Tips for renting first apartment/home on a budget

[Sepukku]

With winter ending (and high gas bills) and my 6 month probationary period ending at my new job in a week, I'm looking to move into my first apartment/rental home (not counting college stuff) by April. I have okay credit, but its not stellar either. I make okay money for a kid my age, but its not much - enough I can just scrape together enough to manage an average 1 bedroom apartment in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh PA's county) or potentially a 1-2 bedroom home in one of the adjacent counties.

I'm looking for advice/experiences that would be beneficial to me. Some things I'm thinking I need to figure out more on is if I qualify for government rental assistance, if such a thing exists in my area, how do I get it, etc., how much of an impact that will play (looks like a lot of places don't accept section 8) both in terms of option limiting as well as the $$$ or % of rent I can expect it to cover. Are there any other sources other than Craigslist or the newspaper that would be useful in researching places? Those are the only two I've used so far.

I don't anticipate wanting a pet and I'd prefer it to not have a roommate unless its going to be in the county south of Allegheny with one of my old college friends, but no one is committal to that at this point, so I am under the intent that I am renting on my own to start and if its a house in that region one might move in at a later date and start chipping in towards rent/utilities.

What can I expect in terms of utilities? I've seen bills for my parents' home, but thats for 4 people - what would 1 person be using in terms of $ for electric, water, gas (both winter and non-winter)? I do not plan on getting cable TV, but I do plan on getting some form of internet.

Also anyone from Western PA with any specific regional real estate advice feel free to add.

[Kanriel]

Utilities are going to vary quite a bit based on a few things. For me I'm in an all-electric apartment, but I do not have a full-sized fridge, nor do I have a washer/dryer. Basically I just power my TV, computer and mini-fridge on electricity. I have been fairly steady last 3 months at about $70/month. I turn the heat off every night though, and often times straight up have it off during the day and bundle up though. But I do cook fairly often, pretty much my lunches and dinners are all hot food either on the electric stove or in the microwave. And I do not pay for water consumption but I do pay for heating the water. I've had it tip as high as $110/month, and be as low as $45/month, so a $70-80 average seems fair. I'd probably just budget for $100/month and you'll likely get to bank some of that money each money.

One thing to look for is if you're renting out a home you should check to see if you can have another tenant with you to split payment, some landlords may not wish for it (double the risk of things getting broken and such).

[Madeline]

To further expand on the electricity bills, always call your provider and get the previous bills for that particular unit. I'm not sure if it applies too much to apartments, but any type of house definitely. I've had some places that ended up being REALLY hard to keep heated/cooled, and that alone can shoot the bill up to the point that the place isn't worth living. Avoid places with high ceilings (my mother always told me this lol), piss poor insulation and things that don't seal well like doors/windows.

Agree with above poster that utilities for 1 person should be in the 70-80 range. Going as low as 30-40 isn't unheard of depending on how often you're actually there and how hard you are on the plugs.

Don't be wasteful, get some lightbulbs that save energy. Doing that alone I've cut down on my bill by a lot. But I also live with another, very wasteful person. So there's that. It pays for itself for me. My bills here range from 200-275 for 2 people with central air conditioning and gas heat(gas tends to be very, very bad) and this place is very poorly built/insulated. I didn't pay attention to it when I signed up for this rubbish and now I'm paying for it.

As far as vouchers for housing and the like go typically it's based on your income total. Including things like FS and other government aids. You'll be assigned a voucher worth x amount of money and the government will assist with your rent based on your income as long as you stay within rent at that range. I've seen people renting houses in the 550-650+ range that pay as low as 30 dollars a month. Of course, everything is vastly different depending on you are in terms of what you'll get. I'd look up my city/state's housing assistance programs and get that ball rolling. Some of them have ridiculous waiting lists of 6+ months. Keeping in mind they will SEVERELY limit what you can rent depending on where you are. A lot of people simply will not fuck with people on housing assistance because they want that direct cash into their pocket and because people on housing assistance tend to not take care of the housing leading to very retarded repair bills. It's sad, but it's very true. I've been left my fair share of absolute messes and met my fair share of landlords who will not under any circumstances accept someone on assistance because they always trash the unit. Most of the aforementioned applies to houses, mind you. Apartments are considerably more lenient because they outsource most of their post move-out cleanup/repairs and for what they get out of those people, they could care less.

[Mazmaz]

These 2 sites really helped me. Use the first to find places, and the second to figure out if the area surrounding that place is ideal:

https://www.padmapper.com/#

http://www.walkscore.com/

[Ksandra]

Might I ask what is making you want to move out? Sounds like you are really tight, it doesn't look (on the surface) like a good idea to move out at all.

[Sepukku]

Might I ask what is making you want to move out? Sounds like you are really tight, it doesn't look (on the surface) like a good idea to move out at all.

Cause I'm 24 and tired of living at home, I want independence and freedom. My parents and I rarely see eye to eye and I need to keep growing as a person and that means being an adult and having my own place. I already pay them $500/month rent so moving out and getting a place for roughly the same plus utilities is logical. I make $1850-2000 a month post-taxes roughly, but I own my car outright and have no student loans, so I have 2 less bills to worry about than most of my peers and $800/month between rent and utilities is affordable.

[Kainos]

As a rule of thumb they say you shouldnt spend more than 30% of your income on rent. If you qualify for gvt assistance most likely you will have to wait a long time to be approved and a lot of those areas might be really bad neiborhoods. I would suggest a roomate, even though you said its not prefferred. it would be a lot cheaper plus you can get a taste of being on your own.

[Melena]

A lot of properties will require proof of income/employment and will require you make 2-3x the amount of rent to even be considered. So if rent is 700 a month they will require you gross 1400-2100 a month. Also remember that your deposit can equal or exceed another months rent and will be due before your move in date, so make sure you got that ready. My last two apartments due to us having cats our deposits were 1500 (800 for the apartment, 600 for the cats) and 1500 (1000 apartment 500 cats) so keep that in mind as well.

As others have said, try to keep your rent at no more than 30% of your income. And if all possible have 1-2 months rent saved up for emergencies.

[Sepukku]

I do have deposit money saved up already as well as a chunk of money set aside in savings for PS4 so that won't floor my budget next fall. I realize I will probably be going over 30% by a little bit but not exceeding 40% but again, I only have 2 other monthly expenses, totaling ~$150, besides gas and groceries, so in this individual case its still possible as - even assuming the high end of what I'd spend on rent/utilities, $800, I'd only be paying $950 in bills from $1850 monthly income, leaving me with $900 for gas and groceries, likely leaving me with $700 to split between savings and recreational budget.

As far as considering not doing this, I'm moving out one way or another - I'm going back to college or I'm moving out - the current situation is unmaintainable and while I realize a lot of people are cool with doing it, and there even are advantages to it, I can't chill out at my parents long term, it makes me feel like I'm stagnating as a person.

[djzombie]

Really investigate the utility costs at whatever place you're thinking about renting/buying.

We rented this place because we had a short time frame to find a place and it fit most of our needs. When we moved in we discovered that almost everything ran on propane, our furnace, our hot water heater(incredibly inefficient especially when your hot water heater is in a separate insulated room outside the rest of the house, and of course our stove and fireplace. On top of that, the landlord was kind enough to leave them empty, so we had 600 dollar propane bill as soon as we moved in, plus a 400 dollar "deposit" on tanks that were already here and have been here forever because we're renting and dont own the house. So yeah the day after we move 1000 dollar expense.

And now in the winter we're having to get fillups every 6 weeks. Needless to say we've been looking for another place. Probably moving out of this shit hole to somewhere in cn

[Manako]

Sadly you might be better off trying to find a roomate, so I would be hesitant to cut that option out.

Craigslist up here is the best option, but is terribly flakey, so be prepared as that tends to be the norm. If you have friends who are in apartments you should talk to them, if they like their landlord its possible that they might have other places for rent which would be a win-win situation for both you and the landlord. Can also look at low-end apartment complexes in your area, here they aren't more than what you would get from an independant landlord and utilities are included a lot of the time.

Goodluck!

[Kanriel]

Cause I'm 24 and tired of living at home, I want independence and freedom. My parents and I rarely see eye to eye and I need to keep growing as a person and that means being an adult and having my own place. I already pay them $500/month rent so moving out and getting a place for roughly the same plus utilities is logical. I make $1850-2000 a month post-taxes roughly, but I own my car outright and have no student loans, so I have 2 less bills to worry about than most of my peers and $800/month between rent and utilities is affordable.

I bring home roughly $1500-1600 a month and pay $680 in rent alone. I am usually able to put $100-400 in the bank, depending on the month and any extra expenses (I've had to buy 5 new tires in the last year lol). I can live very cheaply though and rarely buy any games whatsoever, just occasionally pay a monthly MMO fee and buy a steam game sale. I get no government assistance of any kind either. I pay every single bill (cell phone(50), insurance(85), cable TV/internet(90), electric(70ish), etc.) all on my own as well.

That said, live at home until your parents kick your ass out. It's SO much cheaper and easier there. The "test" is all sorts of fun, but one snag can ruin it all and that's not exactly a healthy way to live, one step from bankruptcy.

To qualify for my apartment ($21k/year req) I had the office lady give me a "pass" since technically I should be making $20,800/year but since I work in the food industry I make closer to $18k (though with unclaimed tips I probably am closer to $20k). I had my father willing to cosign for the lease if needed but the lady said I was close enough and didn't have him cosign. At the time rent was $650/month for a 6-month lease and I'm now paying $680 month-to-month since I'm trying to buy a house.

[Sepukku]

I bring home roughly $1500-1600 a month and pay $680 in rent alone. I am usually able to put $100-400 in the bank, depending on the month and any extra expenses (I've had to buy 5 new tires in the last year lol). I can live very cheaply though and rarely buy any games whatsoever, just occasionally pay a monthly MMO fee and buy a steam game sale. I get no government assistance of any kind either. I pay every single bill (cell phone(50), insurance(85), cable TV/internet(90), electric(70ish), etc.) all on my own as well.

That said, live at home until your parents kick your ass out. It's SO much cheaper and easier there. The "test" is all sorts of fun, but one snag can ruin it all and that's not exactly a healthy way to live, one step from bankruptcy.

I don't respect myself for being here, ladies don't respect dudes living at home 2+ years and increasing since college, all of my friends except 1 also live with their parents so we could use a place to hang out, and my parents and I don't get along - in part, ironically, due to the fact that they don't believe me when I say everyone my age is stuck doing it these days, so they too want me out.

[Devia]

Not all rentals come with a refrigerator. Find one that does so you don't have the extra expense of buying your own when money is already tight. Plus you don't have to move it later.

[Kalmado]

Not all rentals come with a refrigerator. Find one that does so you don't have the extra expense of buying your own when money is already tight. Plus you don't have to move it later.

Not saying this couldn't be true, but I personally have never ran across this. The point of renting (in my opinion) is for the landlord to take care of all that stuff and when it breaks they handle it. If they don't, I wouldn't rent from them.

The 30% rule is pretty good. Utilities can definitely be a killer! My wife and I moved to a new city last year and started renting this house which we had to pay all utilities. Everything on the surface of the house looked well enough and my wife liked it so we took it. When summer hit, our house would get so hot it was unbearable to be inside(no a/c). Winter comes and it's freezing. Heat was the old style radiant heating which didn't work worth a crap really. Our utility bill on average was around $225/month for just myself and the misses. Our new house we moved into has on average $130/month utility bill and we have central a/c.

In all of the apartments I lived in I'd say on average my utility bill would be around $75/month at the most. Sometimes as low as $45. But this was back to 2007. In Florida, I had a studio but it used a wall a/c unit. My bill there was usually around $125/month.

Just don't live outside your means and make sure you really like your place. Even if you have to pay a little more for a house, it's all worth it when you come home from work or you have your girlfriend over and you truly like your place vs. having cheap rent and a decent if not shabby place.

[Brill Weave]

Heheheh. I could rent you the Millvale house I am renovating but then you'd have me as a land/slum lord.

[Brill Weave]

Oh and fuck moving out. Give it a year. Save money now that you're back in the workforce bringing home a steady paycheck. Trust me. It's better than moving into a shithole apartment and flushing your money down the drain.

[Mazmaz]

lol move out or you won't get laid.

[Seanr]

Saving for later.

[Brill Weave]

lol move out or you won't get laid.

Spoken like a true idiot that moved back in with his parents after a year on his own.