I have a good job and family help — yet finding an apartment in Sacramento is a nightmare
Sacramento’s housing crisis is really hitting home. As an able-bodied white woman with a steady job earning more than minimum wage and family to fall back on, I am inordinately privileged. Yet I am still only one missed paycheck away from trouble.
When I returned to my hometown in September, I didn’t imagine that seeking housing for myself and my dog would be such an ordeal. But it is, daily.
Did you know rental applications cost money? Anywhere from $25 to $50, typically. I’ve paid for at least six in the past four weeks.
Some places will take only online applications, while others will take only printed, hand-delivered ones. Make sure you also bring your two most recent paycheck stubs and letters of recommendation from your last two landlords, in addition to your application and fee. They may also charge you for a background check — that’s another $40 — or to take a tour.
No pets in one; only small pets under 20 pounds in another. There are also breed restrictions to consider, even if it’s a documented support animal. And you could get charged more monthly for the privilege of having that pet.
And how’s your credit? If it’s not at least 650 with no major debts — such as student loans or medical bills — don’t bother applying at all. With each application comes a hard credit check, so make sure it’s high enough to withstand multiple dings.
And all of this work only pays off if you’re lucky enough to have your offer accepted, which is worse than a coin toss when applications start piling up within minutes of the listing going public. One acquaintance suggested I should set an alarm for listings that meet my needs, reply within 30 minutes of publication and offer at least $100 a month above asking. But stay vigilant with your personal information because you’re sure to bump into some online scammers.
Inflation is at a 31-year high, and economists expect it will remain elevated for another year. Meanwhile, housing across the nation is at a 40-year low. The cost of living in Sacramento is 17% higher than the national average, according to Payscale, with housing a whopping 37% higher. Sacramento residents need to make about $27 an hour to afford the average rent, about $1,400.
Renting is my only option as home prices climb higher and higher. I grew up in Sacramento, in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home my parents bought for around $75,000 in 1984. Today, that home is valued at around $325,000. Perhaps most infuriatingly, the mortgage on that home is less than I had to budget for rent in Sacramento in 2021.
Unsurprisingly, it’s much harder if you’re a person of color, with Black households spending more than 50% of their income on housing and Latino households 37%. And even with California’s minimum wage heading toward $15 an hour, a couple or a pair of roommates each making minimum wage (which is currently $14 an hour) would barely qualify to rent a place at $1,400 a month.
“We are in a housing crisis,” said Crystal Sanchez, president of the Sacramento Homeless Union and western regional director for the National Union of the Homeless. “With rental costs upward of $1,725-plus a month and an economic change during the pandemic, we are seeing people falling into eviction and homelessness.”
Sanchez said many find it “nearly impossible to find rental housing” in Sacramento right now.
“Most people do not make three times the (average rent) these days,” she said. “People on fixed incomes such as Social Security do not qualify. People who experience homelessness also do not qualify, even once they gain income, due to the fact that they were previously homeless. There needs to be an upheaval of the entire housing situation.”
A 2015 report by the Legislative Analyst’s Office suggests California should have been building 70,000-110,000 additional housing units every year between 1980 to 2010, with a shortfall of nearly 3.5 million units over the last three decades. A state census counted more than 161,000 people experiencing homelessness in January 2020, a number that has likely increased since the onset of the pandemic. Even affordable housing in California isn’t particularly affordable.
Sacramento landlords and property managers blame the low rental vacancy, the pandemic, an influx of tenants from the Bay Area and local elected officials for not working with housing developers to build more.
“To address our long-term affordable-housing challenge, we need a diverse range of housing options, from apartments to accessory dwelling units to single-family homes,” said Mallori Farrell of the California Apartment Association. “To get there, our local elected leaders must work closely with housing builders to develop policies, such as lowering fees on development, that will help the region meet its future housing needs.”
What a cop-out. Landlords and rental agencies share just as much of the burden to help fix this problem as every other player in the game. We all share a responsibility to provide housing for our community, as renters remain human beings with a need for shelter regardless of their credit score.
Raising rents as high as possible, while only accepting tenants that meet ephemeral, oft-changing criteria is classist and often also racist. Shifting responsibility onto Bay Area expats and elected officials is a convenient excuse to skip over the dubious morality of being a modern landlord.
Since I moved back home, my world has been packed into boxes and stored in second, third and fourth locations. It’s hard to describe how unsettling it is not to have a place of your own and be surrounded by your own belongings, your own bed, books and clothes. The day I finally unpack my last box, I will cry from relief. But that day feels farther and farther away the longer I look for housing in Sacramento.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 11:00 AM.
