Yup.

$850 for a 2 Bedroom. They raised it to $900 when we left. Built in 1978. In the ghetto. In poor condition with seriously old appliances. 700 sq/ft.

And then we moved across town into a nice neighborhood to rent from a homeowner...

$1300 for 4 Bedroom and almost 1800 sq/ft. No yard, but 2.5 bath and 2 car garage. Brand fucking new house. The homeowners payments were probably closer to $1k I'd guess. It seemed to be his business to own and rent out homes.

And 5 minutes away from there, we knew a guy who owned a house built in the 90's and was only paying $1k/month. 3 Bedroom, 2 Living Room, 3 Levels with an actual front and backyard. Probably around 2000 sq/ft. Not exactly new, but it was a pretty nice house regardless. Right across from the elementary school. Great location all around for new homeowners. And he was only paying $1,000/month...

The price of apartment living is too fucking high. Where I live now you can literally rent out 2 or sometimes 3 bedroom homes for as little as $850/month. In the less desirable parts of town, which isn't really all that bad honestly, you can go as low as $650, though the houses are super small, older and compacted together. Renting an apartment? I've not seen a single place for less than $700. But nobody has the upfront cash for first and last's plus security, whereas apartments will take pretty much anyone. And with so many people incapable of getting a home of their own, the apartment business is absolutely booming around here. It's very profitable right now so everyone is trying to get in on it. Ever since 2008 happened, anyways. It's crazy watching the massive amount of development happening simultaneously everywhere.

This country needs to get rid of two things; The very idea of shareholders, and the mentality of; 'how can I make as much as possible selling X'. Being profitable is no longer good enough. It's all about maximizing profits to the fullest extent without facing backlash. It's crazy.