Some people ask, “Why are there so many homeless?”
It ain’t rocket science, when a room or converted garage is going for $1,200 a month maybe that’s why? I paid $ 500 a month for rent for 11 years until I had to move in with my disabled mom. My landlords could have gotten double for the place but they figured they would get a better, stable renter for a lower price, and they were right.
I know a couple who really are not greedy people. They were going to rent out their legally converted garage in the west-side of A-Town for $800 a month until a property management firm told them that they could get at least $1,200 a month or more for it. They listened to the property management people. It’s all about deciding that fine line of how much money you need to charge for rent, and greed seems to always override everything.
I have stage 4 colorectal cancer and if I didn’t live with Mom I would be living out of my Volvo station wagon, homeless with cancer while on chemo-therapy. If you get $800 a month for Social Security disability, well then do the math! Greed sucks, but it seems to rule this country these last years.
Kevin Alf Lee
Santa Margarita
This article appears in Jun 29 – Jul 9, 2023.