rent was going up 3 to
5% and a lot of people were hopeful
that they could get that kind of
raise at their job to just kind of
stay even with things people are
not getting 2030% raises at jobs.
I mean that's just killer
and like Caleb said there
is no federal protection.
There's no structure in place if
this happens to you like Gabby,
who we interviewed luckily was able to
move the north and and find something.
But there's so many people who are left
kind of stranded in not knowing what to do.
And now we're seeing people even.
Move out of Denver in the
Front Range altogether.
Yeah, priced out. As you said. Riced out.