In a recent video, he takes a look inside a cheap studio apartment inside the Claridge Hotel LLC. building located in Oakland, CA.
The rental at 634 15th Street in Oakland, CA has one bathroom and is listed for $815-$1000 a month. According to RentCafe, the average rent for an apartment in Oakland is $2,816.
The first thing you see when entering the space virtually is the "bathroom", which Marre describes as "horrific."
Though no toilet is pictured, there is a sink with outdated wooden accents and a questionable corner that looks like it desperately needs to be deep cleaned.
Moving on to the main living space, the apartment is only 110 square feet and is extremely tiny. After accounting for the bed and shelving, there isn't much room to move around except for a small closet that Marre points out looks "dirty."
TikTok users in the comments pointed out that a few essentials appeared to be missing.
"Where is the toilet? The kitchen? This is a bedroom for $800 😳" one user asked.
"Do they cook and use the bathroom down the hall? 😫 Like I'm so confused" another person questioned.
Locals explained, however, that this is typical given the studio's location.
"No one from here would ever live there… Chile u can’t find anything liveable in Oakland under $2000/month & that’s being generous" one woman explained.
"Bay living for ya 🥲 we struggling" someone else confirmed.
Marre concludes the video by saying, "overall this apartment needs to be $110."
Contrary to the 4.3-star score the building currently has on the listing site, 16 people assigned 1.8 stars to the location on Google, explaining that despite its name, Claridge Hotel isn't really a hotel. The property's small and cheap studios are typically rented by tenants looking for short or long-term low-income housing opportunities.
"There is a communal bathroom and shower area on each floor for each sex and a laundry area in the basement with specific hours to do laundry," wrote one reviewer under the name of ER.
With a "Crime and Safety" score of C- on Niche, Oakland, CA doesn't seem like the best place to move to.
Crime rates in Oakland, CA.Niche
While cheap apartments are hard to come by, in this case, you won't get much space for your money, and safety can be an issue with this rental.
