first timer looking for apt....need tips.

[Semidevil]

so I will be soon moving out from my parents home, and living w/ my gf. we will look for apartment together, and I want to get an idea of how much I will be spending:

so i'm looking at various sites, and here is an example of what I see:

so for a flat:
1 bed 1 bath
550 sq feet
deposit 150
289 for spring 2005 rate.

so for 2 people, is this decent? is 550 square feet a lot? how about the price? what other prices do I need to consider?

and then there are things like "patio home" "cabana" and "town home" which I have no idea what those are....

so is this decent for 2 people? or is that tiny?

also, usually, when you go look for apt, can you get one right away, or do you need to be put on waiting list?

edit: this is for oklahoma

 

[notfred]

It depends on where you live. In California, a cardboard box is a good deal at $289/month. In Wyoming, you might be able to buy a house for that.

 

[Crusty]

HOLY CRAP THAT IS CHEAP!

Im looking at $1800/month for three people... but this is a 3/2, not a 1/1.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

"town home"

I can't answer your other questions, but a town home is a house that looks like a normal house, but is split in half with a wall in the center, making it two houses.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: notfred
It depends on where you live. In California, a cardboard box is a good deal at $289/month. In Wyoming, you might be able to buy a house for that.

LOL that post struck my funny bone.

 

[kyparrish]

550 sq. feet is a little on the tiny side...

My wife and I lived in a 1 BR before we were married, and here's some advice....spring for a 2BR. After a week or two, you might want to be in a seperate room, instead of living right on top of each other all the time.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: Semidevil
so for 2 people, is this decent? is 550 square feet a lot?

Go to the apartment building. Ask to see an apartment. Walk around, you'll see how big it is.

and then there are things like "patio home" "cabana" and "town home" which I have no idea what those are....

They're variations on apartments. Go look at them if you think you might want to rent them.

so is this decent for 2 people? or is that tiny?

550 sq. ft. is tiny. The average 3 bedroom house is probably 1800 sq. ft. or so. My 2 bedroom apartment is 1250 sq. ft.

also, usually, when you go look for apt, can you get one right away, or do you need to be put on waiting list?

Unless you're in a very highly desireable place to live with no housing available, then you shouldn't have a problem. I doubt any such places exist in Oklahoma.

 

[kyparrish]

OP, don't forget to have some work stubs/proof of income when you apply to live there. Also, they'll run a credit check.

 

[Mean MrMustard]

Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy

"town home"

I can't answer your other questions, but a town home is a house that looks like a normal house, but is split in half with a wall in the center, making it two houses.

A town house is a duplex without sounding ghetto.

 

[Semidevil]

Originally posted by: kyparrish
OP, don't forget to have some work stubs/proof of income when you apply to live there. Also, they'll run a credit check.

yea, thanx. I think that should be no problem..I have had a decent job and my credit is good.

just want to know everything I should consider when looking for apartments. things I should look for, and ask for etc etc. Want to make the first independent home as pleasureable as possible

 

[osiris3mc]

Good deal. I'm in a one bedroom, converted to a 2 bedroom. Square feet is about 600 and my roommate and I pay $2,800 for the place. So you are paying about 1/10 for roughly the same size space. Oh, but I'm in Manhattan. The point, it's hard to say what's a good deal; it's all relative.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: Semidevil

Originally posted by: kyparrish
OP, don't forget to have some work stubs/proof of income when you apply to live there. Also, they'll run a credit check.

yea, thanx. I think that should be no problem..I have had a decent job and my credit is good.

just want to know everything I should consider when looking for apartments. things I should look for, and ask for etc etc. Want to make the first independent home as pleasureable as possible

When you go look at a place - check out the little things. Make sure that the drawers and cupboards open and shut properly. Make sure the fan in the bathroom works and doesn't sound like it'll explode. Make sure that the icemaker in the fridge actually makes ice, and the A/C actually blows cold air. There are a lot of little things like this that you wouldn't normally notice until after you moved in, and some landlords can be assholes about getting these sorts of things fixed.

 

[spacejamz]

one overlooked thing is location...is it easy to get in and out of the parking lot (during rush hour)?...how far is the nearest grocery store/gas station/restaurants, etc...

most people take these for granted, but as soon as you move in and figure out you have to sit at the light for 5 minutes a day or the nearest grocery store isn't just around the corner, it will come back to haunt you...

I moved into downtown Dallas in 1998 before the whole Uptown thing took off and the nearest grocery store was 15 minutes away...(doesn't sound like much, but is)...

anyway, good luck...

 

[drum]

550sq ft is pretty small
listen to notfred as usual

 

[AreaCode707]

Ask how they split up the building utilities. Some apartments split it up evenly by building, which means you'll be paying your neighbors' water bills all summer while you're gone, etc.

If you like to bbq, ask about rules for outdoor bbqs (gas versus charcoal, distance from the building, etc.)

Check their renter's agreement closely, to figure out exactly what would happen if you and your gf split. Who would be stuck with rent?

Visit all the places you're thinking of living, tour them thoroughly, and look at the maintenance conditions. Is the paint peeling? Is the grass cut, and is it all green or browning in places? Do the neighbors have barking dogs? Would you have frat college students living upstairs (think midnight drunken parties)?

Ask about high speed internet access, cable, etc. Check rent.com to see if the place is listed there (you can get $100 back if so.)

 

[SithSolo1]

550sq ft is extremely small. I'm moving into a 2BA/2BA apt(1600sq ft total, $2400/mo) this summer and the living room alone is 544sq ft. Its 32x17 for reference. The average bed room size in 2BR apts around here is 154 sq ft or 11x 14 and the bath rooms are probably 4.5x8 or 36sq ft. So assuming that your BR/BA around similar is size that leaves you with 360sq ft or roughly a 14x24 area for you kitchen and living area. It's not microscopic but it'll be a tight squeeze.

The apartment will probably be setup like this.

Size wise it will look like this.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: HotChic
Ask how they split up the building utilities. Some apartments split it up evenly by building, which means you'll be paying your neighbors' water bills all summer while you're gone, etc.

If you like to bbq, ask about rules for outdoor bbqs (gas versus charcoal, distance from the building, etc.)

Check their renter's agreement closely, to figure out exactly what would happen if you and your gf split. Who would be stuck with rent?

Visit all the places you're thinking of living, tour them thoroughly, and look at the maintenance conditions. Is the paint peeling? Is the grass cut, and is it all green or browning in places? Do the neighbors have barking dogs? Would you have frat college students living upstairs (think midnight drunken parties)?

Ask about high speed internet access, cable, etc. Check rent.com to see if the place is listed there (you can get $100 back if so.)

Just an extra emphasis on the grill bit. If you like a charcoal grill, be sure to specify charcoal. In fact, specify it about 10 times because many places will allow gas only and many times the agent giving you the tour won't pick up on charcoal the first 1 or 2 or 9 times you say it.

And the utility split is definitely important. I'll re-enforce that too. You really want them to meter the apartments individually rather than collectively.

Personally, I think it's a good idea to check under all the sinks and whatnot. Even if you know nothing about plumbing, a hack-job should be pretty obvious and you'll want to make sure that there's not water damage in the cabinets under sinks.

Also, check to see that there is a breaker panel somewhere inside your apartment. That way if you trip a breaker you don't have to call the landlord to get things re-set.

ZV

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: Semidevil

Originally posted by: kyparrish
OP, don't forget to have some work stubs/proof of income when you apply to live there. Also, they'll run a credit check.

yea, thanx. I think that should be no problem..I have had a decent job and my credit is good.

just want to know everything I should consider when looking for apartments. things I should look for, and ask for etc etc. Want to make the first independent home as pleasureable as possible

When you go look at a place - check out the little things. Make sure that the drawers and cupboards open and shut properly. Make sure the fan in the bathroom works and doesn't sound like it'll explode. Make sure that the icemaker in the fridge actually makes ice, and the A/C actually blows cold air. There are a lot of little things like this that you wouldn't normally notice until after you moved in, and some landlords can be assholes about getting these sorts of things fixed.

good advice!

 

[nageov3t]

things I wish I had taken into consideration when I was looking for an apartment:

-if the place doesn't have a parking lot, how bad is parking? check it out at different times of the day too. before signing my lease, every time I had been to this apartment was in the middle of the afternoon... parking was always great. the first night I went out, though, and drove back to my apartment at 2 am, I discovered that after 6 pm, I'm lucky to park within 3 blocks of my apartment.

-water pressure in the shower.

-how easy will it be to get heavy furniture up to the apartment? is it a 4th floor walk-up with narrow hallways? if so, heavy furniture and couches will quickly become your enemy

-are there enough outlets and are they well-placed so you won't have to run extension cords all over the place?

-do the neighbors have dogs that are prone to barking or kids that will wake you up with crying/fighting/playing early in the morning? or teenagers that will keep you up until 5 am because they're blasting music? heh.

-how's the storage space? closets, etc.. you might not think you have that much stuff, but it tends to accumulate pretty quickly and storage space tends to be in short supply.

I'd also second whoever suggested getting a 2 bedroom apartment if you can afford it, if only to have an office/study/computer room with some privacy for whenever either of you wants to be alone.

 

[Semidevil]

thanx guys...good advice...

and I know it's different for everyone....but in general, how many sq ft is pretty good for 2 people to live in(think about 2 people, early 20's, doesn't do parties a lot)?

 

[Qwest]

Originally posted by: MCrusty
HOLY CRAP THAT IS CHEAP!

Im looking at $1800/month for three people... but this is a 3/2, not a 1/1.

haha, 1400...one person...NYC.

 

[KingPhil]

550SF = SMALL

I had a 1 bedroom that was 800 SF and there were 2 of us. That was an OK size, but after a while we ran out of places to store our stuff.......

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Semidevil
thanx guys...good advice...

and I know it's different for everyone....but in general, how many sq ft is pretty good for 2 people to live in(think about 2 people, early 20's, doesn't do parties a lot)?

There are two of us in an 800 sq. ft. apartment and we are cramped. There is no space for anything.

My advice to you:

1. Take pictures of everything. Any damage, wear, issues, etc. You want to have EVERYTHING documented so when you move in your security deposit doesn't get dinged for damage that was already there when you moved in.

2. Try to go during the evening to see it when people are in adjacent apartments. You want to know how much noise filters through.

3. Check the type of vehicles in the parking lot, that will be an indicator of the kind of people that are there.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Semidevil
thanx guys...good advice...

and I know it's different for everyone....but in general, how many sq ft is pretty good for 2 people to live in(think about 2 people, early 20's, doesn't do parties a lot)?

this is very difficult to answer, it's all on a personal level. What I find comfortable for two ppl may be cramped for another two.

I would have to say that 500sq ft is pretty damn small for two ppl.

 

[ggnl]

Originally posted by: Semidevil
thanx guys...good advice...

and I know it's different for everyone....but in general, how many sq ft is pretty good for 2 people to live in(think about 2 people, early 20's, doesn't do parties a lot)?

550 sq ft is pretty small, but it is enough as long as you dont have a lot of stuff. You probably won't be able to set up separate living/eating spaces.