Apartments

[98ciHemi]

Just looking for any general advice from folks in the past about renting/finding an apartment. I've done it in the past, but I'm looking for somewhere a little more long term than my last place.

[Barry Donovan]

tall bridge, then jump.

[Beagle]

I'm not sure about your area, but down here a lot of times you can find a house for the same price as an apartment. Both of them will want a year in most cases. I prefer the garage and no across the wall neighbor Lawrence yelling "Hey Peter, check it out, channel 9, it's the breast exams!"

[70chevyC-10]

Aren't you in school in Michigan's Upper Peninsula ? Can't remember which one Walt, sorry. A house would give you more privacy but might be harder to find an affordable one without a couple roomies. Good ones of both are hard to find.

[STINEY]

After knowing what went on in our college apartments............ I'd have a hard time stepping in another without donning a Hazmat suit first.

And renting a house would have been about 1/2 the money.

Those days were wild, but I'm sure glad they are over too. Lucky to have survived!

As a house landlord, yeah, getting 1/2 the rent of an apartment. But don't have monthly tenant turnover, and the rent shows up when its supposed to. On the flip side of THAT, they could make a double mortgage payment for what rent runs.

Ever think of buying? Pay yourself rent?

[nesabo]

top floor, warm in the winter, hotter in the summer. first floor, the opposite, plus possibly of automobile lights shining in and extra noise.

2 bedroom is nice if you expect over night company, family, friends, etc or if you want to get a roommate.

Make sure it get renters insurance.

[milner351]

Depends on a lot of factors - I learned by mistake that the middle floor is the place to be - I was on the 2nd floor of 3 and 4 story buildings and our heating and AC bills were a fraction of the folks that had the ground floor or top floor places.

In your locale - I would try to find a place with utilities included if they are offered. The problem with a house is - most landlords will require that you not only pay utilities like gas and electric and cable, but also the water, trash pick up, etc, and they will also most likely require you to take care of mowing the lawn and shoveling the snow. Most landlords will frown upon working in the garage for fear you'll leave it oil stained or otherwise depreciated.

Don't sign more than a 1 year lease, and don't pay more than a months rent as a security deposit - also be clear about if the security deposit is used as the last months rent or not.

[BigAL]

Find a small complex. Less morons to deal with.

[pdub]

top floor, warm in the winter, hotter in the summer. first floor, the opposite, plus possibly of automobile lights shining in and extra noise.

2 bedroom is nice if you expect over night company, family, friends, etc or if you want to get a roommate.

Make sure it get renters insurance.

^^^What Neal said x2. Especially the last line.

[NewEnglandRaceFan]

scope out the 'hood before you even look at the apartment.. renters insurance won't cover your car being destroyed.
if you are handy, you can get a place cheap if you agree to paint etc when a unit is between renters,
I didn't rent for long. I rented a studio and packed away money for a house..

[Dan Barlow]

2nd or further up is more secure from from burglars.

[BigAL]

See if the owner lives on site, that is a plus for my tenants, if something goes wrong I'm right there to fix it, no waiting around for someone to show up. Also see if they have security cameras, I have them so I can see everyone coming and going, just another way to make people feel safe living here. Saying that don't just look at Apartments, you can also look at Condos people are renting out, you'll normally have a higher class of neighbor.

[Scott Liggett]

Seeing how you hang out here and you like to mess around with cars; talk to the manager about that. Many apartment complexes run by management companies won't even let you wash your car on the property. If you have things you need to store, pay attention to storage in your apartment and ask if there is storage closets on the property. Next, unless you enjoy hauling your dirty clothes down the local laundrymat, see if there is one on the property, or if there are washer/dryer hookups in the apt.

What utilities do they pay? Winters are long and cold in Michigan, pay attention to the windows and doors and how well they seal. Cold drafts will run up your utility bills very fast. My place in LA had windows that sealed so badly that the curtains would blow around on windy days with the windows closed. Though, a really cold night there was the low '30's.

Having upstairs neighbors means you will hear them walking, running, yelling, falling and everything else. But, moving in and out upstairs apts is a major PITA. First floor apts also usually cost more.

Pay attention to the neighborhood. Bars on the windows of nearly every house in the area is not a good sign.

Does the apt come with appliances? If not, that adds to your move in cost.

Apts closer to the college and cater to college kids go way up in cost. Three blocks can make a big difference in rent.

[Barry Donovan]

this subject is frustrating. Trying to think of good advice...there is none. Find a place with compatible chemistry. I can handle my own smokes, but seem to be dying of apoison gas to someone else smoking. I also have an oddity where my bare hands melt latex gloves (I survived a 17 hour operation). Condom sex in the same building? discreet or not drives me to animal... I'd have to leave.

there is embarrassing factors to take into account.

the factual ones, those are easy. Structure of building, look for drop celings in ten foot wall builds, etc..those do alright for many years as tenants come and go.

A modern place and built just for renting has almost conquered the facts.. but there is way more bad than good. look for modern hvac setups, double pane glass, ...and old radiators, just walk away.

there is some interesting things to do.. leave a real a/c with a real frame in the window. it is a heatsink of physics indirect.. and has more R-value then a window. Another one was making my own bathroom fan.. little cfm no more, made it a big one. No separate fuse box for your rental? you will be getting someone elses ass.

Sharing a house is like flying on a full airplane for 12 hours... ewww.

[NewEnglandRaceFan]

stay away from below street level apt. or at bottom of a hill the 1st floor.. renters insurance doesn't normally cover if your crap gets waterlogged from a heavy rain, or a quick thaw.
and one last thing, know where the rail tracks are.. you really don't want an apt that has trains rolling through all night, unless you sleep throw a bomb blast and not wake up.. sucks to find out after signing a year lease