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Survey Finds Almost a Third of People Would Live in a Spider Infested House For Free Rent

Brittney Morgan
Brittney Morgan
Brittney is Apartment Therapy's Assistant Lifestyle Editor and an avid tweeter with a passion for carbs and lipstick. She believes in mermaids and owns way too many throw pillows.
published Oct 26, 2017
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Just in time to give you the heebie-jeebies before Halloween, a recent survey from Insight Pest Solutions found some… well, surprising information about how far people will go for free rent. Apparently, nearly a third of respondents said that they would be willing to live in a house full of spiders in exchange for a year of free rent or mortgage payments.

I live in New York, so more than anything, I understand the appeal of free rent (that’d be a savings of nearly $13,000 a year for me!) but still—I really don’t think this trade-off would be worth it.

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(Image credit: Insight Pest Solutions)

Maybe I’m biased because I woke up this morning to a bunch of mosquito bites that occurred in the middle of the night in what was supposed to be the safety and comfort of my own home, but all I can think about reading this is how no bugs are good bugs to have in your house.

To clarify: I promise I don’t have it out for insects or spiders. I fully recognize that they’re important to our ecosystem, and I want no harm to come to them. Some of them even bring me joy (just, you know outside). I mean, fireflies are basically magic, dragonflies are cool as heck, and I fully believe butterflies are a gift from the universe. And even as a person with horrible arachnophobia, I can admit that spiders are incredibly fascinating.

Regardless, I can’t think of a single creepy-crawly that I’d willingly let into my apartment. If the coolest, most beautiful bugs being in my apartment would haunt me, then the idea of living in a home full of spiders is viscerally upsetting (this same survey also found that 1 in 5 people have lost sleep after finding a spider in their home, and I’m not ashamed to admit I’m definitely one of them).

Think about it: Sure, you wouldn’t have to pay for your rent or your mortgage for an entire year, but consider what you’d be coming home to. (Hear that? It’s me, shuddering at the thought.)

Now I’m curious, do you think free rent is worth living in a home full of spiders? Are you a “maybe” or a hard “no way!”?