I know. Have heard all crap before. I do not give a tinkers damn about fair market value. What happened to rent not being more than 30 percent of income ?
And, Hedi, just how many years ago was that? Remember, we are now in 2022. I do feel for you, but we've had to go thru these yearly rent raises numerous times. I don't like it and my wife really doesn't like it, but nothing can be done about it, except to pay or move. And, even if a person decides to move, the yearly rent raise will still be there.
There is something to be said for living in lower cost of living areas. Texas used to consistently have lower real estate prices but things have changed.
Yes, it is a big jump. Where we lived for 10 1/2 years, in northeastern Florida, the norm was 75 to 100 a month. And, my wife went a little nutty over that, but we paid it and stayed. There are some lower costing apartments around here, but none of them look nearly as good (on the outside) as ours does. And, the 55+ apartments cost even more than we are paying per month. But, from what I know, most Seniors that have a nice Pension/SS can afford to pay the higher cost for 55+. We can't do that. We want to live in a safe place and generally the word "safe" comes at a higher cost.
When I lived in Texas, I was paying $300 a month for a 3-bedroom house and, in Maine, I paid $14,500 total for the house I've been in since. A quick look online tells me that rentals here range from $275 to $1,300 per month. I don't know how accurate that is though, since I doubt most of the rentals here are advertised online. For a town of a couple of thousand people, we have quite a few apartments, most of them along one street, but they're mostly rented by people who grew up here and want to retire here, but without the bother of maintaining a home. On some of them, the rental costs are based on income, I think.
Here there are co-op apartments that are owned by the "renters". They are mostly "Senior" apartments, some with common dining areas and workshops/craft areas. I don't know much more about them except when they advertise for new "members" to fill vacancies. I would think the target for housing prices would be small towns outside a commute radius of a larger city. More people commute virtually now than ever before, but small towns in semi-remote areas would probably offer the best prices. They wouldn't be suitable for those with severe chronic health problems, however.
Well, for reasons wife and I have discussed with each other, a move to anywhere around Las Vegas is out. Was thinking about Bullhead City, but they have a pretty big homeless problem. Much more than we even have here. So, now it's research into northern Arizona, somewhere around Scottsdale, which has a nice/big rodeo each year. However, not anywhere in Phoenix. We know it gets hot, but for us now, "hot" is much better than freezing cold winters. Many seniors either live full-time in Nevada or Arizona or "Snowbird" there.