Renting the American Dream
Why lease a home when you can buy? Ask the attorney general.
My guy and I are moving in together and decided to rent before we buy. We're not students, the customary transients who rock Boston's rental stock every September. We're 50-somethings in transition and simply taking a breather by leasing somebody else's turf. If real estate is the new religion, call us agnostics. Or call us crazy - as one researcher suggests. "The traditional reasons why some people might have rented at 35 and above have been taken away," says Tom Meagher, president of Northeast Apartment Advisors of Action, which provides research and analysis to housing developers. "Interest-only or adjustable-rate mortgages are well within the means of almost anybody who is going to rent." Especially Tom Reilly, the state's boldface-name renter.
Reilly, 63, Massachusetts attorney general and Democratic candidate for governor, and his wife, Ruth, have leased the same second-floor apartment on Palfrey Street in Watertown for 35 years. Not even a fire that destroyed their possessions two years ago and a flood of lodging offers that followed could budge them. "We had a lot of options after the fire, but we made a choice to stay here," says Reilly. He and his wife raised three daughters there. His landlord lives downstairs. Reilly won't reveal his rent but says, "We pay the market value, as we always have." Having recently looked at apartments in the Reillys' neighborhood, I would venture they pay between $1,100 and $1,400 per month for their 1,163 square feet. Nothing fires up the backseat broker more than speculating about what somebody pays and why somebody rents.
I asked Meagher what might motivate the hypothetical older renter. "These are people with damaged credit who aren't able to qualify for a mortgage," he says. "Renters over 35 are also newly single people, divorced, or they recently moved into the area and have absolute sticker shock, having come from Tulsa, where housing prices are much lower. So they want to look around for a while before they buy."
Valerie Schechter, owner of JP Rentals & Sales in Jamaica Plain, says she's noticed a new phenomenon of suburbanites selling the manse in Dover or wherever and exploring the urban lifestyle by renting first. A few of these mature renters aren't exactly landless. The Reillys own a cottage in Chatham. I have a Boston condo.
I've learned that age doesn't earn you easier admittance when looking for a rental; you get scrutinized like the rest. On our first day of looking, we found a decent "pets OK" apartment in our price range, but it didn't strike either of us as "our place." Still, we intimated we might drop by the real estate office later to fill out an application. "What would you need to know?" I asked. "Social Security number, credit cards, bank account, income verification," was the reply. I bristled as my calmer half told me to buck up.
Tom Reilly has fended off personal insinuations about his finances because of his renter status. "No one is as fascinated in this as the media," Reilly says. "I've met thousands of people, and no one else asks." His answer, in case you wanted to know? "We just never wanted to leave." Renter or no, Reilly owns a slice of the American pie. "We're part of the neighborhood, and that's what we love. It's like having an extended family." In September, my guy and I will become part of the Belmont family.
"There are a lot of folks [renting], a lot more than people think," suggests Reilly. "As long as you're happy, who cares what people think?"
Monica Collins writes biweekly. E-mail her at mcollins@globe.com. 