For those of you that rent.... [Archive]

Kitty

03-06-2006, 05:11 PM

I think there are a lot of variables here that have to be weighed.

For example, I used to live in Hayward..but I hated that City w/ passion. To me, moving to where I am now was well worth the extra $150 a month (I also get to have an extra room here all to myself!). The place we live in, though, isn't that wonderful. Its clean, its nice, its in a cool location - but its nothing fancy. I wouldn't pay extra rent for, say, a dishwasher, a washing machine in my unit., etc. To me, its not worth the extra money. I think my biggest thing now, is being close to my job - I hate commuting, and if living closer to my work meant spending extra money, I would.

Winter Storm

03-06-2006, 05:13 PM

Ok, this is a good question and something I've been thinking about a lot lately.

Right now I live in a great apartment with a cheap rent, but it is the 'burbs and besides running errands and shopping, everything else is downtown. I do practically everything social downtown and most of my friends live down there too, so I'm finding that I commute downtown, 20-35 minutes nearly 6 days out of the week, sometimes more. Added on to that, we've been going to DC often so that just double my commute time.

Now if I chose to move downtown, I'd be paying at least $400 more, with less parking and probably half the closet space I have now.

So what I decided was to stay where I an til I'm 30, saving a few thousand more $$$$, then make a decision. I'll either buy closer to downtown or relocate to a new city in which I will try to live downtown.

wordsmith

03-06-2006, 05:16 PM

I would probably pay more for amenties if they were things I'd likely be shelling out for seperately otherwise. Like, I'd pay more for a place with in-house laundry if the increase was less than what I'd spend taking laundry out. If an onsite health club was less costly than a gym I'd use elswhere, etc. If the amenties were things I'd prob. just be content to do without, otherwise, then probably not.

But, you know me, and my income, and know that I can't really justify shelling out for bonus stuff. I think it just depends on your finances and if the perks are worth the price. From what you've said, the place seems nice, though.

and1grad

03-06-2006, 05:17 PM

I'll either buy closer to downtown or relocate to a new city in which I will try to live downtown.
I currently live downtown. It blows. It gets old. I say find a happy medium...a nice place not too far from downtown rather than throw away money to actually live there.

Winter Storm

03-06-2006, 05:24 PM

I currently live downtown. It blows. It gets old. I say find a happy medium...a nice place not too far from downtown rather than throw away money to actually live there.

Yeah, I've been thinking half-way downtown should suffice. I cannot deal with the parking crunch.

Cole

03-06-2006, 05:25 PM

I'm all about location. I prefer to be within walking or biking distance of groceries, entertainment, and work, if possible. So that's always my big deciding factor.

I don't need dishwashers or anything, but I also require lots of windows, and enough space to entertain.

I LOVE my place right now. It's about $80 more per month than I wanted to spend, but I wouldn't trade it for the cash.

Kitty

03-06-2006, 05:30 PM

I love teh City I live in, and the location I'm in within that City. I'm actually about a 5-10 minute drive from three different downtowns. I'm also near a bike trail/creek, lots of shopping stuff, tons of restaurants, coffee shops, etc. And I'm like 5 minutes from my mom - haha..which could be good or bad for some people, but good for me!

yankeeyosh

03-06-2006, 05:31 PM

Well, to afford a decent apartment downtown in any major city, you've gotta have a lot of $$$$$. Even though the amenities would be great, I don't think I could afford anything decent close to downtown unless I was making a lot more than I'm currently making.

wordsmith

03-06-2006, 05:31 PM

True. I'd rather pay more for a place I was happier than save money and stay someplace that made me miserable.

But I've never lived anyplace that was miserable, really...and between an okay place I can easily afford and a fantastic place that's kinda outta range, I'd probably have to stick with the okay place.

Winter Storm

03-06-2006, 05:36 PM

I'm all about location. I prefer to be within walking or biking distance of groceries, entertainment, and work, if possible. So that's always my big deciding factor.

See, that is my other complaint about living downtown. Besides bars, clubs and restaurants, there are very few shops and places where you can run errands and you still have to drive around. Where I live, though I drive, I can access every type of business I need on the main street I live off of. I have 5 grocery stores and some 8 gas stations, and every little specialty shop you'd need, where downtown these things are sparse and spread way out. And for many places, there is no parking.

And of course, it's almost double uptown rent.

cheshrcarol

03-06-2006, 05:37 PM

I think it's all about what's important to you. I live in a fabulous place in a location I love, but I live with a roommate in order to afford living here. I could live in a really crappy place for about the same price if I wanted to live on my own. Or I could live in an ok place with not as much as I have here, for $200-$300+ more.

Is it worth the extra $400 or more for what you'll get? Can you afford it, or would you need a roommate? Are you cool with having a roommate after living on your own for a while? (as an aside, I have a similar set up now to what you would have if you did have a roommate at that place, and for me it's worked great). If you didn't spend that extra $$ per month, would you be able to buy something sooner?

paiger81

03-06-2006, 05:37 PM

I have an okay apartment in a location that I like (except that my undergrad neighbors think 2 in the morning is primo time for guitar practice)

LOL, seriously, wtf?! The guys that live below me find 2 am on a Wednesday, the perfect time to start a party! It's so bizarre to be awoken at 2am to "Enter Sandman" playing & all of their friends screaming off the balconey! I've complained only once, they got in hella trouble for it and stopped for a long while.

Now I just have my revenge by vacuuming the floor at 6:30am when I wake up & letting Porter pee on their welcome mat :twisted:

SmilesSoSweet

03-06-2006, 05:48 PM

I found a great apartment in a good location. And it's really affordable rent. It's small (610 sq. ft.) but enough space for me. I don't want anything too big, because then I'll start buying more crap that I don't need to fill up space. As for amenities, my only requirements were, A/C (it's Arizona!), a fridge (since apparently in So. Cali not too many apts come with one), covered parking space, on-site laundry, and a floor plan where a window wasn't adjacent to the front door (as in anyone could just break the window and access the front door - I grew up in the ghetto, so I know all about that!)

As for laundry, it was cheaper for me not to get one inside the apt. If I went to another complex that had inside laundry, I'd have to pay more for that plus a montly water bill. Here at my place I just do my loads of laundry at once and it's $.75 to wash and another $.75 to dry.

There isn't a gym on-site. My last place had one and the couple of times I used it it was crowded. There were like over 1000 residents in that complex and one treadmill! I still have my gym membership, but I haven't used it in awhile. There are two pools on-site, but I just learned how to swim last summer and pools here are just crowded with kids during the summer months. It's actually TOO hot to go to the pool during the summer, so I don't bother going to the pool.

My carport isn't close, but not far from my apartment. There's a curb access right by my apartment where I can load and unload my stuff if I need to. It's just a bitch during the summer months, but I can tolerate it.

The only thing I don't like - dogs owners don't clean up after their dogs! There are pooper cans all over the place with bags yet people don't clean up after them. It's really not the fault of the complex, it's just the lazy people in living there.

I'm also planning on buying my own place by the end of the year, so I won't be apartment living for the rest of my life

heatherf

03-06-2006, 05:54 PM

And1- how much is your rent?

What other areas do you like?

steph78

03-06-2006, 05:59 PM

If you didn't spend that extra $$ per month, would you be able to buy something sooner?

That is the factor that made us choose our current apartment over one that was very similar but would have been $100 more per month for a few extras which were not really necessities. We basically put our long-term priorities ahead of our short-term priorities. If we were going to be renting for like ten years, I think I would have gone with the more expensive apartment because I liked it better, and I feel like any place which you are going to really settle into should be a place that you really like. However, we knew that we would not be in that apartment more than 2-3 years and our brains were thinking that $100/month times 12 months times 3 years = $3600 more saved for a downpayment on a house.

Illuminous

03-06-2006, 06:38 PM

I had a great apartment in a horrid area. that sucked. I was soooo far away from where i do pretty much everything. So I moved to an area closer to the towns I cover and my work. It's almost about 10 minutes closer to downtown, where I go out on the weekends and where all the good food is. My apartment has no inside lighting and a dude died there before i moved in.

Eh.

I think next time I'm going to try an area that is close to shopping and entertainment and close-ish to work. Amenities are no big deal for me, bc I honestly don't use the pool for much, and I work out in my house. Plus most apartment "fitness rooms" around here consist of a boxflex and one treadmill.

It really depends on your lifestyle.

EmberMae

03-06-2006, 08:04 PM

I hate commuting. That is a pretty big priority for me. That being said, I don't think I would like living downtown. It's either ghetto or super expensive. There's no real in between.

Another priority for me is having an apartment that's as new as possible. Most of these people don't take good care of the place and they don't replace things as they should. I lived in an apartment with a dishwasher from 1973. No joke!

I love my apartment because:
It's 5 years old so all the appliances are pretty new.
It has some grassy areas in between the apartments, and a lot of walkways.
My windows look out on a grassy area, and not a parking lot.
It's off the main road so traffic noises are minimal, yet it's a 15 minute walk to the library, bank, grocery store, and post office, and a 5 minute drive to a bunch of other things.
It comes with a washer and dryer. This saved me a lot of money because I was going to buy one. I had over $100 worth of clothes stolen from me at the laundry room of my last apartment.
It has a ton of windows and plenty of space.

wordsmith

03-06-2006, 08:09 PM

It just struck me that I've yet to live in a building that doesn't date back to the late 1800s. And I like it that way!

Kitty

03-06-2006, 08:12 PM

My flat in downtown SF was ancient. THe garage was actually converted from horse-stables!

wordsmith

03-06-2006, 08:14 PM

Awesome, Kitty. My last place had a hitching post in front of it.

And, as we all know, my current building was a turn of the century bordello, and acted as a whorehouse up through the 1950s.

MollyMe

03-07-2006, 12:20 AM

Another priority for me is having an apartment that's as new as possible. Most of these people don't take good care of the place and they don't replace things as they should. I lived in an apartment with a dishwasher from 1973. No joke!

I love my apartment because:
It's 5 years old so all the appliances are pretty new.
It has some grassy areas in between the apartments, and a lot of walkways.
My windows look out on a grassy area, and not a parking lot.
It's off the main road so traffic noises are minimal, yet it's a 15 minute walk to the library, bank, grocery store, and post office, and a 5 minute drive to a bunch of other things.
It comes with a washer and dryer. This saved me a lot of money because I was going to buy one. I had over $100 worth of clothes stolen from me at the laundry room of my last apartment.
It has a ton of windows and plenty of space.

That sounds a lot like me. I need to be in a newer apartment. I didn't like what I saw in the older apartments. Even 'updated' apartments weren't that updated.
I like new appliances. I need a dishwasher and washer and dryer in the unit.
I need a bathroom with a large vanity top.
I need a good-sized kitchen. Most apartment kitchens are tiny.
I like an apartment complex that has open areas with grass and nice landscaping.
I need at least 800 sq ft.
I like a staff that is very responsive and takes care for the property.

As for the pool, gym, pond, tennis courts, basketball court...I don't care. I wouldn't pay extra for them.

wordsmith

03-07-2006, 12:24 AM

I can honestly say I've never lived anwhere that employs a staff.

vxmike

03-07-2006, 01:25 AM

I hate spending money on housing whether it be rent or mortgage and I've done both. I currently rent. Don't care about amentities - pretty much the only factor for me is getting the cheapest place that's close to work since I also have a passionate hate for commuting.

shimmer728

03-07-2006, 08:32 AM

My perspective is a little different because I live in a small town, but I have a great apartment right in town that I pay only $400/month for. Cheap, yes, but I could get something bigger (a two-bedroom) even cheaper (say, $350 and under) if I REALLY moved to the boonies, like 15 miles outside of town or whatever. But I love this place. So I stay. So for me, I guess location/amenities is important. But if we we were talking rent that was like a grand a month, I might feel differently.

Jess, my place was built in 1789. It used to be a tavern. So cool! :)

sundaycomics

03-07-2006, 08:57 AM

I've always lived in the cheapest place available unless that meant something REALLY sketchy. Twice that's meant a room in a decent house that had decent kitchens, laundry, etc. Pretty good deal if you don't mind having a roommate or three.

Now we live in the 1st floor of a house and have pretty much anything we need, although the location kinda sucks for both of us. But since we each commute 45 minutes in the opposite direction that's about the only way to do it.

If it were me I'd stay in the okay place, but then again I've never seen the two places you're looking at and have no clue about your financial situation.

Deavan

03-07-2006, 09:09 AM

Would you pay more for rent if the place you lived had a GREAT location, amenities, etc or would you save money on rent and live someplace kinda blah with no amenities whatsoever? I'm struggling with this decision right now and I'm wondering what you all think.

p.s. NO diatribes about ownership please. Thanks.

I would pay more for a place in a FAB location with amenitites and ideally that included utilities...(The utilitites bite me every time especially my heat bill sicne I am in Boston)

I have done the blah place and although it worked out for me I never realized how much HAPPIER I was with a washer dryer for free in my kitchen as opposed to lugging my dirty clothes to the laundromat...

winneythepooh7

03-07-2006, 09:10 AM

I live in an okay-apartment by NYC standards. My rent is mad cheap ($630 a month and that includes everything but cable!). The location is awesome (15 minutes to Mid-town Manhattan by subway, subway 2 blocks away). There are also a lot of great restaurants and bars in my neighborhood. There is an Old Navy about 3 long blocks away, as well. I am able to sock a lot of cash away each month by living where I live because my rent amount is rare for NYC, and even parts of the 'burbs. Market-rent right now for Queens and Long Island is about $1200.00 per month. I would rather keep living where I live than give it up and pay $600 or more a month towards rent, on top of say, a $250.00 LIRR ticket and $76.00 monthly metrocard ;). Yeah, I don't like to have people over all the time because my apartment is a "basement apartment" and it is what it is (small, dark), but all my friends for the most part live in Long Island and have houses anyways, so I go there if I want to be entertained. Or I meet people out. Mostly everyone I know who does live in the city have a ton of roommates anyways, and rarely have people over. There's nothing "wrong" with the apartment otherwise...........

Deavan

03-07-2006, 09:26 AM

The Key is don't over extend yourself :)

yankeeyosh

03-07-2006, 09:32 AM

I live in an okay-apartment by NYC standards. My rent is mad cheap ($630 a month and that includes everything but cable!).

Wow...that's amazing!

I don't know...I just feel like assuming I move to Boston (or even stay in NY and move out), I'm going to have to resign to the fact that I'm going to have to pay at least $1,100 - 1,200 a month or so in rent. I refuse to live with roommmates given past problems with them, and I pretty much have to live somewhere that my parents would "approve", even though they probably will never visit me.

Deavan

03-07-2006, 09:40 AM

Wow...that's amazing!

I don't know...I just feel like assuming I move to Boston (or even stay in NY and move out), I'm going to have to resign to the fact that I'm going to have to pay at least $1,100 - 1,200 a month or so in rent. I refuse to live with roommmates given past problems with them, and I pretty much have to live somewhere that my parents would "approve", even though they probably will never visit me.

You can get studios in Boston for 700-850 per month in Waltham, Arlington and Watertown (basically metro Boston) the key is looking for them

yankeeyosh

03-07-2006, 09:42 AM

You can get studios in Boston for 700-850 per month in Waltham, Arlington and Watertown (basically metro Boston) the key is looking for them

My parents would go nuts if I lived in a studio...

Deavan

03-07-2006, 09:43 AM

My parents would go nuts if I lived in a studio...

OY then your parents can pay the rent difference for you ;)

yankeeyosh

03-07-2006, 09:48 AM

OY then your parents can pay the rent difference for you ;)

Nope...they're not gonna contribute a dime. On the other hand, if I have to make any "sacrifices" in comfort, I will never hear the end of it...Mark, you chose the wrong field, you're gonna live paycheck to paycheck forever, etc. etc. :sad:

summergold

03-07-2006, 09:50 AM

I live in Medford even though I would have loved to live more in Boston. Granted, it's not a thriving cultural center, but I'm barely half a mile from the T. I ended up getting a great 1br with heat/hot water for just $900 a month. Plus, I don't have to pay for parking (or spend hours searching for a space) and my car insurance isn't insane. There are affordable places in the area. Just don't expect to live in the North End or Back Bay.

inmediasres

03-07-2006, 10:09 AM

Not too much goin' on out in WalTHAM, heh.

and1grad

03-07-2006, 11:44 AM

And1- how much is your rent?

What other areas do you like?
My rent's about $800. It's looking like I'm gonna move to either the Natomas area or the Pocket area. Any advice from the planner extraordinaire?

heatherf

03-07-2006, 12:27 PM

I PM'd you.

What do you want in a new place? You looking for another big apt complex or some mom n pop place?

and1grad

03-07-2006, 12:43 PM

I'm wary of the mom 'n pops cuz at the last one I lived at getting maintenance issues resolved was a real problem.

heatherf

03-07-2006, 12:47 PM

I'm wary of the mom 'n pops cuz at the last one I lived at getting maintenance issues resolved was a real problem.

Word.

xjnioe

SmilesSoSweet

03-07-2006, 12:53 PM

I'm wary of the mom 'n pops cuz at the last one I lived at getting maintenance issues resolved was a real problem.

Agreed. I lived in a apartment for a couple of years where the land lady was really cheap (yet she owned a nice home in Laguna Beach). She wouldn't get anything fix. There were termites in the building and she thought that they were just ants with wings, which translates to termites. She didn't want to get the place tented. When the roof needed to be fixed she only did the half of the roof that was affected, because she changed the other half recently (recently to her meant over tens years ago!). The building insulation was really bad too. Very, very cold in the winter months and very, very hot in the summer months. There was one guy that lived there that was supposed to be the repar man. But he flaked out a lot. I'm glad I never have to live in that place again! I don't know why I stayed there for as long as I did too. (I guess I was too lazy to move!)

SmilesSoSweet

03-07-2006, 05:29 PM

Depends on the ammenities... bf and I pay $1350 for a 570 sq. ft. studio but after budgeting we found that we actually saved more by living in a location where we can walk to class or restaurants. Plus, we save $$ by having our own washer and dryer etc. Convenience is key for us... time is money IMO.

$1350 for a studio? That's crazy! I'm so glad I moved out of the OC and California. My last place in the OC was $1400 for a two bedroom place. I had a roommate to split the other half of the rent.

My brother went to UCI and graduated in 2000. Back then he and all his friends thought rents in the area were really expensive. They even rented town homes with EIGHT people (double bunk beds would be in the master suite, two would be in one room and two in another) just to pay a reasonable amount of rent. I don't want to know what other students who live off campus have to pay.

wordsmith

03-07-2006, 05:51 PM

I've never lived in an apt. complex. Always with independent landlords. And I've had a slumlord once. He was a Presbyterian minister, too.

SmilesSoSweet

03-07-2006, 06:20 PM

Yup that's how it is at my school (Cal Poly Pomona). I graduated in 2001, and it's changed a whole lot since then. I'm actually going to be there for a wedding this summer which would be the first time in a couple of years to step on that campus.

I lived in various cities in Orange County from 2000-2005. I was barely getting by. I had to have a roommate and every year it seemed like traffic would get worse and then rents would continue to go up (but my salary never did!)