Even though this doesn’t have ‘that personal touch’ it can definitely still be price gouging

I don’t know the names but I know there are multiple New York landlords who’ve been buying up property throughout Baltimore, and they’re most likely coordinating pricing

Also, just an FYI, Baltimore City recently passed a law saying that LLs can’t require more than 30 days notice, vs the 60 most usually required. So availability is now 45-ish days out now vs. the 2+months it was before.

You know I was all for Biden. But fuck Joe for real. We just traded a " merchant of death " for a fucking basketball player cause she was black? I'll get downvoted but idgaf it's the truth. Meanwhile we have actual American spys and Marines over there still stuck??

FUCK BIDEN

What we’re told is that the algorithm looks at the occupancy, the tours/traffic/ the applications and what our comps are pricing at and then sets the price Every days.

This is different in the past, where on Monday, everyone would call their comps and get this information and pass it off to the regional managers who would set the prices for the week. Now this is happening on a much larger scale every single day so there’s not a human behind it and the prices can go up 31 times a month instead of 4.

What happened in my last property is that the prices went up $250 over the summer due to the algorithm and my property manager had to contact multiple people to course correct because those prices were affecting our renewals. Moral of the story is the prices should have never been that high, but because of some math equations many people were paying $200-300 more than their neighbors for the exact same apartment.

It doesn’t matter who it was. I promise. Buzzuto is doing this. Avalon is doing this. WPM is doing this. Morgan is doing this. And Greystar and Monument and PMC and Southern and avenue5. They are all setting prices.

Say what you will about the Honda Element but it's a very versatile vehicle the fold-up seats in the back are awesome for off-roading if you want to have a slumber party in the backseat of your car. I used to bring an inflatable mattress put up the back seats and have a night under the stars because the sunroof. People gave me s*** about it until we were out in the sticks.

Protect and serve, amirite?

No, what’s on the website is the prices they’ve already set, and it’s the pricing you get if you sign that day and move in almost immediately. Most people are looking for something 60 days out, and those prices are not available online. Try it on apartments.com are no availability is shown.

Thanks though!

A lot of people moving to the Severn from out of state are going to be med students or grad students at UMD or JHU. Lots of international and out of state people move to Baltimore sight unseen.

It’s completely legal what they’re doing. What they’re asking isn’t secret. It’s on their website. It’s in apartments.com. Calling to get the pricing is just a shortcut.

PMC is a smaller company though. Less resources/less overheard as they are an absentee landlord. Go to anything bigger with amenities and the prices are going to be much higher.

Source: Am an APM at an ok high rise in central Baltimore. Yes and no. We all do market surveys to see what other people are offering/what the specials are etc… But honestly, we just call because we’re too lazy to look on the websites.

Market Surveys used to be used for “competitive pricing” but we’re all switching to systems like Rent Max that get the data of what the apartments are going for every day and set our prices. So we’re not price fixing anymore, it’s a large, billion dollar multi-national corporation that does it for us. One of the big companies that does this is also being investigated by an AG because of this shit. This is why apartment prices have gotten so high, because they are changed daily to constantly have the highest possible price (and to price out section 8, but I digress).

Also, we need to “shop” other properties so that we know what our comps are. Like Yes, this property down the street has XYZ but we have ABC. It also is a teaching tool for learning how to lease.

But yeah, since 2019, the cost of the extract same 1 bedroom, with no renovations No nothing, has gone up $300-400. And that’s just in Baltimore city. It’s not much better in the rest of the state from what I’ve heard.

But yes this is all completely legal. And anyplace that isn’t a private landlord is doing this. Apartment companies like Buzzuto/Morgan/Southern/WPM are some of the largest employers and housing developers/landlords in the state. They leave and a lot of money for the date and the politicians pockets are gone.

> A retired cop with shitty takes still in the city is kind of rare.

Shitty takes plastered on their car you mean? Because if you get to chat with them, they got shitty takes for days

Edit: Nevermind. You meant that they move once they retire. I overlooked the word "retired" somehow.

They probably get a lot of doctors or grad students who need to find a place ASAP when they land at a program. I couldn’t commit to home without seeing it in person.

Back in early 2018 I was looking for an apartment in Baltimore and found a really nice one at the Severn. The lady who showed the apartment told us most people were renting those apartments sight unseen from out of state. I looked at my mom and sis and they looked at me in total disbelief.

We had never imagined that people would move to a brand new city having never ever stepped foot there and rent an apartment knowing virtually nothing about where they were moving to at all.

I say all that to say that there are a lot of people these days apparently with a lot of money that can go where they want for the most part. These building managements know this and so they are using it to their advantage especially with the Pandemic taking place.

Wow! That's a pretty good price. You are fortunate to just have a $5 rent increase for sure.

Is it loud over there?

Disgracing that beautiful Element

Move to? They usually already live there before retirement.

I just emailed the attorney general’s office.

Eek!

Our occupancy is high, always has been, and to be fair, it’s an expensive building to begin with, but it still a huge jump, $ and % wise. Unfortunately, there’s no legal cap in MD. That’s the law, I get it, and I will always defend capitalism and supply and demand, but this is collusion.

Projection is a helluva drug.

That’s fkn insane. I don’t understand that much of an increase when buildings are struggling to fill vacancies.

Last year mine went up $400, and they came back for more.