What a $1,500 Rental in New Bedford and Fall River Really Looks Like

My wife and I were lucky enough to buy a house shortly after we got married. To be honest, I didn't feel like we were ready to be homeowners, but my wife pushed me, we bought our house, and it turned out to be one of the best financial decisions we've ever made.

Things have changed in a big way over the past few years, however. We went from a hot real estate market to one that features inflated home prices coupled with inflated interest rates. That's a tough combo, especially for first-time home buyers.

High prices and high-interest rates make buying such a tough prospect that more and more first-time home buyers are waiting on the sidelines for conditions to change. This is causing people who would otherwise be home buyers to stay in the rental realm, causing a spike in the cost of rent.

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To be fair, landlords are in the same predicament.  Repairs and upgrades that used to be one price have now gone up, up, up.

So, how difficult is it to rent an apartment here on the SouthCoast these days?  First, we'll have to come up with a budget.

Chase Bank offers the 30% rule. They say a good rule of thumb is to spend a maximum of 30% on your rent, assuming you're not bogged down with credit card bills and student debt. Right? Because who's not bogged down with those?

According to the U.S. Census, the average New Bedford household income is $50,581. Allowing for the 30% rule, that establishes a rental budget of just over $1,500 a month.

We went apartment hunting on the SouthCoast, and here's what we found.