RTFA before voting 
I don't really care about the poll results, but I am seeking some feedback... I've been apartment hunting with my room mate all week, and have it narrowed down to three choices.
Apartment #1 -- it's on the 2nd floor of a 3 family house. the owner doesn't live there.
Pro's: it's pretty big. 3 bedrooms, decent size kitchen, plus a large dining room, living room, and a nice bathroom.
Con's: it's expensive. $1,300/month, or $650 for each of us. we each take home about $2K/month after taxes, so the rent wouldn't be stretching the budget a huge deal, but my roommate has stupid things like car payments and student loads to be paid off. He could make the payments, but his budget would be tight, and if he ever got fired, we'd be screwed. plus, the parking situation sucks.
Apartment #2 -- it's on the 3rd floor of a 2 family house. the owner would be living right under me.
Pro's: rent is nice. $1,000/month (or $500 each). it's in a good neighborhood, and parking wouldn't be a major problem. deli's and bars would all be in walking distance.
Con's: the thing is a shoebox. two small bedrooms, a decent sized living room, a small kitchen, and a small bathroom. also, I don't know about living right upstairs from my landlord. both my roommate and I work pretty funky hours, and it's not unusual for one -- if not both -- of us to be watching TV or playing PS2 at 4 am on a weeknight. plus, I'd be worried about making too much noise whenever my friends come over. we don't party or anything, but we can get kinda loud.
Apartment #3 -- it's in an apartment complex.
Pro's: rent is nice. comparable to apartment #2. it's a bit bigger than apartment #2 as well, but not as big as apartment #1. couple of bars in walking distance. just looking squarely at the apartment, it's a great compromise between #1 and #2. I wouldn't know my neighbors, and none of them would be my landlord, so I wouldn't have to worry as much about the noise level.
Con's: living in a big complex, I'm kinda worried about bugs / roaches. in a 2 or 3 family house, at least you know all of your neighbors, and it tends to be a lot cleaner than in a big complex. parking would suck. I'd have to park on the street, and would have a 1-2 block walk almost all the time. also, I'd be adding on an extra 15-20 minutes to my commute to work.
I don't really care about the poll results, but I am seeking some feedback... I've been apartment hunting with my room mate all week, and have it narrowed down to three choices.
Apartment #1 -- it's on the 2nd floor of a 3 family house. the owner doesn't live there.
Pro's: it's pretty big. 3 bedrooms, decent size kitchen, plus a large dining room, living room, and a nice bathroom.
Con's: it's expensive. $1,300/month, or $650 for each of us. we each take home about $2K/month after taxes, so the rent wouldn't be stretching the budget a huge deal, but my roommate has stupid things like car payments and student loads to be paid off. He could make the payments, but his budget would be tight, and if he ever got fired, we'd be screwed. plus, the parking situation sucks.
Apartment #2 -- it's on the 3rd floor of a 2 family house. the owner would be living right under me.
Pro's: rent is nice. $1,000/month (or $500 each). it's in a good neighborhood, and parking wouldn't be a major problem. deli's and bars would all be in walking distance.
Con's: the thing is a shoebox. two small bedrooms, a decent sized living room, a small kitchen, and a small bathroom. also, I don't know about living right upstairs from my landlord. both my roommate and I work pretty funky hours, and it's not unusual for one -- if not both -- of us to be watching TV or playing PS2 at 4 am on a weeknight. plus, I'd be worried about making too much noise whenever my friends come over. we don't party or anything, but we can get kinda loud.
Apartment #3 -- it's in an apartment complex.
Pro's: rent is nice. comparable to apartment #2. it's a bit bigger than apartment #2 as well, but not as big as apartment #1. couple of bars in walking distance. just looking squarely at the apartment, it's a great compromise between #1 and #2. I wouldn't know my neighbors, and none of them would be my landlord, so I wouldn't have to worry as much about the noise level.
Con's: living in a big complex, I'm kinda worried about bugs / roaches. in a 2 or 3 family house, at least you know all of your neighbors, and it tends to be a lot cleaner than in a big complex. parking would suck. I'd have to park on the street, and would have a 1-2 block walk almost all the time. also, I'd be adding on an extra 15-20 minutes to my commute to work.
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