Bobbie Hill-Ferdinando is a former school bus driver and mother of six who rents a three-bedroom house near St. Petersburg, Fla. She lives with her husband, who is disabled; an adult son, who lives in their garage; an adult daughter; and two grandkids.
The 61-year-old, known by her former coworkers as “Hill,” was born in California and raised in Cincinnati, but St. Petersburg — in the Tampa Bay metro region of central Florida — is home. The family technically lives a few miles from St. Petersburg proper, in South Pasadena, a fifteen-minute drive from the bustling downtown of the Sunshine City. The median home price is $413,000—up 72% from 2021.
In a trend seen across the Sun Belt, Hill-Ferdinando’s monthly rent for her home of 11 years has nearly doubled in recent years, from $995 a month in early 2020 to $1,800 today. Sitting at a wooden kitchen table in their home, Hill-Ferdinando tells In These Times she and her husband got their first rent increase in January 2020 to $1,300 a month, when their former landlord sold their property to his son. Five months later, they saw another $500 increase.
“All about the profit,” Hill-Ferdinando says. “The father never raised the rent,” she adds, shaking her head. “He liked us.”
Over the years, to make ends meet, Hill-Ferdinando has worked as an Uber driver, an Instacart driver and an Amazon packaging driver. The self-described “jack of all trades” has also worked in machinery, auto parts, waitressing and manufacturing. Most...
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