GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — "We really like it here, we have good neighbors…we hate to leave Grand Rapids," said the husband of a senior couple inside their apartment of 25 years.
The couple asked to stay anonymous out of concern of potential retaliation from their apartment management.
'It's financial squeeze all the way around," said the husband.
Lifelong Grand Rapids residents, the pair are both retired and living on fixed incomes from their pensions and social security.
Recently getting rid of a car, they said they have already been feeling squeezed due to prices of food and insurance. The rent for their one-bedroom apartment is now around $1100 a month.
They said their neighbors have seen $200 increases per month. If their rent continues to climb, they fear they may have to leave.
"If one of us should perish, the other one couldn't stay here. We lose our pension and social security of course," said the husband. "You wanted to retire, but now you think 'wow, maybe we should have waited until we're 90 or something.'"
They said they have not qualified for assistance, they struggle to find a place to live that they can afford without sacrificing accessibility to their doctors and family.
A recent study by Rent.com said Michigan saw one of the largest spikes in rent in the country. Between January 2023 and January 2024, Michigan saw a 12.47% year-to-year increase.
Michigan's median rent price is now $1,507 dollars.
"Just like in the rest of the economy, inflation has affected rental property owners for both supplies for fixing the house, maintaining the house, water heaters, furnaces and then also labor costs," said Erika Farley, executive director for the Rental Property Owners Association of Kent County.
Farley explained that the RPOA is an organization that is mostly made up of small and private rental owners who mainly rent to up to a handful of households at a time.
She said many of their members have longstanding tenants who have been paying the same price for years.
"These are members of the community," said Farley. "These are people who are in the grocery store with you, and have kids in school with you, and are at church with you."
Along with economic conditions, the RPOA attributes the state's aged housing stock, along with large, out-of-state management companies buying properties and increasing prices.
"When these larger management companies come in, they kind of buy in bulk, it just like anything else, it's going to drive up because of that supply and demand," said Farley. "That starts to push out the smaller property owners and the housing providers. It starts to push them out of the industry."
From their Grand Rapids apartment, the couple said their neighbors have been one of their favorite things about living there. However, the increasing prices from their property management have been slowly pushing out their neighbors.
"It's just a turning point for a lot of us here," said the husband. "Everybody we know has been looking."
Local resources for access to affordable housing in Grand Rapids and Kent County include:
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