Roommates can save California tenants 38% on rent

Want to lower the rent pain Double-up My trusty spreadsheet used various curious rent content from LendingTree to quantify what almost every budget-watching tenant knows having a roommate in a two-bedroom unit is financially better than going solo in a one-bedroom rental The stats were based on the U S Department of Housing and Urban Growth s fair domain rents for large metropolitan areas including seven in California In the seven California metros the median results demonstrated that doubling up cut an individual renter s monthly costs by according to my comparison of HUD rent estimates for the year ending October Note that HUD tracks rent and utility costs for newer tenants in buildings that are years or older at the slightly below-average th percentile We are talking about a monthly gap the difference between California s one-bedroom rent for a lone tenant and the cost of a two-bedroom unit split two solutions By the way the financial benefits from doubling up are growing Five years ago California s savings rate equaled On a national scale thanks to California s lofty rents the percentage savings are relatively modest while the dollar gap seems large In the metros elsewhere across the nation doubling up saved That s the gap between the median one-bedroom rent and the per-tenant rent when a two-bedroom is split This U S savings equals the rate of five years ago Sadly none of the seven California markets had a doubling-up savings rate above the national norm Ponder their results ranked by percentage savings San Jose savings No smallest of the metros That s from a gap the largest of the between for a one-bedroom and for a two-bedroom split Five years ago savings ran San Diego savings No smallest or No largest one-bedroom vs two-bedroom split Five years ago savings San Francisco savings No smallest or No largest one-bedroom vs two-bedroom split Five years ago Same as the latest savings Fresno savings No smallest or No largest one-bedroom vs two-bedroom split Five years ago savings Inland Empire savings No smallest or No largest one-bedroom vs two-bedroom split Five years ago savings Sacramento savings No smallest or No largest one-bedroom vs two-bedroom split Five years ago savings Los Angeles-Orange County savings No smallest or No largest one-bedroom vs two-bedroom split Five years ago savings Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group He can be reached at jlansner scng com Related Articles A push for more ADUs has hit the Bay Area and Southern California Vast areas of San Diego County could be next San Jose State University now officially owns participant housing tower San Ramon home sells for million Single-family residence sells for million in Fremont Single-family residence in San Ramon sells for million Related Articles California homebuyer s goal Save annually for years Here s how bad the U S housing dilemma is and what can be done about it Escalating fight over Bay Area mobile home park rules heralds larger procedures battle over key affordable housing stock Sunnyvale apartment complex bought for more than million California renters can save monthly vs owning by this math