Hi. I'm looking for apartments lately, and I felt like it'd be cool to discuss finding apartments online so that we can share tips about what to look for in an apartment, etc. I just got a job offer for my first full-time job and now I can live in a much nicer apartment than what I currently have.
What do you look for in an apartment/house?
What's your current place like?
House?
Apartment?
Rent?
Mortgage?
Financially independent?
What are your tips, favorite apartment listings sites, price range?
What kind of countertops or cabinets do you want?
Is an in-unit washer/dryer a dealbreaker?
What kind of area do you want to live in? Suburbs or the city?
What can you expect to pay in your area?
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I personally am looking for more space. I'm renting a single room in an old ass apartment building with basically no appliances in the unit, and no central heating/AC. I pay $700/mo.
My next place needs to have a living room, a dish washer, and a washer/dryer combo. I'm looking in a more suburban area for the $1,000 range
i'm looking for apartments now in a different city and the biggest thing i'm looking for is good kitchen space. if i have a shit kitchen, then i'll be more likely to go out to eat instead of cooking at home.
when i was working in arizona for the summer, my apt kitchen was tiny as hell, so i usually just walked to the mexican place 2 blocks away from my apt. i want to avoid that this time
luckily, a good amount of the high-end downtown apartments in cincinnati are within my budget, and most of them have really good kitchens so hopefully i won't have to compromise
[editline]27th January 2018[/editline]
also, some of the 2bed downtown apartments are within my budget, so i'm tempted to rent one and use the 2nd bedroom as a VR play area :v
[B]What do you look for in an apartment/house?[/B]
- Good heating
- Spacious but not to big for 1 person (as it's just me right now)
- A proper shower
- Decent flooring; it's usually the one thing you can't change if you're renting.
- Decent storage space.
[B]What's your current place like?[/B]
It's a small 2 bedroom house with a modern bathroom & kitchen. Living room is basic right now because I only started living here in November and I'm still trying to recover from the deposit & first months rent combo.
One bedroom is small and pretty much only fits a double bed and chest of drawers, but I only use it for sleeping. (I hear it's good to have a dedicated sleeping space as it's better for getting your brain into a sleep-time mindset)
The other bedroom is pretty decently sized and I use it as my study/office/vr-playspace room.
[B]House?[/B]
Yes. I prefer it over an apartment just because it feels more like my own space. Less noise, less need to worry about creating noise.
[B]Rent?[/B]
£425/Month. It's a fucking bitch to be honest but I was paying the same amount in my previous house and this new one is much nicer.
[B]Mortgage?[/B]
Saving for it. I wanna go this route in the future.
[B]Financially independent?[/B]
Yep. Full time job + student finance keeps me afloat.
[B]What are your tips, favorite apartment listings sites, price range?[/B]
Tips!
- My biggest tip based off personal experience. If you're renting TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS when you move in. You will struggle getting your deposit back because landlords are generally scumbags.
- If you can afford it & can't get a mortgage go for a private tenancy. Much less depressing than a council home.
- Check the shit out of the place when you're considering the place and you get a viewing. Turn taps on. Flush the toilet. Open shower doors. Open cabinets and drawers. Make sure you ask for any issues you find to be fixed. If the landlord agrees to the fixes before you move in, that's a good sign that you may not have issues if you're needing stuff fixed in the future. Don't move in if the stuff isn't fixed.
- Keep the place clean. Keep on top of your laundry. Try build a routine around it.
- If it's just you go for a small house, because it's easier to keep on top of the above point.
[B]What kind of countertops or cabinets do you want?[/B]
Doesn't bother me really, as long as they're not ruined already & cabinet doors are all good.
[B]What kind of area do you want to live in? Suburbs or the city?[/B]
City for now. Easier to get to work.
[B]What can you expect to pay in your area?[/B]
For stuff that suits me about £400-£450. But the quality of houses can range from 'I'm not giving you a penny shit' to 'winning the lottery good'.
Check out [URL="https://www.reddit.com/r/malelivingspace/"]/r/malelivingspace/[/URL] for some ideas for home decor as well. No need to skimp on style with a cheap budget.
I used Zillow and Craigslist to find my place, worked out well for me.
When you're moving into a new place, notate and photograph everything wrong with the apartment and report it to your office/landlord. Not necessarily stuff you want or need fixed, but stuff you dont want to get stuck with losing part of your deposit on. You dont want to be stuck trying to clean a 10 year old rust stain on the porcelain sink when youre trying to move out. Rust stains, mold, stained/yellowed/cracked window blinds, stains in the oven, water damage under the sink, stains in the carpet, broken door sweeps, loose door handles, ect. Photograph all of it and report it when you move in.
If your apartment is carpeted, invest in a cheap big area rug (walmart has these for cheap) and use it in your living room. It'll help save your deposit if you spill soda or food on the carpet. Better to stain a $50 carpet from walmart than $300 worth of carpet.
When you're looking at an apartment, setup an appointment around 3:30pm, or half an hour after school gets out. That way you can see if your neighbors have shitty loud kids.
If you live in a state where you have to use a blockheater in your car, make sure the parking has outlets for it.
Living on the top floor of a complex is usually cheaper, and you dont have to worry about neighbors stomping around above you at 2 in the morning. If you do end up living on the third floor, invest in 2 really big carbiners (like for mountain climbing). That way you can loop grocery bags into them and it makes a lot easier to haul groceries up 3 floors. HomeDepot has big ones with padded handles for this purpose.
If your apartment doesn't have a washer and dryer, don't bother with the ones that are in the complex. They're never cleaned or maintained. Half the time your laundry will come out smelling like mildew and will need 3 or 4 drying cycles just to get them dry. Go to a laundromat. A lot of laundromats have gym equipment or bars in them now too, which is cool.
I'm renting an apartment, it's pretty much just a bedroom and bathroom but it shares a living room, full kitchen, and washer & dryer with 3 other rooms. Utilities including decent internet are included with the rent. It's intended for college students but it's cheap and really close to my work. I'd bike there if I didn't think I'd get hit by a car. All of my coworkers who I've talked about housing with are paying a bit less than twice as much as me. Due to the circumstances of my work I don't expect to be here for more than a year or two, so I figured I might as well save money. It's $625 a month, which is a fair bit more than you would pay for sharing an apartment with someone, but I like this because I don't need to worry about anything.
[QUOTE=Omilinon;53086497]Check out [URL="https://www.reddit.com/r/malelivingspace/"]/r/malelivingspace/[/URL] for some ideas for home decor as well. No need to skimp on style with a cheap budget.[/QUOTE]
Haha, I'm living with my girlfriend right now and most of the stuff is hers (mostly books). My only requirement is a nice comfy couch
I'm gonna be apartment shopping for the first time up in Boston hopefully later on this year. I really just want something modern and clean. I'd rather not live in a building that's decades and decades old lol.
[QUOTE=Pascall;53086609]I'm gonna be apartment shopping for the first time up in Boston hopefully later on this year. I really just want something modern and clean. I'd rather not live in a building that's decades and decades old lol.[/QUOTE]
My current building was built in 1903. It's really dirty and no matter how many times I clean, there's still a layer of dust over everything. The places my gf and I are currently looking at are all built in the 1980s and 1970s (Nothing is new in my city), but they all seem pretty well kept and clean. And most importantly, they've got more space and central heating
Yeah central air/heating is a plus, especially since I come from Texas where EVERYONE has central air. It's weird to see places that have nothing but radiators and window units.
Obviously it wouldn't be a deal breaker or anything to have window units but it'd be an adjustment is all.
Also wood floors are something I want. I don't want to be vacuuming carpet any more than I have to lol.
[QUOTE=Pascall;53086619]Yeah central air/heating is a plus, especially since I come from Texas where EVERYONE has central air. It's weird to see places that have nothing but radiators and window units.
Obviously it wouldn't be a deal breaker or anything to have window units but it'd be an adjustment is all.
Also wood floors are something I want. I don't want to be vacuuming carpet any more than I have to lol.[/QUOTE]
I have a window unit that doesn't do heat, just AC. My mom bought me a floor heater in the middle of January last year when I told her about it.
I prefer carpets because I like how it feels when I walk around barefoot. Which reminds me: my current place is so dirty that when I first moved in and walked around in my socks, they turned totally black within a day. GF and I got slippers that are specifically for walking in the hallway and we made sure to keep the floor in our room clean. No matter how much we clean, the wood floors never get clean. Just 114 years of human grit I guess
Gotta invest in them there SWIFFER MOPS.
I get some kind of sick enjoyment out of cleaning the floors and peeling off the gross wet wipe from the mop if only because I know that whatever I picked up with the mop isn't on the floor anymore..
[QUOTE=Pascall;53086641]Gotta invest in them there SWIFFER MOPS.
I get some kind of sick enjoyment out of cleaning the floors and peeling off the gross wet wipe from the mop if only because I know that whatever I picked up with the mop isn't on the floor anymore..[/QUOTE]
Wanna come over and clean my floors? I got a whole thing of Swiffer wet you can knock yourself out with.
[editline]27th January 2018[/editline]
Gonna need to anyway since the lease is up in March and then it's back in with the parents till I figure shit out
[editline]27th January 2018[/editline]
It's all that fake wood tile. You'll have a blast
[QUOTE=OvB;53087292]Wanna come over and clean my floors? I got a whole thing of Swiffer wet you can knock yourself out with.
[editline]27th January 2018[/editline]
Gonna need to anyway since the lease is up in March and then it's back in with the parents till I figure shit out
[editline]27th January 2018[/editline]
It's all that fake wood tile. You'll have a blast[/QUOTE]
Pay me a couple of dollars an hour and maybe. :thinking:
[B]What do you look for in an apartment/house?[/B]
I'm not worried about things like closets. My main thing is the kitchen and countertop space. I can live with a small room and a small closet. But when I'm cooking and prepping food, I NEED my counter space and a nice open kitchen.
[B]What's your current place like?[/B]
Small, about 800sqft. My kitchen is WAY too small, and the bathroom isn't the biggest. It's just small.
[B]Rent?[/B]
About $1100/month, but it's a great location.
[B]Financially independent?[/B]
yes
[B]What are your tips, favorite apartment listings sites, price range?[/B]
I used apartments.com. My price range is like a max of $1,200/month, but I get per-diem at work to pay for living expenses.
[B]What kind of countertops or cabinets do you want?[/B]
I love any kind of countertop that isn't porous or rough. Basically anything that's easy to clean.
[B]Is an in-unit washer/dryer a dealbreaker? [/B]
Yes. I refuse to do my laundry anywhere but in my own space. I don't want to have to worry about people messing with my stuff, or having to stay somewhere doing my laundry for hours.
[B]What kind of area do you want to live in? Suburbs or the city?[/B]
I would love to live in the suburbs, but being in the city is nice since I'm basically just living here for work.
[B]What can you expect to pay in your area?[/B]
Starting at around $700. My unit is pricey because it's in a good location and on the ground floor.
[B]What do you look for in an apartment/house?[/B]
A working kitchen, at least one extra room that can be an office, a usable living room, and enough parking for two cars. I have to be able to work on both cars at any time, too.
[B]What's your current place like?[/B]
It's a motel room. Maybe 200sqft, no kitchen. We do have a full sized fridge, microwave, and toaster oven though.
[B]Rent?[/B]
$1300/month
[B]Financially independent?[/B]
My boyfriend and I share rent, and his school pays for his half of rent.
[B]What are your tips, favorite apartment listings sites, price range?[/B]
Craigslist and driving down apartment-heavy streets looking for for-rent signs. Price range is anything up to $1300/mo.
[B]What kind of countertops or cabinets do you want?[/B]
Anything. We have no cabinets at all here.
[B]Is an in-unit washer/dryer a dealbreaker? [/B]
No, but it'd be nice.
[B]What kind of area do you want to live in? Suburbs or the city?[/B]
Anywhere not in dense city that has good internet options.
[B]What can you expect to pay in your area?[/B]
Studios start at $900/mo, but 2-bedrooms in the $1200 range are common-ish.
[QUOTE=Trekintosh;53087504][B]What do you look for in an apartment/house?[/B]
A working kitchen, at least one extra room that can be an office, a usable living room, and enough parking for two cars. I have to be able to work on both cars at any time, too.
[B]What's your current place like?[/B]
It's a motel room. Maybe 200sqft, no kitchen. We do have a full sized fridge, microwave, and toaster oven though.
[B]Rent?[/B]
$1300/month
[B]Financially independent?[/B]
My boyfriend and I share rent, and his school pays for his half of rent.
[B]What are your tips, favorite apartment listings sites, price range?[/B]
Craigslist and driving down apartment-heavy streets looking for for-rent signs. Price range is anything up to $1300/mo.
[B]What kind of countertops or cabinets do you want?[/B]
Anything. We have no cabinets at all here.
[B]Is an in-unit washer/dryer a dealbreaker? [/B]
No, but it'd be nice.
[B]What kind of area do you want to live in? Suburbs or the city?[/B]
Anywhere not in dense city that has good internet options.
[B]What can you expect to pay in your area?[/B]
Studios start at $900/mo, but 2-bedrooms in the $1200 range are common-ish.[/QUOTE]
Why do you live somewhere for $1300/mo @ 200 sq ft if there are $1200 2br available?
[QUOTE=proboardslol;53087725]Why do you live somewhere for $1300/mo @ 200 sq ft if there are $1200 2br available?[/QUOTE]
You don't have to have proof of 3x income + 10 years rental history + pass 5 background checks + 800 credit score at the motel.
[QUOTE=Trekintosh;53087755]You don't have to have proof of 3x income + 10 years rental history + pass 5 background checks + 800 credit score at the motel.[/QUOTE]
You must live in a really shitty part of town. I've never had to pass anything more than a background check and provide a paystub.
how the fuck can you guys afford that. I'm stuck in the range of 500-750 a month thanks to my car payment.
[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;53088988]You must live in a really shitty part of town. I've never had to pass anything more than a background check and provide a paystub.[/QUOTE]
Many many apartments require a credit check. Nearly every apartment I've ever looked at requires a background check. Are you American?
[editline]28th January 2018[/editline]
[QUOTE=kyle877;53089016]how the fuck can you guys afford that. I'm stuck in the range of 500-750 a month thanks to my car payment.[/QUOTE]
I just got an offer for $54,000 a year, and I don't have a car payment
[QUOTE=proboardslol;53089249]Many many apartments require a credit check. Nearly every apartment I've ever looked at requires a background check. Are you American?
[editline]28th January 2018[/editline]
I just got an offer for $54,000 a year, and I don't have a car payment[/QUOTE]
That would help that, I guess. I'm at $28,080 a year with a decent car payment.
[QUOTE=kyle877;53089016]how the fuck can you guys afford that. I'm stuck in the range of 500-750 a month thanks to my car payment.[/QUOTE]
Im at $1,000 a month for a 2bdrm. I make about 40k a year depending on OT.
[editline]28th January 2018[/editline]
[QUOTE=proboardslol;53089249]Many many apartments require a credit check. Nearly every apartment I've ever looked at requires a background check. Are you American?
[editline]28th January 2018[/editline]
I just got an offer for $54,000 a year, and I don't have a car payment[/QUOTE]
Yea, American. I live in a corporate apartment complex and they never ran a credit check, just wanted paystubs to prove I could afford it. Only had one slumlord run a credit check on me.
[QUOTE=kyle877;53089256]That would help that, I guess. I'm at $28,080 a year with a decent car payment.[/QUOTE]
Is it a payment on a used car? One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when they've got the first job of their career is start payments on a brand new car. You especially see this in the military. The first business right off a military base is like a Mustang or Charger dealership.
[QUOTE=proboardslol;53090070]Is it a payment on a used car? One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when they've got the first job of their career is start payments on a brand new car. You especially see this in the military. The first business right off a military base is like a Mustang or Charger dealership.[/QUOTE]
It is used...[sp]and it's a charger.[/sp]
Unfortunately this also isn't the first job I've held down for a significant amount of time, either. The job market is just hot garbage in western PA
I'm really hoping to move out of my flat this year into somewhere better. I've lived here for 3 years and getting pretty sick of it and the town it's in.
Pretty random but one thing I look for in an apartment is, does it have lots of windows? My first flat had one tiny one and during the summer it was so stuffy. I also look for proper heating, gas radiators. My first flat had a storage heater that was [B]so expensive[/B] to have on, and would do basically nothing anyway! Oh, and it [B]must[/B] have a shower!
[QUOTE=Vault Hunter;53091133]I'm really hoping to move out of my flat this year into somewhere better. I've lived here for 3 years and getting pretty sick of it and the town it's in.
Pretty random but one thing I look for in an apartment is, does it have lots of windows? My first flat had one tiny one and during the summer it was so stuffy. I also look for proper heating, gas radiators. My first flat had a storage heater that was [B]so expensive[/B] to have on, and would do basically nothing anyway! Oh, and it [B]must[/B] have a shower![/QUOTE]
I had a landlord who just removed radiators one day so he wouldn't need to pay for heating
[QUOTE=Mr Kotov;53091141]I had a landlord who just removed radiators one day so he wouldn't need to pay for heating[/QUOTE]
Whatever you do, lock your bathrooms if he decides one day that water costs are unnecessary and a chamberpot is all one needs. :v:
I'm currently in a private room myself, paying about 500 bucks a month and looking to move out when I've reached certain conditions:
a) I get a full time job.
b) Whatever house I rent, I can save enough by staying in this private room to be able to pay for a full year out of pocket for it in case the unmentionable happens. In other words, if the target house's rent is about 1,900 CAD per month excluding utilities, I have a savings target of 22,800 CAD. This funding will be inevitably used, once reached, to furnish said house, after which the cycle will repeat itself. But it means that I can time it right in line with end of year sales, etc. for maximum benefits.
c) I can also maintain six months salary as a rainy day fund for all other non-rent/utilities, again, to cover the unmentionables. This, once achieved, will form the nest egg (along with the rest of the savings I brought to Canada that I'm currently burning to find a job) for my investments.
It looks pretty austere, but I know I can do it.
The only major big budget expenditures that I foresee happening immediately after Criteria A (Getting a job) happens are:
a) [B]Full computer rebuild:[/B] CAD 2,000 for everything, including peripherals. Another 1000 or so for a good computer desk and chair.
b) Car: I'm taking a more leisurely approach to getting a car because my current accommodation is perfectly serviceable as far as public transport (MiWay) is concerned and there's a big supermarket right within walking distance. My personal expenses aren't very high, either outside of my rent - about 300 - 400 CAD per month, just groceries and the odd dinner out.
As far housing requirements go, my core focus points are:
a) Commute time to work: Falls under two possible criteria, walkable distance if possible (in the event of an emergency where public transport or road commutes aren't possible) for atleast 50% of the way or a maximum commute time for 45 minutes one way. Beyond 1.5 hours in total a day, there's not much of an ROI on living further away for cheaper rent considering you know what your own hourly cost is.
b) Proximity to public transport and facilities: Ideally, I'd want the following within 3 - 4 kms of my house:
* Gym
* Supermarket
* Hospital/Doctor
and a public transport pickup point (Subway, Bus Stop, etc.) within a kilometer of the house.
As far as actual dimensions, I'm perfectly line with smaller space at first (less furniture means lower costs) 1 bedroom with a bathroom and baseline kitchen are fine for me. It's really only going to be a place for me to sleep, have dinner in and maybe game on the PC with, nothing more. Ideally, since I like sitting outside and chilling with a beer, I'd love to have a balcony too, but I can live without it.
As far as furniture goes, I'm A-Ok with cheap furniture, with one exception - the bed. A good bed, with a decent mattress that's got atleast 6 - 7 years of life in it and decent pillows is crucial for me. I can deal with a shitty couch, but a bad bed has roll on effects to other parts of your life.
As far as future plans beyond this is concerned: Once I've built up sufficient capital before 35, I'm going to be looking at properties outside GTA, such as Ottawa primarily, for putting a downpayment. Short of a real estate bubble bursting in Toronto which is unlikely, the property prices here are simply too high for me to consider purchase in any of the regions here. I'm still figuring out whether it makes sense to go for a condo or an actual independent house because outside of all the space for activities, having grown up in flats, I just see independent houses as more of a long-term maintenance nightmare than anything other than actual asset value holders. Ideally, when I'm older I'd like to get a home that is easier to clean and maintain, so a small flat in a central location has a stronger preference for me. Of course, this is just my independent thinking - I'm sure a future life-partner can make a convincing case for an independent home too.
~snip~
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