‘Out of options’: Bend woman struggling to find affordable apartment to rent
'I am a little concerned. I don't want to live in my car.'
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Jennifer Reid and her granddaughter, Layla, are looking for something many others in Bend are searching for: a new place to live. And not by choice.
"Hopefully we'll find something -- huh, Layla?” Reid said to her baby granddaughter Monday.
Reid, who has lived in Bend since 2005, must leave her current apartment in northeast Bend by the end of the month because a family member of her landlord is moving in.
Layla is raised by Reids daughter in law, but Reid baby sits and takes care of Layla often.
Reid said she has called at least 10 to 15 property rentals in town, and can't find anything she can afford.
"The fact that you have nowhere to live, that's scary. I've never had this problem before,” Reid said.
Reid is usually a medical assistant, but has been unemployed during the pandemic.
She has enough money to pay her current rent, but can't find anything in the same $1,300 monthly price range.
"I'd say it's worse,” Reid said, comparing her apartment search 18 months ago to now. “I lucked into this one, and it wasn't so bad back then -- but now it's impossible to find anything."
One property management business told NewsChannel 21 they have a waitlist as high as 60 people, and even stopped adding people to it.
Gretchen Stauffer, operations officers with PLUS Property Management, said they don’t use a waitlist system. However, she said they’ve seen a huge increase in the number of people looking for a place to live.
"We have a lot of applicants who are looking for new places to be and who are panicking,” Stauffer said.
Stauffer said the combination of new people moving to town, investors selling properties and year-round properties turning into vacation rentals has made the market tough.
"People are staying put, because they know it's difficult to find other properties to move to,” Stauffer said.
And now, the statewide moratorium on evictions ends June 30, so that could have an impact as well.
As for Reid, she said, "I'm out of options at this point. I am a little concerned. I don't want to live in my car.”
Reid is also considering leaving town, as well as resorting to her car, but she's not sure how she cant take care of Layla that way.
"She'll have to sit in the car with me, I guess," with. I laugh only because if I don't I'll cry,” Reid said while fighting tears. “And like I said, I don't want to have to move, because she's my happiness right now."
Reid knows there’s many others in her situation, and offers a bit of advice.
"The way I think to help this is to start a conversation, spread the word,” Reid said. “Let people know that there are people in this world that will help. You've just got to get that word out."
