Does anyone else here rent in Fairfax county?
My lease renewed this month and the rent went up a pretty astronomical 10% (that is a $170 a month increase for a 2 bedroom). They also boxed me into a 9 month lease instead of a 12 month if I wanted to get the best deal (aka, the smallest increase). The apartment manager said there is an apartment shortage, etc, etc. I found this article which seems to agree with his statement.
http://www.nahb.com/news_details.aspx?newsID=10261
I am really concerned that this might be started a trend (especially since they boxed me into 9 months, they could be planning another massive increase at that time). I can already buy a townhouse for about $300k and have a mortgage that is the same as my rent, but with the market the way it is now I might have to hold onto it for 10 years to make it a worthwhile investment.
Has anyone else heard anything about big future rent increases in Fairfax? Sure its nice tha this area has jobs and is still seeing positive growth, but there is no way my salary is going to increase by enough each year to even cover the increases in rent let alone higher costs for food, gas, etc, etc.