Not asking for donations, i just want to vent
$100 for 2 application fees, a $9 "service fee"each to pay for the application fee
$30 pet registration fee, with a $9 “service fee” to pay the $30
$400 pet deposit
$1500 damage deposit with a $50 “service fee” to pay that
$1500 first month rent
This is all for the cheapest 1 bedroom apt I could find this is insane. Also why was a 10 month lease like $300 a month cheaper than a longer lease? They’re gonna bump the rent up at least that much after aren’t they?
After I moved out from a place I was renting with my ex last year I crunched some numbers and realized that it’s cheaper to travel around the world and stay in a mix of hostels/long term stay airbnbs/share houses than it would be to rent a place by myself in a MCOL area while paying for a car. It’s absolutely fucking criminal how much price gouging there is in the US, I’m currently paying ~700 USD/mo for a cozy apartment in downtown Kyoto. It’s clean, quiet, safe, and I have literally everything I could ever need within a 20 minute walk. I don’t think anything comparable even exists in the US but the closest is likely downtown NYC/Boston for $3000+ a month while that same price might get you a place in bumfuck nowhere, North Dakota where a car is absolutely required.
So all of that is to say, OP, get the fuck out of the US if you can.
Reminds me of rednote videos of people in Chongqing paying $140/mo for basic 2br apts