• Concave1142@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    185
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    18 days ago

    Just had to do this a few weeks ago. They have you taken a pic of your driver’s license, provide your SSN & run a credit check on the spot. Then they charge you to tour the place.

    A very “fuck you, I’m getting paid regardless” mentality from rental companies.

  • SonOfAntenora@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    87
    ·
    18 days ago

    If they nickel and dime simple visitors like that, I can only imagine what they do to the people who actually rent the place.

  • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    81
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    18 days ago

    Rents are too high for a single income to cover anymore, so I’ve been looking for roommates. Even the websites about finding roommates expect you to pay.

    To be clear, they have a free tier - but unless you pay, you can’t read the messages you receive. You can read the first line, but the rest is locked. I gave up with one place because the boomer trying to rent a room refused to send me an email. I told him three times to please just email me his message because I couldn’t read it on the site, but because he could read messages fine, he thought it was a setting he had to change. He kept responding with “Okay try now” and didn’t seem to understand that he can’t “settings” other people out from behind a paywall.

    All he had to do was copy/paste his message and send it a different way, but he wouldn’t do it. I eventually gave up because the thought of living with someone that’s unable to follow such simple directions sounds like more trouble than it’s worth.

    Anyway, point is, even if you’re so poor that you need to seek out roommates, you’re still expected to pay a subscription. I don’t even know what to do anymore.

    • Squizzy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      21
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      18 days ago

      If you were replying with an email address odds are he was not getting it due to the site actively trying to keep people on their site.

      • lunarul@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        edit-2
        18 days ago

        Absolutely. A site charging to read messages will most definitely censor out emails and phone numbers and will have it in their ToS that you’re not allowed to take conversations outside the platform.

      • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        18 days ago

        Probably. Not much I can do. I’m not paying for a subscription. If anyone has any advice for finding roommates otherwise, I would very much appreciate it!

        • SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          edit-2
          18 days ago

          Why did people stop using craigslist to advertise rentals?

          It is just the old bulletin board / classified newspaper niche, usually there’s more than one venue in urban areas. In a lot of Canada people also use kijiji etc. I am not including fb marketplace in that, though if you can access Meta websites, too many people still use that.

          • JuxtaposedJaguar@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            8
            ·
            18 days ago

            Craigslist probably doesn’t have enough empty space and rounded corners for most people. I’m not joking.

          • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            edit-2
            18 days ago

            Scammers go to fb marketplace over Craigslist because meta is slow to react if at all, while Craigslist is known to easily and freely offer information to law enforcement.

                • SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  3
                  ·
                  18 days ago

                  That is a possibility with nearly any classified listing and always has been.

                  Situational awareness and good street sense are necessary. Bring a friend or be as public as you can, etc.

                  Most online scams, including phishing and tech support scams, are variations on ancient techniques.

          • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            18 days ago

            Thank you so much! Craigslist is something I had completely forgotten about. I dropped off Facebook years ago and unfortunately don’t live in Canada, but Craigslist is a great suggestion and I’m perusing it now. You may have just saved me from living in my car (again.)

            Seriously, thank you!

    • Mars@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      18 days ago

      What is this app actually called? I can’t id it from screenshot, and every comment here seems to be talking about it without actually naming it.

      • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        18 days ago

        Oh, I’m talking about roommate-seeking websites I’ve personally attempted to use, which were whatever non-sketchy-looking options came up on DuckDuckGo. I have no idea what OP’s post is from.

  • mrductape@eviltoast.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    65
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    18 days ago

    Just people making passive income guys, nothing to see here.

    We once heard of a service that would help us find a rental house. So we went there, had to pay for an appointment. Turns out they do nothing you cannot do yourself, and you pay a lot. They literally just put you in the system, which you can do yourself, and when you get a house through that system, which is free and from the government, they make you pay through the nose for that house.

    Of course, since I am native in this country I have no need for a service like that. Turns out they mostly do this to people who don’t speak the language. I guess they offer a service, but their fees are excessive for what they do. They abuse the fact those people don’t know any better.

    There’s lots of people making a profit from somebody else’s house finding misery and I hate it.

    • acchariya@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      18 days ago

      Sounds like France. There’s a whole industry of people charging a months rent or more just to make a few phone calls and assemble some basic documents. Not easy to rent a place by any means, but these providers do not offer a good value because they are not actually real estate agents.

    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      18 days ago

      my parent went through that service, except they were trying rent out the other house, they are rich by any means. but it was the same process the agents basically did nothing, just put your house in thier database thats it.

    • StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      17 days ago

      This reminds me of the Italian websites that resell tickets for exhibits that can be purchased much cheaper directly from the exhibit’s actual website. The exhibit sites tend to be in Italian only or are more difficult to find.

  • Deceptichum@quokk.au
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    55
    ·
    18 days ago

    Hah what are you going to do, buy a house instead? We’re all fucked once this is the norm.

    • Apocalypteroid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      26
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      18 days ago

      I don’t know if this applies in the US but multiple people can take out a mortgage against the same property. If you have 3/4 trustworthy friends then you can pool your money to buy a place. It’s complicated but better to invest your money in your own property than to line the pockets of cunt landlords and letting agents.

      • aesthelete@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        26
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        18 days ago

        That would require people to have three to four close friends that could tolerate their presence. That’s an exceedingly rare thing in the US as we’re mostly all intolerable cunts.

        • Gerudo@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          17
          ·
          18 days ago

          Also, it would require every friend to have savings to put down a down payment and also credit good enough to actually qualify. That’s on top of finding 3 or 4 friends you’re willing to live with.

        • Mog_fanatic@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          edit-2
          17 days ago

          Not to mention 3 or 4 ppl that can and will reliably make mortgage payments for 15 or more likely 30 years. Once someone drops out because of life events then they’ll want to be bought out by the next person which introduces a whole bunch of headaches. Having watched this exact thing play out, this will most likely turn into a bitter nightmare of endless paperwork and some ruined relationships.

      • BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        14
        ·
        18 days ago

        And bam, new laws come out that makes it illegal for more than X people who aren’t related to each other to share a home.

        This is actually a thing in many places so people can’t do what you just described, isn’t American Freedumb so beautiful

        • SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          18 days ago

          This is called tenency in common. I’m unaware of it being illegal in any states and a cursory search brought up nothing. Do you have any leads you can share?

          • shalafi@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            18 days ago

            I searched “illegal for more than X people who aren’t related to each other to share a home” and came up with quite a bit.

            • SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              edit-2
              17 days ago

              I see it now. I’m looking at tenancy in common based on the original comment, you (and presumably the previous commenter) are talking about unrelated occupancy provisions. One is about co-owning, the other is about cohabitating.

              This is exactly why people DO use exact language, despite your utterly bizarre insistence otherwise - because those that don’t confuse the rest of us with their shitty communication.

            • StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              17 days ago

              “You no one use right word, too big. Use small normal word like me, me big big smart, good Google hunter. Me find many result. No end.” Seralth reaches into his loincloth, scratches his scrotum, then vigorously snuffles at his fingertips, oblivious of the glob of spittle making its way down his dirt smeared chin.

              Yours has to be the most American comment I’ve seen this morning. BTW, you’re literally using literally incorrectly.

      • Fuzzypyro@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        18 days ago

        Co-ownership is kind of a horrible idea overall. What happens when one of the 4 people wants to use the property as collateral for a loan?

        Not to mention that this promotes increase in property costs without fixing the issue. If the norm is to continue pooling money between individuals then real estate can continue to raise prices. Then you just need 6 friends 10 friends 14 friends etc. we need a market crash and we need corporate residential ownership to be heavily regulated.

        • ramble81@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          18 days ago

          wants to use the property as collateral for the loan

          Nothing major honestly. If they default, they would lose their stake in the claim. Since they don’t own the entire house, the bank couldn’t foreclose but they could assume ownership of their portion of the loan. The bank would view it more like a financial instrument rather than a real property.

        • fishpen0@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          18 days ago

          From experience, basically no banks take collateral on co-owned homes. You probably won’t run into problems like that specifically. You can also easily structure an agreement with a lawyer. In many states you have to have an attorney to buy a home anyway (CT, MA, GA, DE, KY, LA, MD, MI, NH, ND, OK, RI, VT, WV, WO). We used ours to write and tack on the equivalent of an HOA arrangement you’d see in a condominium for our shared rooms.

          I do find it amusing we have redditors arguing landlords should be illegal and others arguing co-ownership is a bad idea. Yes, let’s build millions of single room houses for everyone who is single that span the entire continent.

    • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      17 days ago

      I haven’t really had any delusions that I’ll ever be able to afford to buy a house anyway, but I’m kind of at the point where I don’t even want to.

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      18 days ago

      In a region near me the rental market is 99.3% full.

      Scumbag landlords charge $200 to view these horrid places no one will ever rent, and their job is showing people the place, one after another. It’s only a half-dozen a day, but that’s a good wage and there’s no end of hopefuls. Apparently, needing a landlord to come out to show you the place is a “call-out”, even if he’s just upstairs.

      Of course that’s the “frbo” market; the rental companies can’t get away with that yet. They wish, though.

      • untorquer@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        18 days ago

        Well if you have 5 vacant units artificial scarcity is pretty easy to achieve by only putting one to market at a time.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        18 days ago

        In a region near me the rental market is 99.3% full.

        I hear that from every landlord in every market, whether the economy is booming or shrinking and people are coming or going.

        I have never been quoted an occupancy rate less than 90%. I’ve been in buildings under construction and heard “Yes, we’ve already leased most of our units! You’re getting the last ones! So lucky!”

      • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        18 days ago

        Wait so the people who refuse to go with those big companies (aren’t there principled folks like that, maybe they have a name I’m forgetting) have to deal with that instead?

        It was like people who have to pay some fee I thought… searches oh it’s the no broker fee people. So do no broker fee ppl often pay viewing fees? And viewing fees are legal?

  • chowdertailz@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    36
    ·
    18 days ago

    Do the unlimited and have constant tours for all 30 days. Get friends to individually do the same. Pester the ever living fuck out of them.

    • rozodru@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      34
      ·
      18 days ago

      I mean really just spruce up one unit, charge for tours, charge for applications, why even bother renting?

      I mean places already charge just to submit an app.

      • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        18 days ago

        People do that, its pretty clear cut fraud though so it usually doesnt work out the best in the end.

    • Evotech@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      18 days ago

      The idea is proably just to filter out people who aren’t serious / not gonna show up.

      I can’t imgine it’s about the money

      • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        18 days ago

        Its common to pay a down payment to hold a rental, this is just a shittier version of that.

        • bountygiver [any]@lemmy.ml
          cake
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          10
          ·
          18 days ago

          You pay the downpayment to reserve the spot, so they cannot rent that to someone else once you pay. Touring does not apply the same restriction to the property.

  • SillyDude@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    26
    ·
    18 days ago

    This is why I’ll boondock until its completely illegal. Then if they don’t force me into the gray pod then I’m going feral hobo until I die in a fight with a racoon over some berries.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      25
      ·
      18 days ago

      I’m going feral hobo until I die in a fight with a racoon over some berries.

      Stop, my brother! We are not enemies! There is enough berry for all, if we but put down our differences and turn our attention to the dreaded hording bourgeois!

    • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      18 days ago

      What’s the biggest thing you miss? The idea certainly appeals to me; you have to pay to exist as a person but there’s free parking everywhere. And you can do a bit of nomadism.

      • SillyDude@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        18 days ago

        A nice shitter and a bathtub. I have a toilet and do shit in the woods as much as possible. But a reliable porcelain throne feels great. I can realese some genuine horrors and its just gone in a flush or two. I also like just laying down in a nice hot bath with some bubble bath, little scented Epsom salt, drink a beer and smoke a j.

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          18 days ago

          Hmm, what exactly is your toilet situation right now? Cassette, tanks, composting, other? This is Lemmy, so I hope it’s not rude to ask.

          I know you can get porcelain inserts for some cassette models, although if the flush doesn’t work well that’s not too useful.

    • Soup@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      17 days ago

      This is 100% worse, though. Both should come with being shot in the street as punishment but at least application fees is paying for something you want and not paying to see if you even want it at all.

  • Avicenna@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    17 days ago

    agencies: “housing is just not unaffordable enough. I wonder what else we can do to contribute?”