How many here live in an apartment setting alone?

[slightlyhuman]

Looking into an apartment for 6-12 months due to my work recently moving further away. Where I live now is 20-25 minutes from work. Looking into a studio or 1-bedroom apt that's 2 miles from work.

I've never lived in apartments. Just rent houses. Just curious what you guys who live by yourself spend on groceries, gas, etc.

Also do most apartments have fire sprinklers in them? For some reason I have a big paranoia of an apartment catching on fire and trapping my dog inside(a friend just lost his entire house and 3 dogs last weekend due to a fire).


Any specific questions I should ask the landlord as I'm going to check them out today. I have a small list of questions but always open to advice.




fwiw, i don't want to rent but the fact that i've been logging in 50-60 hours/week at work living closer would be a huge plus for me. also where i currently live i only have access to horrible DSL, have to drive to town for everything(10 minute drive) and the roads are a joke.

 

[nageov3t]

I've only ever rented... I'd assume that sprinkler laws/regulations vary from state to state.

tbh, if it's a choice I really prefer to live in smaller environments (eg: 2-3 family houses instead of gigantic mega-highrise apartment complexes). I feel like everything runs more smoothly when you can actually get to know your neighbors (and when you're tempted to watch a movie with heavy base at 3 am, the guy who lives underneath you isn't just some random stranger you've never seen)

I generally avoid any place with the money to setup sleek advertising and stick with reading ads in local newspapers and looking for signs in windows.

edit: my ideal is a 2 or 3 family house where the landlord lives on the premises... yes, he may be up in your grill a little, but he's also going to have more of an investment in making sure the place stays clean/pest-free and repaired.

 

[NutBucket]

Cry me a river, 10 minute drive to get to anything and a sub-half hour commute.

Anyway, sprinklers depend on age of building most likely. If it doesn't put a major crimp on your lifestyle (I can't wait to get out of our apt and buy a house) or your budget then really you can't lose by moving.

loki definitely has a good point about finding smaller complexes if possible.

 

[slightlyhuman]

Cry me a river, 10 minute drive to get to anything and a sub-half hour commute.

Anyway, sprinklers depend on age of building most likely. If it doesn't put a major crimp on your lifestyle (I can't wait to get out of our apt and buy a house) or your budget then really you can't lose by moving.

loki definitely has a good point about finding smaller complexes if possible.

i'm not bitching about my commute. i'm aware people in way bigger cities have it a lot worse. 20+ minutes in my tahoe uses a lot more gas going to work. 10-20 miles going around town to get random bull shit uses a lot more gas than a grocery store and EVERYTHING else i would need, 5 miles away.

i have a list of pros/cons about where i live now and the apartment setting right down the road from work. every now and then i have to go up to work on weekends random nights..

 

[slightlyhuman]

I've only ever rented... I'd assume that sprinkler laws/regulations vary from state to state.

tbh, if it's a choice I really prefer to live in smaller environments (eg: 2-3 family houses instead of gigantic mega-highrise apartment complexes). I feel like everything runs more smoothly when you can actually get to know your neighbors (and when you're tempted to watch a movie with heavy base at 3 am, the guy who lives underneath you isn't just some random stranger you've never seen)

I generally avoid any place with the money to setup sleek advertising and stick with reading ads in local newspapers and looking for signs in windows.

edit: my ideal is a 2 or 3 family house where the landlord lives on the premises... yes, he may be up in your grill a little, but he's also going to have more of an investment in making sure the place stays clean/pest-free and repaired.

yeah, the main reason i'm going to this one is the price. i know the landlord(did computer work for her, and she's a cougar) and it's pretty cheap. this is just temporary.

i'd love to find a small place like you're talking about but i don't see it being cheap with a small 2-3 house setting like that. thanks for the post:beer;

 

[BlackTigers]

I live in one. It's a house type building ( though much bigger) with four units in it...it's sided, proper roofing, patios, etc.

Landlord lives about thirty seconds away, so it's kept very clean and tidy.

 

[Red Storm]

I once moved to an apartment for work as well, though the building was owned by my employer so I got a 20% discount on monthly rent. It definitely made my commute a hell of a lot easier, but at the cost of not being able to see my family during the week.

Only lasted a year though. It's just too much money down the drain.

 

[zCypher]

I've lived in a variety of apartments and houses. The absolute best has been my current one which is a small building, there are only bachelors, no 2+ bedrooms. As a result it's very quiet, never have any annoyances from anyone and never have anyone complain if I'm making any noise. Landlord is awesome and hassle free.

I definitely suggest just looking around the area and in the paper for a building with small units in there, and see how the people are. The bigger newer buildings can be alright (better construction) but tend to always be more expensive.

Being able to walk to everything is so awesome. I'll never go back to a required commute if I can avoid it. Highly recommend.

 

[crownjules]

I live in an apartment complex right now after renting a split-level house for 5 years prior. I don't like it as much. It feels like a hotel more than a home. It's nice in that the AC/heat/hot water utilities are included in the price, but that's obviously not the case in all places. Thankfully I only have another month and a half here.

 

[Svnla]

Unless you live in a fairly new building, I don't think older apts have sprinkler systems.

My apt doesn't have it but it does have a fire extinguisher with schedule inspection.

OP, read your lease and make sure you understand EVERYTHING before you sign. Then do a walk through with your landlord and make sure everything is clean to your liking and all things are working.

 

[nageov3t]

don't hesitate to open drawers and cabinets and poke around for anything that might be amiss.

I heard a horror story from a friend once who fell in love with an apartment until he opened a drawer and found it was crawling with roaches D:

I once moved into a place that had a bunch of mouse droppings, but I didn't know what to look for at the time. I assumed it was gravel or burned rice or something.

also... check the water pressure in the shower. that can be a big quality of life factor. you may also want to ask about the hot water heating. the same apartment where I had the mice, it also had a single hot water heater for all 4 units. on a good day, I could take a 10 minute shower before it started getting cold.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I'm 30 miles from work one way. Not moving though because my kid is in school where we live and we own our house. I just suck it up and make the drive in to work. Howard Stern makes the drive bearable.

 

[slightlyhuman]

I'm 30 miles from work one way. Not moving though because my kid is in school where we live and we own our house. I just suck it up and make the drive in to work. Howard Stern makes the drive bearable.

sucks for you bro.

howard stern huh? never gave him much of a listen but watching him on america's got talent he's very annoying. maybe a radio setting is different. he was trying way too hard.

 

[JulesMaximus]

sucks for you bro.

howard stern huh? never gave him much of a listen but watching him on america's got talent he's very annoying. maybe a radio setting is different. he was trying way too hard.

Meh, you get used to it. I ride the motorcycle in sometimes to mix it up a bit. Bike gets 40+ mpg too so that's a nice plus.

I didn't watch AGT but he talked about it quite a bit on his radio show. He's great on satellite radio. Says whatever he wants, very few commercials, and he can use profanity and talk about anything plus he has some great guests occasionally. Only drawback is he only does the radio show 3 days a week and he only has 3 more years on his contract with SiriusXM.

 

[olds]

Where I live now is 20-25 minutes from work

WTF? That's nothing.

 

[slightlyhuman]

Where I live now is 20-25 minutes from work

WTF? That's nothing.

LOL. this thread isn't about a commute. do i really have to break it down for some of you to see why i'm moving?