The Rent Is To Damn HIGH!!!

[mike carey]

First of all is your choice and I'm sure you're making a decision based on your own financial interest. Why would you move to a small city with less potential clients available?

All else being equal I can see the point in moving to a city that is cheaper, the question is, would you want to live there? From what I've read, the Mid-West can be pretty unwelcoming for gay men. (Maybe Austin is an exception.) Sure, if you are an escort who is flying about to various cities all the time, having a cheaper base makes sense.

 

I have just moved (almost exclusively) to my home town, and I'm questioning the sanity of doing so. Nothing gay here to speak of, so I question the sense of trying to create that sort of community, or whether just to move back to a bigger city. I'm not talking as an escort, just a man in a small town. In a town with limited demand, an escort can do well on limited trade if the cost of living is low: it all comes down to whether you want to live that sort of life.

[bigvalboy]

That's my thought also. The map is flawed. Rents in Calif for example are all over the place, with SF/being almost prohibitive, but in LA, while WEHO is fairly steep, one can go a few miles north or east and find things livable. I would find a city where business is conducive to your needs first, then work from there. Housing doesn't have to be a fixed cost, sometimes you have to get creative in the short term, unless you are inflexible.

[Guest ChrisW]

First of all is your choice and I'm sure you're making a decision based on your own financial interest. Why would you move to a small city with less potential clients available?

 

I don't know what kind of numbers are you handling, but sometimes paying 2k or 3k of rent in a larger city with more clients it's better than paying 1k of rent, in a small city like Kansas City with less possible clients/ and visitors.

 

Again, I'm sure you're making the right choice and I wish you luck.

Many folks don't know this about the pacific north west but in our line of work its one of the worst markets in the country. I have talked to escorts from all over the country and they have had similar experiences. It doesn't matter how well reviewed you are or what you look like (even the Andrew Christian models are hard up) business is just bad here. With increasing rent and price gouging on airfare its not a viable city for me.

 

There are a couple other criteria I am putting into my move

A good gay scene

Good mass transit

A steady flow of business

Cheapish flights

Affordable rent

A city with good masters programs in social work

 

Dc is my other option but the people are weird and methy more so than most cities I have been to.

 

A good smile and a kind heart make me melt and the midwest seems to have lot of guys like that. Being corn fed certianly doesn't hurt either;)

[thickornotatall]

There was an interesting feature on NPR last night about the effort to attract tech start-ups away from Silicon Valley to Detroit, where there are reasonable facilities and costs are much lower. But then they mentioned the winters in Detroit.....

 

I am originally from Detroit...the once beautiful Northwest Quad and Oakland County areas....I visit once in a while....only to see relatives and old friends...They may say what they want...Detroit is possibly the ugliest...dirtiest...crime ridden hell hole...anything south of 8 Mile is scarey...unless there are private police and armed guards in the "nicer" neighborhoods they would not be safe....The downtown core is almost wholly owned by Dan Gilbert..very expensive and crawling with private police...A once beautiful city is now in ruins....Hot in the summer....bitter in the winter...no thanks....glad I left after the riots...

For us..New York City and the outer boros are the are the place to be for everything....then winter in Florida.....

[mike carey]

Good luck Chris, I hope it all works out well for you (and thanks for your advice on a couple of subjects). As a foreigner, my perception of US communities is naturally imprecise. I do like the Pacific NW but I don't have to make a living there. I hope you find a great place to live and to ply your trade!

[+ Gar1eth]

All else being equal I can see the point in moving to a city that is cheaper, the question is, would you want to live there? From what I've read, the Mid-West can be pretty unwelcoming for gay men. (Maybe Austin is an exception.) Sure, if you are an escort who is flying about to various cities all the time, having a cheaper base makes sense.

 

Just an FYI, Texas is not considered the Midwest. And while Texas is not like being in NYC, Chicago, LA, San Fran, Seattle, or Portland, my sense is that Dallas, Austin, and Houston are fairly gay friendly cities at least they are for the young. (Dallas is known for having 'Dall-itude'. My brief experience there is that it can be difficult if you aren't young and beautiful. Still that's also my impression of Seattle.).

 

Gman

[marylander1940]

All else being equal I can see the point in moving to a city that is cheaper, the question is, would you want to live there? From what I've read, the Mid-West can be pretty unwelcoming for gay men. (Maybe Austin is an exception.) Sure, if you are an escort who is flying about to various cities all the time, having a cheaper base makes sense.

 

I have just moved (almost exclusively) to my home town, and I'm questioning the sanity of doing so. Nothing gay here to speak of, so I question the sense of trying to create that sort of community, or whether just to move back to a bigger city. I'm not talking as an escort, just a man in a small town. In a town with limited demand, an escort can do well on limited trade if the cost of living is low: it all comes down to whether you want to live that sort of life.

 

Yes, but you're case is different. I don't know if you're retired or how cheap is your hometown compared to Sydney but retiring to a place where money goes further is always convenient from the financial point of view.

 

Would you recommend an escort to live in Sydney (5 million inhabitants and plenty of tourists) paying higher rent and getting more clients or to live in Perth paying half the rent but having less available clients?

 

Why moving to Kansas City, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit, etc to pay 1k of rent for a larger place when if he lives in a bigger city he could make that 1 k at a lucky day and make more money at the end of the month even if you include the expensive rent?

 

Let's see, Peoria is cheaper than Chicago, but how many clients would an escort see there compared to Chicago?

Even if the escort pays no rent in Peoria and would pay 2k or more in Chicago, would he be able to see 8 extra clients in Chicago and more to make it worthy to live in Chicago instead of Peoria?

 

250 per client

 

Chicago rent: 2000

 

35 clients per month = $8.750 (not including overnights or multiple hours) - $2.000 rent = $6.750 potential savings in 1 year of 81.000. A very competitive town, no doubt.

 

Peoria rent: 450

 

17 clients per month = $4.250 - rent 450 = $3.800 potential savings in 1 year of 45.600. Obviously in Peoria he'll be the big/and maybe only fish in the pond but would you hire the same guy over and over again because he's the only one in town, would you be paranoid to run into him at the supermarket?

 

Obviously we all need to pay for food, health insurance, etc. The advantage of Chicago is also the transportation system doesn't require a car and a car would be so expensive to own that it wouldn't make any sense to have one.

 

Not everything in life revolves all the time about money, a dog is easier to keep in a house with a yard in Peoria, maybe his family lives there, the escort needs/wants to be around his aging mother/grandmother to be helpful, etc.

 

My suggestion, make your money in Chicago, buy a property in Peoria, and move there when you retire.

[Bart]

First of all is your choice and I'm sure you're making a decision based on your own financial interest. Why would you move to a small city with less potential clients available?

Ah Marylander, last I saw Chicago is a bigger city than Seattle.

Milwaukee two months of nice weather, as long as you don't live within 5 miles of the lake.

Last summer was very cool I don't think we had one 90 degree day.

We just had the coldest winter in years, top 6 of all time. That said lived here all my life and probably would never move permanently.

 

Chris we welcome you to the Midwest. You will be received with open arms and more sun than Seattle, just that sun might come with those -10 degree days.

I will be more than happy to come down and keep you warm on a couple of those days:)

 

It will be interesting to see how the COL will rise due to the impending pension crisis. They are going to have to find $3 Billion somehow and taxpayers pockets are looking pretty good for that.

[tyro]

In a similar fashion, there are twelve weeks of gorgeous weather in Chicago. Sadly, they are non-contiguous and often occur at different times from year-to-year. That and the four distinct seasons that have been known to occur all in the same day.

 

But...that's what makes the Midwest such fun!!

T

[mike carey]

I realise Texas isn't the Mid-West, and yes, my home town is cheaper than Sydney. I was raising general points about places that were cheap to live and how much income could be derived there. I'm sure Chris can find a place there to be based, and that he'll do well financially. I was just talking about the potential difficulties.

[+ stevenkesslar]

I am a Seattle native and while I will always have a reverence for my home we are facing serious problems. When my lease is up in a few months I am packing up and moving to the midwest were things are still affordable. Seattle is in a bit of a pickle we are having massive population growth but we don't have the infrastructure to support it.

http://grist.org/cities/in-seattle-the-rent-is-too-damn-high/

 

I feel you. Next year I'm subletting my place for a year and going to Houston most likely. Its great there.

 

This struck a nerve.

 

I am half serious about this. We ought to be setting up a Homeownership For Whores downpayment assistance fund like what Danny just did for SWOP. The West Coast has been my stomping grounds since 1990, and both home prices and rents are flying through the roof. Meanwhile, real estate has been my exit strategy out of two careers: community organizing, and now escorting. The smart thing for you guys to do is buy a home in the Midwest or Texas, if you can, even if you only buy it to live in it for a year and rent it out for years until you settle down in some other career in some other place. Some version of that is my lifeline, and its working like a charm.

 

In 2000 I moved from Portland, where I owned a 3 bedroom home that cost me under $1000 a month to live in, to a one bedroom apartment in San Francisco that cost $1500 to rent. By the time I left a decade later the rent controlled rent was $1750, and the next tenant who moved in after me paid over $2500, since the landlord could increase rent to market value. Now it's gone up a lot more. Google, Apple, Facebook, and others have the best corporate digs on the planet, and - China notwithstanding - they are making Silicon Valley the center of the global free market game.

 

I was up in Portland to paint a house last Summer and North Portland has become a melting pot of talented young professionals who I am pretty sure will form a strong basis for the 21st Century version of the hard working American middle class. In the short run, though, they are knee deep in college debt and struggling to pay the skyrocketing rents, let alone buy a home or start a business. I have all the faith in the world that things will end well for most of these people, because they are smart and they are working their asses off, but they are all feeling a lot of "ouch" when it comes time to pay the rent.

 

Every once in a while the media comes forth with a Big Stupid Fact that feeds on itself and we all accept as gospel. In 2006 or so the Big Stupid Fact was that home prices never go down. Oops! In 2010 or 2011 the Big Stupid Fact was home ownership was dead, and nobody was ever going to look to owning a home as the way to enter the middle class and build net worth anymore. Oops again! That was right around when the fire sale on home prices in places like California was ending. Now the Big Stupid Fact is that the middle class is dead. That is total bullshit. What's closer to the truth is that we are victims of our success, in that we have more college educated people than ever, and so it's no longer the case that a college degree alone is a ticket to affluence. Now it is pretty much just a ticket to join the middle class. That is not a bad outcome. And more and more there are articles that all those well paying jobs that either are gone, or at least are going to China, are actually still here, and employers can't find people with the skills to fill them.

 

My point is that the future of home ownership looks bright, and the growing laments about home prices and rents proves it. This is a lemon waiting to be turned into lemonade. Any whore smart enough and entrepreneurial enough to build a client base ought to be smart enough to figure out how to fib on a mortgage loan application and buy a home. That's what I did, and I'm very happy I did. My advice is if you can do it, you should.

[+ stevenkesslar]

Consider Texas. I am as there are only two things from Texas and I am both of them.

 

I'll bite. I don't get it. What two things? I'm pretty sure I've had one in my ass, but I can't figure out the other. Or - hmmm, maybe you mean you are a well hung cowboy, and an asshole?

 

Oh, sorry. Just read your other post above. Steers and queers.

 

Never mind, cowboy.

[+ WmClarke]

You will be received with open arms

And open legs. And open wallet.

 

I will be more than happy to come down and keep you warm on a couple of those days:)

 

And I will be happy also to do so, for a couple more days.

[marylander1940]

First of all is your choice and I'm sure you're making a decision based on your own financial interest. Why would you move to a small city with less potential clients available?

Ah Marylander, last I saw Chicago is a bigger city than Seattle.

Milwaukee two months of nice weather, as long as you don't live within 5 miles of the lake.

Last summer was very cool I don't think we had one 90 degree day.

We just had the coldest winter in years, top 6 of all time. That said lived here all my life and probably would never move permanently.

 

Chris we welcome you to the Midwest. You will be received with open arms and more sun than Seattle, just that sun might come with those -10 degree days.

I will be more than happy to come down and keep you warm on a couple of those days:)

 

It will be interesting to see how the COL will rise due to the impending pension crisis. They are going to have to find $3 Billion somehow and taxpayers pockets are looking pretty good for that.

 

He's not saying Chicago...he says somewhere affordable in the Midwest, that could be near Chicago or hours away from it...

 

Don't you put words in my mouth I didn't say, and at least properly quote me so I can reply to you.

[+ stevenkesslar]

Many folks don't know this about the pacific north west but in our line of work its one of the worst markets in the country. I have talked to escorts from all over the country and they have had similar experiences.

 

You're right on that. My first year escorting was based in Portland and I travelled to Seattle a lot. As I said earlier on this thread moving from Portland to SF increased my housing expense by 50 % or so but my income went up maybe 400 or 500 %. It was complete apples to oranges in terms of money to be made and fun to be had.

 

Chicago is my hometown. If its one place you're considering, it has always been a good stop as a traveling escort.

 

If you haven't done so, you should talk to Dane Scott. He moved to Chicago from NYC and spent several years there and it was more than viable. His rent was still relatively affordable and I think biz was good for him.

[anotherjohnindupont]

Many folks don't know this about the pacific north west but in our line of work its one of the worst markets in the country. I have talked to escorts from all over the country and they have had similar experiences. It doesn't matter how well reviewed you are or what you look like (even the Andrew Christian models are hard up) business is just bad here. With increasing rent and price gouging on airfare its not a viable...

 

I know a local Washington DC escort who used to go to Seattle and simply gave up on that city after breaking even on several trips.

 

Clients constantly complain about the lack of escorts there but that'st for a reason...

[actor61]

“What happens is, you get a bank, you get a chain yoga studio, you get a boutique gym, and you get a restaurant serving $16 bowls of ramen,” Criscitello says while showing me around Capitol Hill. “Eventually you walk around and you realize, I just passed a bunch of places where I can’t afford to shop, I can’t afford to eat, and I can’t afford to live.”

 

I am a Seattle native and while I will always have a reverence for my home we are facing serious problems. When my lease is up in a few months I am packing up and moving to the midwest were things are still affordable. Seattle is in a bit of a pickle we are having massive population growth but we don't have the infrastructure to support it.

 

http://grist.org/cities/in-seattle-the-rent-is-too-damn-high/

 

I did exactly the same thing for the same reason. I moved from Los Angeles to Chicago last October. I paid over $1,000 a month in L.A. for a shitty studio apartment with no parking, utilities, appliance or A/C, but with the noisiest, most inconsiderate neighbors I've ever known, and a building manager whose idea of maintenance was to hire a couple of guys in the Home Depot parking lot to do the repairs. I now have 1 bedroom, a den, huge kitchen, a back porch in a 3rd floor walk-up apartment for $800 a month, heat included. Sometimes the 3 flights of stairs are a pain but when I get up here and open the door to my AFFORDABLE, beautiful apartment with its view of a garden, hardwood floors, ceiling fans, considerate neighbors and a building manager who actually answers his phone, I heave a sigh of happiness. I don't know how much longer the midwest is going to be affordable but you've got the right idea to jump on it now. And believe me, you won't miss a thing. We have theatre, superb restaurants, museums, great bars and clubs, jazz, parks, beaches and Lake Michigan. It's all good, as they say.

[marylander1940]

Although rents may be a bit higher, being a landlord to properties and owning homes has its own challenges. Insurance, property taxes, utilities, and appliances aren't cheap. Maintenance and time are big burdens. Domestically in New York and San Francisco, there's various home owner association fees on a few places I have there. To even get a property, there are home inspections, checking for pests, closing costs, moving expenses, furniture, and decorating costs. Do you know how much lawn care has changed and caused due to the drought? Clean it all is another expense. Keeping everything wired (phone, internet, cable) and up-to-date on various plans is a burden. I only wish I had one simple rent monthly to pay.

 

I'd rather owning my home instead of paying rent at any situation.

[ZhenXBear]

I think it's bad in all metro areas right now. I read a recent article that the average rental renewal lease increased 12% this year. Considering we're in a relatively wage stagnant economy or receiving raises of 3%, wages are definitely not pacing the cost of living index anymore.

 

I've noticed that the rental prices in the greater Bay Area are now approaching more lofty San Francisco prices of 2-3 years ago. Simply unsustainable. Technically I'm a 2% quartile earner but I won't be booking any private jets. Also doing some consulting to bring in extra money for savings and retirement.

[ZhenXBear]

I'd rather owning my home instead of paying rent at any situation.

 

Me too, but what $500,000 buys you in the Bay Area is a license to gut and remodel in a shady neighborhood in the throws of gentrification.

[down_to_business]

I guess the grass is always greener... but I can't wait to get the fuck out of Texas myself.

[ZhenXBear]

I guess the grass is always greener... but I can't wait to get the fuck out of Texas myself.

 

What's Austin like? I hear it's actually a pretty gay friendly city.

[bigvalboy]

Although rents may be a bit higher, being a landlord to properties and owning homes has its own challenges. Insurance, property taxes, utilities, and appliances aren't cheap. Maintenance and time are big burdens. Domestically in New York and San Francisco, there's various home owner association fees on a few places I have there. To even get a property, there are home inspections, checking for pests, closing costs, moving expenses, furniture, and decorating costs. Do you know how much lawn care has changed and caused due to the drought? Clean it all is another expense. Keeping everything wired (phone, internet, cable) and up-to-date on various plans is a burden. I only wish I had one simple rent monthly to pay.

 

Yes of course you are right, homeownership is challenging, expensive, frustrating, time consuming....but, and there always is a but.... you fail to mention equity. Over the long haul, owning property is still one of the best investments you can make, and statistically across the board in most cases, it has been shown that seniors who own as oppose to those that rent in their retirement years are far better off financially, provided of course that they did not use their house as an ATM machine.

 

Buying young and holding, will give you more freedom and financial options as you age. IMHO

[+ ArVaGuy]

What's Austin like? I hear it's actually a pretty gay friendly city.

 

Austin is the only city in Texas worth visiting or living permanently. I love the city from its great food and music to its quirky nature. "Keep Austin weird" as they say.

 

All that said, my last visit earlier this year left me a bit down on the city. Note, I'm in the convention business and work closely with the convention bureau. The city of Austin has experienced explosive growth the last decade. The population is increasing faster than the regional governments can handle. Traffic is a mess like many major cities.

 

But what distressed my most was how the attitude of the city is changing. It's very subtle but noticeable to a frequent visitor. There are fewer people "from" Austin and a lot more transplants. They are making Austin much less "weird" which is a shame.

 

As a native Austin resident put it, "Thank ya'll for visiting, please don't move here."

[+ WmClarke]

What's Austin like? I hear it's actually a pretty gay friendly city.

Austin is great and very gay friendly. Left there 20 years ago and wish I hadn't left. On the down side, traffic is awful there now