New Yorkers are moving to RVs en masse due to exorbitant rents

Resourceful New Yorkers are moving to RVs to avoid exorbitant rents. The edition told in more detail NY Daily News.

“I wouldn't do that if I didn't have to,” said Giovanni, 32, who lives in a camper. "If I continued to live as before, I would most likely find myself in a difficult financial situation and would not be able to pay the rent, perhaps I would have to move out and look for where to spend the night."

Giovanni is one of dozens of New Yorkers who traded a brick home for a motor home because they couldn't afford the rent in the city.

Giovanni said he was barely making ends meet. He worked in an ambulance at a private hospital.

“I was an emergency doctor, it was really hard,” he explained. “I needed to rent out the living room to be able to cover the rent. That's how hard it was. I did this for three or four years and decided that it was over. I'm over it".

In December 2019, Giovanni bought a Fleetwood Southwind camper for $ 4 and decided to move there.

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Under the light of a small solar lamp, Giovanni, who asked not to be named, is now selling insurance, using his mobile phone as an internet hotspot. He said his salary of $ 40 a year is still not enough to rent an apartment in most areas of the city.

“I went to college and did almost everything to live well. But it turned out differently, - he explained. "Most of us have been hit by student loans that are almost impossible to repay."

According to a Street Easy report, the average monthly rental price of real estate in Brooklyn rose from $ 1 in 840 to $ 2010 in March last year.

Rentals in Brooklyn averaged $ 2 per month in March, according to the real estate website.

“One of the characteristics of the pandemic versus the pre-pandemic was a sharp drop in rents, but it doesn't appear that the decline wasn't enough to make housing affordable,” said Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel Inc., a real estate appraisal and consulting agency. "This is really a predicament."

For New Yorkers like John Sanabria, the van offers the opportunity to settle down anywhere.

“If I go to another state, there will be more freedom,” said 35-year-old Sanabria. "I feel like I have no freedom here."

Last summer, Sanabria poured his savings into a 1998 Airstream Land Yacht van. Once the floors are repaired, he plans to leave New York and start over.

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Until his van is ready for the road, Sanabria works as a locksmith and lives in Sunset Park. He said he could not afford to stay in the area where he was born and raised.

“There are a lot of people from other states,” Sanabria said. “But even people with higher education have to work two jobs to afford rent in New York. I feel abandoned. "

NYPD said there are no rules for RVs, only that they must obey street parking rules.

While life in a mobile home may seem attractive to people trying to save money and add a little adventure to their lives, it is not for everyone.

New York City, unlike places like Jersey City, Chicago, San Diego, and New Orleans, has no parking spaces for these homes, no electricity and water connections, or trash spots.

Because of this, living here in a motor home can be challenging.

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“It's a little tricky just because New York isn't exactly friendly to these houses,” said Katie.

Katie and her husband moved into their four-wheeled dwelling at the start of the pandemic because they could no longer pay their rent.

“We are ordinary people, we work like everyone else, we pay taxes like everyone else,” said Katie. "We just can't afford to live in New York."

Despite the fact that life is not always easy, Giovanni tries to make the most of it.

“I go to dating sites, my profile says I live in a mobile home, and some people say, 'Wow, this is really cool.' Others just don't say anything, ”he said. "My friends don't care where I live."