WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – She works full-time, has a family, and was staring homelessness straight in the face. We continue our look at higher rent prices and speak with a woman who needed an apartment, but found the post-pandemic prices something she couldn’t afford.
“Hurt my heart every night like I’m failing as a mom, like, how am I supposed to do this?”
Hanna Rogers recently had to move out of an apartment building on Cooper Street where she and her family had lived for 9 years.
The building was sold and the new owners were ready to renovate, leaving Hanna needing to find a new home.
She began looking at rental listings and realized the prices were a lot higher than she remembered.
“It was between $1,200 and $1,500. All 3-bedroom apartments and I need at least 3. I can’t afford that. I was paying not even $900 for my last one,” she said.
Hannah is a single mom, raising 4 children, ranging in age from infant to 18. Her youngest daughter has Down Syndrome, which for Hanna meant she had to find the right space for her family’s needs on her single-parent income.
“I cried myself to sleep every night thinking what am I going to do? I didn’t know what I was going,” she said.
Hanna was surprised when her application for a home loan was approved. She decided to buy, not rent and now has a family home.
“Just keep your head up, you’ll get through it. It’s rough but hopefully somebody will work with ya,” she said.
On Tuesday we reported on the different reasons rent prices are on the rise. Landlords are protecting their investments after some tenants stopped paying rent or ruined property during the pandemic. Plus, military housing allowances support higher prices.
Lance Evans with the Jefferson Lewis Board of Realtors says a main challenge right now is there’s not enough housing whether it’s for renters or owners. When there’s more demand than supply, prices go up.
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