It’s baffling to see what kind of poor conditions people will put up with so they can pay as little as possible in rent. Most of us don’t want to live in a dorm-style apartment with no kitchen and a shared bathroom, but there will always be someone out there who will, so they can live by themselves for a well-below-market rate. It’s sad but true that people stay in horrible living situations because they literally cannot afford to live anywhere better, let alone pay to move somewhere else. Nobody wants to have a creepy roommate or live in a pig sty, but if that’s what they have to do to have a roof over their head, it’s what they’re going to do.

When you’re secure in your living situation, you might look at suspicious rental postings and scoff, feeling sorry for the poor soul who is going to be living there for the next 12 months.