Florida has always had a large immigrant population. However, it is causing some significant problems in the housing market, especially rentals. The monthly rent alone for a one bedroom in a less than stellar area of town is in excess of $1300/month. Most two bedrooms in the same areas go for $1400+/month. The cost of utilities, insurance, and property taxes have skyrocketed over the last couple of years. Most is a direct result of inflation but there is the population pressure as well.
Most immigrants share units. In many cases that creates problems with maintenance and insurance.The law is only two people per bedroom. You might get away with two adults and a small child in a one bedroom but it depends on the kind of day the code enforcement people are having, or the cops, or who ever creates a situation that causes an inspection. Too many people also cause fire hazards. Utilities are tier based meaning you could pay currently reasonable charges for water or electric one month, and then the tenant adds another roomie and suddenly you jump to the next tier and the monthly bill dramatically increases. Unfortunately “governors” on utilities are illegal here in Florida so water usage can be dramatically expensive. And for people who crossed the Sonoran Dessert with barely a water bottle of fluid, they all act like they are going to melt if it gets over 73 in the unit. Not to mention the hew and cry, “My children. My children. They can’t breathe. They can’t sleep. They cry.” It makes me ask if they really lived south of the border or if they are from the arctic.
Sorry, don’t mean to be snarky but I swear I don’t know what people expect when they come to Florida. You aren’t going to be making $20 and hour and you aren’t going to get a lot of free stuff from the State. Feds hand it out like candy but not the State.
And immigrants don’t just include Hispanics. We get a lot of legal Africans and Middle Easterners here. Lots of Asians of all flavors as well.
There are two groups I don’t like to rent to …. Haitians and Syrians. I’d rather rent to a Guatemalan than either of those. Call me racist, I don’t care. Anything I could come up with is eclipsed by those two groups.