In the heart of the city, a few blocks from Central Park, a cluster of furnished apartments sits like an oasis.
They’re just a few doors away from the park, a stroll away from Union Square and from the Times Square train station.
They cost less than $200,000 each, and there’s an attached garage.
Some are full, and some are vacant, with an option to rent a car.
But for those who have already got a place to call home, they offer a unique opportunity to live with dignity and dignity without having to work.
“We have the opportunity to do things with our own hands,” says Mary Jane Dutton, one of the owners.
“The rent is not the problem.
It’s the space.”
The building’s owner, Robert Dutton Jr., said his company has had a few vacancies, but he said they’re being filled with “greats.”
“I’ve had three vacancies,” he said.
“I just don’t have the money to do that.”
Dutton said that in his 30 years in the real estate business, he’s never seen so many vacant properties on the market in the city.
In the past decade, there’s been an explosion in the number of apartments available in the neighborhood, and more are popping up in the next few years.
That means there’s a lot of space in the market, which is one of several reasons why some are renting.
Renting a home is a relatively new practice, and the practice is spreading.
In a report for the Urban Institute in May, housing experts said the number in New Jersey and New York State has more than doubled since the recession.
Many homeowners are opting for more flexible arrangements, which can include buying their own apartment and renting it out.
In Los Angeles, rents have increased 30% since 2010, while rents for apartments in Los Angeles County have nearly tripled.
The housing crisis also is affecting the supply of apartments.
Many renters in New Orleans are renting out their homes, said Paul Schulte, executive director of the nonprofit Housing First.
The rental market is becoming more competitive, he said, and rental properties are increasingly being sold as condominiums or condominium complexes.
And that creates a glut of available apartments in the neighborhoods, as renters who want to buy homes in these neighborhoods find it difficult to find them.
Some people are finding ways to take advantage of that glut.
They rent out apartments to the poor, but then they sell them at inflated prices.
They use their apartment to host weddings or corporate functions, and then they rent out their apartments to wealthy people to enjoy the comforts of their home.
“People are trying to take these properties off the market,” Schulto said.
In Portland, Ore., where there’s about 1,000 vacant rental apartments, there are more than 200 Airbnb listings for apartment complexes, according to an Airbnb spokesperson.
But that’s a small fraction of the total number of vacant rental properties in the region.
That number could be even smaller if it wasn’t for the availability of rentals in certain neighborhoods, including some in the Southeast.
In Seattle, for example, there is no shortage of apartment buildings for rent, said Amy Hwang, a vice president with the nonprofit Rental Affordability Institute, which has tracked apartment-rental vacancy rates in the United States.
There’s been a lot more demand in Seattle over the past few years, and that’s been the case even before the crisis hit.
But the availability is so high, Hwang said, that landlords can charge more than $2,000 for an apartment, and she said she has seen landlords charging as much as $30,000 per apartment.
There is a real risk of being a “pauper,” she said.
Renters who are desperate are finding other ways to make ends meet, including selling their apartments at prices they can afford.
“They’re trying to make it work financially, but they can’t afford to pay rent,” Hwang told The Washington Times.
“That’s where they’re finding the most money.”
The market for apartment rentals in Portland, which includes some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country, is a different story.
There, the supply is even smaller, and rents are higher.
Rentals are still relatively cheap, even in Portland.
But Hwang and others say that it’s a trend that could continue in the coming years.
The demand for apartments is just getting more intense, she said, with many renters deciding to sell.
“It’s just getting crazier and crazier,” Hui said.
The supply is still so limited in Portland and other cities that some renters are finding that it becomes harder to find rentals.
“When I started my business, I had a bunch of properties.
Now, I have just one,” said Rui Nguyen, who rents an apartment at 605 North Franklin