Man says he sees a ‘recession indicator’ in his old rental neighborhood. Rent is cheap, but they’re leaving in droves
He believes that people are struggling to afford rent.
Caleb Cooks (@calebcooks94) has moved out of his apartment. He said several other tenants have also moved out of his neighborhood, and although rent is affordable in his area, no one is moving into the recently vacant apartments.
“So, this is my recession indicator right here. I used to live in this apartment right here for three and a half years,” Cooks told TikTok. Another neighbor who had a girlfriend lived in the apartment next to his for two years. The rental was a small apartment complex built in 1964 and has been completely remodeled. The appliances, drywall, flooring, and air conditioners were new. Only the apartment structure is 62 years old.
For the first two and a half years Cooks lived in the complex. He said his landlord couldn’t keep any unit for more than a week before someone new moved in. The complex had eight one-bedroom apartments and four two-bedroom townhomes, and they would often get snatched up.
“This place was a steal when I moved in, because the rent was only $895, and to have something be $895, brand new everything, and it’s not a roach motel, is like, really hard to find,” Cooks stated. Moreover, in the three-and-a-half years Cooks has lived in the complex, he said he has had only one rent increase. Instead of $895, the landlord raised it to $900, a $5 increase. That’s a far cry from what another woman in Florida experienced, whose lease renewal jumped to five digits.
Despite the affordable rent, Cooks pointed out that one unit right across the street has been empty for three and a half months. He already moved out of his unit, and the one his neighbor used to live in is also vacant.
Why is it a recession indicator?
His neighbor, who lived next to him for two years, had to move out because he needed a bigger place for his incoming child. Cooks said he saw the call logs between his former neighbor and their landlord. He alleged, “He tried to contact her all of September. I saw his phone logs, the text messages from the beginning of September until he moved out on the 30th, and she would not respond to a single thing.” Then, by September 30, the landlord allegedly messaged his neighbor and told him that if he referred her a tenant, she would get $300 off rent.
Cooks claimed that while his landlord hadn’t been replying to his neighbor, she had been actively communicating with him. He theorized that his landlord was in denial about her tenant leaving.
“She was freaking the f*** out because that unit’s been empty for three-and-a-half months, when remember, these units used to sell for less than a week,” he said. He added that even though he kept telling his landlord he was moving out, Cooks alleged she begged him to stay. After him, a couple of other neighbors also plan to leave, which would leave his landlord with five empty units.
“The energy of this place has shifted too. The first two-and-a-half years that I lived here, of the three-and-a-half years, this place was a tight-knit community,” Cooks said. But slowly, his neighbors started moving away. His point about the recession, however, isn’t based on vibes. He explained, “The whole point of this video is that the rent is cheap, but people cannot afford to move in!”
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