Rent Too High Forces "Mixer-Style Roommate Hunting"! Hollywood Speed Dating Event Sees 50- and 60-Somethings
Did you think finding a roommate was only for young people? Not at all! Now that the cost of living in California is so high, even uncles and aunts in their 50s and 60s are starting to find roommates to share rentals, and they even attend "speed roommate" events like that.
Recently, such an event was held in Hollywood. The organizer is an online roommate-finding platform called SpareRoom. The format is very similar to speed dating! Everyone wears a name tag with their budget, where they want to live, and whether they are looking for a roommate or a tenant. This way, they can instantly connect on the spot.
Actually, this platform has been doing this in the UK since 2007, and now it's also in Los Angeles and San Diego. People just chat casually on site, exchange information, and if they find a suitable match, they go on to discuss how to share the rent.
A 46-year-old woman named Amanda Hart also went. She rented a three-bedroom apartment in Valley Village, Los Angeles, and has lived there for 9 years. Previously, she could afford it alone, but now the economy isn't great, so she can only find a roommate to share expenses. She said that two years ago she could still live alone, but now it's absolutely not possible. Fortunately, her apartment has rent control; otherwise, like her friends, when the lease is up, the rent would directly increase by $300 to $500 a month, which would be unbearable. Being able to stay is already very lucky.
There was also a 40-year-old tailor named Leetal Platt. Her place in Hollywood is quite spacious, and she also wanted to find a roommate to save money. She said attending this kind of event is great because you can quickly learn about the other person's lifestyle and plans.
Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, said that people sharing rentals now stay longer and longer, with a huge increase in people in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s, and the rate of increase among older people is faster than among younger people. The reason is very realistic: living alone is too expensive, and they can't afford to buy a home. Some older adults were initially afraid that living with people in their 20s or 30s would be awkward, but after attending the event, they found that the age range was actually quite diverse, so it wasn't a problem at all.
Although the Los Angeles rental market seems to have cooled down recently, it is still frighteningly expensive. According to a report by Realtor.com in July this year, the median rent in Los Angeles County dropped to $2,603 in the second quarter of 2026, the lowest in four years. But even so, many young people still have to spend 30% or more of their income on rent, which is extremely stressful.
Even retirees cannot escape high rents. Albrik Keshishian, 66, frequently travels between Europe and Los Angeles. He used to stay at his niece's place when visiting Southern California, but now he plans to find a short-term rental with a monthly budget of about $800 to $1,000. He lived in Los Angeles for decades before, buying a home in Glendale in 1989 and selling it in 2022. But now he sees that the home's value has reached about $2.5 million, while he only sold it for $1.2 million. He exclaimed that this is crazy, and if he had known, he would have waited a bit longer!
