After finding a great job, the next biggest search you’ll have is- finding the great apartment. Currently, boyfriend and I don’t love our humble abode. We’ve been living together for a year and our biggest fights usually occur over 2 things: the peeing dog and our crappy apartment. After training a puppy for a year and seeing the pitfalls of our current place, we are ready to move on.
Trying to stay on a bit of a budget, we find ourselves limited. We both drive a half hour to and from work already, so we’re at a pretty decent central location for the both of us. We want a nicer place and boyfriend is willing to sacrifice square footage to keep the cost down. But having a dog, a cat, and two people who like their space- I’m not so willing to sacrifice the extra room. However, I am willing to pay a little bit more for a nicer place and keep the square footage at the same time.
We pay for the convenience of not having a mortgage as twenty somethings, new to the career thing. Neither of us has strong roots here, but we do want to stay for a couple of years at least and get some good experience under our belts. Keep our options open, not get tied down. Wait and see as opportunities come… or don’t.
Anyway, I apologize for the indulgent rant. Apartment hunting is infuriating and exhausting. So is compromising! I’ve actually stopped looking at apartments in Columbus and started browsing $6800/month penthouses in Manhattan on Craigslist- just for the hell of it.
So in other words- any advice you’d like to give on this great search, I’d love to hear it. Or if you know of a penthouse suite for less than $1000/month with stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors (for easy pee clean-up), overlooking the Manhattan skyline in Columbus, OH, and comes with 2 free jet packs for quick transportation to both boyfriend’s and my places of employment in 10 minutes or less- please call me! Thanks!
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My advice, frankly, would be to buy. I didn’t buy my first place until 8 years after graduating and I wish I had a little sooner. Even if you’re only planning to be in a city for a couple of years, pick a stable / trendy part of town *that you can afford comfortably* so you know your investment won’t lose value. All the house hunting / loan acquiring / paper signing is a pain in the ass, but it’s worth it when you realize you’re not losing that money every month like you were before.
By andy on 07.14.08 9:03 am | Permalink
I’m no help at all. When I first moved to DC, I was paying over $800 for a 1 bedroom and that was almost 10 years ago. It was crazy. What are apartments going for in your area?
By Alice on 07.14.08 9:30 am | Permalink
I am deathly afraid of buying anything because neither I nor The Hubster are do-it-yourselfers. So much easier to call the landlord when stuff gets broken than to pay out the nose for an experienced person. Urgh! We’ve never not lived in a 2-bedroom place, so we pay more than we need to keep our marriage a happy married. (Love is the key? Nope, it’s space!) Your home is the place you to go to relax, cocoon yourself from the world, and recharge your batteries; so find a place you love. I am big on lists, so you and Your Boy should write a list of things you can and can’t live without and start from there. Also, ask the local police station for crime stats in particular areas. Sounds scary but it would’ve helped to know it when my car got broken into the first week we lived here.
By thecoconutdiaries on 07.14.08 10:32 am | Permalink
We’ve been looking casually for a bigger place – we’ve got a 2 bedroom terrace at the moment, but when you consider how much stuff we have (I’ve got over 1000 books – literally, I’ve counted – and husband comes in a close second) we could do with some more elbowroom. Then again, the place we’re in is nice, we’re comfy, and chances are we’ll be moving either interstate or overseas in the next year or two when Toby gets his first lecturing job. I’d look casually and not rush into anything – check out the soonest you’d have to give notice to move, look at the kind of areas you want and might possibly afford, and apply whenever something good crops up. If you’re already living in a compromise place, don’t rush into another one if you’re not sure it’s a step up. Or so say I
By Foz Meadows on 07.14.08 8:47 pm | Permalink
Thanks guys! all great advice. now if only boyfriend could learn to tolerate our dog… i’d be golden! haha.
By MsCatalysta on 07.14.08 11:15 pm | Permalink
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