Apartment Tips?

[ugosplat]

Hey all, I recently graduated from UConn and will be moving to the Hartford, CT area in July. I recently started looking for an aprtment and am trying to decide what is best for me. This is my first time looking for an apartment in the 'real world' and I would appreciate any tips anyone has. What % of my salary should go towards rent? I read somewhere that 28% of your gross income is a good estimate of how much you should spend on rent, is this accurate? What are some pros and cons to living in a complex vs a house? I found http://www.apartmentratings.com/, are there other sites similar to that? Right now I am looking at mainly craig's list and apartments.com to get a feel for what is out there, any other good resources to use? I am also trying to decide if I want a roommate or not. It makes things alot easier financially but I don't personally know of someone to room with so it would have to be a stranger. I have some anxiety about living with a stranger, is it no big deal or are there lots of roommate horror stories? This is all new to me so I appreciate the responses.

[winneythepooh7]

Hi and welcome!!! To answer some of your questions, I love not having a roommate because it makes life just so much easier. I cannot imagine how hellish my life could ultimately become if I had to leave my already stressful work environment and go home and deal with a roommate that I may or may not get along with and all their quirks. In terms of cost of rent, I pay a little more than a 1/4 of my monthly income right now towards rent. That is because the cost of living is pretty high these days wherever you go. I also live in a private house rented by a private landlord. I like this arrangement much more then when I lived in a building. My landlord lets me pay my rent whenever, lets me have pets and is not really a bother. Plus the neighbors I have found are generally more approachable living in a private house. Good luck on your search!

[southernbelle]

I live alone too and I love it! It can get a little lonely sometimes, but that's why I have a dog and friends nearby! Its nice to come home to a peaceful place where I can do whatever I want. I agree that about 25% of your income should go to rent. Mine is about a third unfortunately, but that's the best I can do for now, so I just try to be real careful with money. Some other tips: ask them about soundproof walls (carpeting is a good soundproofer too), quiet hours, maintenance if you have problems, when rent is due, how long of a lease you'll have if you decide you want to move out for some reason, and any discounts/specials they currently have, if you have to pay separate for water, sewer, heat. Check your local police department for crime listings in the different areas (its free). The most important things to me are safety and quiet. When I was looking, I checked the places out at night because often you'll see a different crowd. Some places look okay during the day but there are shady people that come out after dark! Look also to see if there are lots of families or more single people.

I love mine for the most part because there's a lot to do nearby, its generally safe and well-lit at night, maintenance is wonderful if I need anything, and my neighbors are really nice. The money sucks but I can deal for now.

Houses can be a lot cheaper in the long run, but then you have to take care of the yard too and all of the maintenance inside yourself - which can get super expensive.

Hope that helps!

[winneythepooh7]

I agree too that since I live in a house, my landlord doesn't do any upkeep really. The woman upstairs does our front yard and garbage. My refridgerator is about as old as dirt and my apartment needs painting and could use some new floors and don't get me started on the ghetto-bathroom. I could probably just hire someone to do the work and not pay rent for a few months, but since I don't know how long I will be here, don't know if that's worth it.

[asm198]

I prefer living alone, but that's just because I like having my own space. Every apartment I've rented has said that the rent can't be more than 1/4 of your monthly income. That might be different in the area you're looking in, but I think that's a good standard to have. I've looked online at apartments.com, rent.com, and realtor.com for apartment listings. I've also did a search for the city I wanted to live in for apartments and found local websites with listings. I'd also check out the main paper for the area and see if they have resources for listings.

As far as renting from a company or an individual, I've only rented from a company. However, my family has always had rental houses and we are good about taking care of issues, when they are brought to our attention. But not every landlord is that way. It just depends on how comfortable you are about renting from a single person. I've never had a problem with getting things resolved with a company.