This makes a lot of sense to me. There are a lot of vacant condos and homes in my area. Those people have to go somewhere.

Unfortunately I am a renter stuck in the middle, pretty content until that dreaded phone call telling us the owner got into deep water. Interestingly, they pressured us to buy in a short sale, but we declined.

Thank you La Jolla Renter for your encouraging advice. I would also agree that renters who stay put seem to have very small rent increases, if at all. It’s not until you have to move that you are dealing with higher prices. A friend of mine recently decided she wanted a new apartment with more amenities (a dishwasher and W/D…small things really). She was prepared to pay more for those conveniences, but when she saw just how much more, she decided not to move.

All in all, we are very fortunate to be renting and to have that flexibility, but I won’t be jumping for joy if we wind up paying more or moving yet farther North… pretty soon we’ll be in Temecula at this rate! (no offense Temecula, it is just too far for me to drive!)