patrick.net

Ah, furnitures in craiglist... I really recommend you bring a flashlight with you, check every corner and every crack before you hand over your money, because there's bedbug everywhere in DC area. Belive me, that little bugger is real annoying sucker. You don't want a have one in your place.

It is extremely difficult to negociate rent at least here in NoVA.
As PolishKnight pointed out, Sellers/landlords here are amazingly stubborn and I can not imagine anything like change of their attitude even in times like this. Sure, it's not good but it's not like the west coast. It is almost like "what crisis? what those people in west coast are talking about?" So frankly speaking, starting off higher and slowly droping the rent by negotiating is not really happening in DC/NoVA area. You don't want to pay, you move out. That's the only rule that works here. Totally different situation.

Seaside, I had a friend visit from NJ and set her up at a business suite I had stayed in previously. Apparently, the former tenants of the room were consultants who had stayed for 6 months. When she tried to go to bed, even before turning out the lights, a bedbug had latched onto her back. My wife didn't want her entering our place even just to say hello. (I thought that was taking it too far!)

That's why I'm very leery about buying used mattresses but used wooden furniture I don't think is as big a problem. When moving, I totally dissassemble and inspect the furniture. Sadly, there's no guarantee as shown above so I just view it as a normal risk of life.

Regarding negotiating: I have negotiated in the past with private LL's and found them to be fair which is perhaps why I have gotten better deals overall. For example, we are willing to pay for minor plumbing and heating issues ($200 or so) to keep the status quo. I agree with seaside that some LL's simply don't care and have the attitude "don't like it? Leave!" and then, amazingly, they were shocked when my wife and I did just that! Adding it all up, my wife and I have saved about $6000 over 5 years but it cost us about $1.5K in moving expenses and hassles. But on the plus side we got to experience seeing different neighborhoods and learning the area. I'm glad we didn't buy the first place we moved into and get stuck there.

Anyways, even in the cases of commercial landlords raising rents I've seen then have units run empty for 3 months at a time (or more) AND problematic tenants moving in. Pkennedy, as I said the problem with bad consumers is that they often make other bad personal life choices as well and this reflects in them having lots of friends share the rent, make a lot of noise, or just have financial problems later and that costs the LL too. This is why I try to avoid commercial properties: They can't legally cut me the slack in pricing for a good credit and personal rating. I pay the same as some wonk with money burning a hole in their pocket.

Anyways, I just checked out Craiglist again and I see that the prices have gotten SLIGHTLY lower than last week. I'm still watching the market because it's a bellweather for where sales (which we ultimately want to do) will go. I'm guessing that stubborn LL's are hoping to pay their underwater mortgages until they think the market recovers. Provided the pricing for rentals stays under the base carrying costs for a non-foreclosure listing, they're bleeding money and the more they bleed over time, the more foreclosures/walk aways and so-on.

This thread originally is about bay area though, I feel like I have to reply on PolishKnight's post as fellow virginian. :)

While I have no reason to buy home right now, I am seeing signs of deterioration in my particular apartment. It is turning into a slum-like condition. The problomatic tenants, defensive management attitude, crackheads and Joe12pack every day and other stuffs.

Today morning, I found someone dinged my car and took off. This nice school bus driver saw me watching arround, and told me what he saw. A car parked next to mine passed the bus when school kids are boarding while stop sign is flashing, dinged my car and took off. Having a witness, I called police, and what I got was the worst piece of shit thug in the uniform I ever met. I know the car and the kid who did that because there's only one car fits the description and I remember what car was there next to mine. The police thug didn't even bother listening me or the the bus driver. It was like, you two are wasting my time, STFU or I will beat you two to the hell. The car and the kid showed up in the parking lot later in the evening. Carwashed nice and shiny.

Of course, something like that happened all the time, but this ain't the way it used to be in this place. I never had this much lowlives and drug addicts in the apartment as neighbor. The wife and I concluded that our time to move out to better place is comming. It is about lease renewal time, and we don't have other place to go now. So we decided to choose short term option while we're seeking a new place, then we're outta here. Another reason for me to watch market. :)

Seaside,
This is unPC for me to say so, but I hinted above that the reason why I found both quality and lower price in private apartments was that I'm a good tenant both financially and personally. Apartment complexes have to deal with "anti-discrimination" laws that require them to rent out to someone who passes minimal qualifiations (and perhaps even meet quotas.) They simply aren't in a position to negotiate.

The scary thing about buying is that it's sometimes just as bad as apartment renting but without the flexibility. A friend of mine had bad neighbors but since he owned his place, there was nothing he could do about it.

Regarding your problem with the police: You shouldn't have bothered too much with him. Just get him to write up a basic report and then quietly move on ASAP and later call the department and get someone better. Or better yet, if he was that bad call internal affairs and ask THEM for a recommendation.