Tips for renting first apartment/home on a budget

**Yugl** · 2013-03-01 08:35

I could understand if the issue were that you didn't want to instigate when you had an issue, but fighting over paper direction? I'm going with Byrth's suggestion lol.

**tyven** · 2013-03-01 08:39

Originally Posted by Aksannyi

Well, I've always said you don't really know someone until you've lived with them, that's proven to be true on a handful of occasions. Little things like taking my shoes off when I came in or putting the toilet paper roll on opposite ways became a huge deal. When I have to practically lock myself in my room to avoid arguments over petty bullshit ... yeah.

YMMV of course, but I always had really bad luck with roommates, chosen or otherwise.

and shockingly enough, it turns out you were the problem. NO ONE SAW THAT COMING

Dolmen · 2013-03-01 09:20

Originally Posted by Sepukku

Allegheny County 1BR apartments are 450-700+ depending on utilities and school district/NBHD. Seeing a lot of Charleroi, Washington, South Strabane, etc 900-1200 sqft houses throughout Washington/Fayette counties for 350-600 usually with at least water&sewer included.

I was going to say that about Washington county. Even when I lived in Bridgeville (Allegheny county), my mortgage was only $900/month on a 1600 sqft townhome.

I can see both sides of the argument, but I back moving out. When I first moved out I was paying probably 40% toward rent, but I survived. Sure, I made some mistakes, but I learned from them and became a better person (and a lot more fiscally responsible). I'd say take the leap, but make sure you're not going to be surviving off ramen. Also, when looking at counties further away, really figure out how much the extra mileage to work is going to cost you versus what you save in rent.

**tyven** · 2013-03-01 09:21

looking at craigslist i think your better move will be to leave pittsburgh. what a hole. but here are some sillies

basement suite and your own bathroom http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/roo/3569055023.html

another w/ private bathroom and all utilities included except cable internet. 1 roommate who is an engineer and prob not the kind of trashy person that the idiots in this thread lived with http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/roo/3550557202.html

also these rental prices are blowing my fucking mind. i thought pittsburgh was a real place, not some third world shit hole. my 1br apartment built in 1950 costs 3 times as much as a 2br house.

Dolmen · 2013-03-01 09:29

Originally Posted by tyven

also these rental prices are blowing my fucking mind. i thought pittsburgh was a real place, not some third world shit hole. my 1br apartment built in 1950 costs 3 times as much as a 2br house.

The Pittsburgh area has a lot of crumbling buildings, so sometimes it looks third world. It's insanely different from the Fairfax area, but it's a really cool place to live.

**Sepukku** · 2013-03-01 10:29

Originally Posted by tyven

also these rental prices are blowing my fucking mind. i thought pittsburgh was a real place, not some third world shit hole. my 1br apartment built in 1950 costs 3 times as much as a 2br house.

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mhj45...pittsburgh-pa/
http://www.forbes.com/2011/01/06/bar...e_slide_7.html
http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/28/aff..._slide_10.html

Pittsburgh is routinely ranked amongst the cheapest cities to live in America. The adjacent counties are still only an hour drive from the downtown part of Pittsburgh, but start at like $400 for 1000-1200 sqft homes. I google mapped my drives.... the main places I go are back to my college campus / the hockey rink there for my rec league (currently 55 min and 32 miles) and to my work (currently 45 min and 17 miles) from my parents' place. From a place in, for example, Washington, it would be 45 min / 25 miles and 45 min / 32 miles (just as quick despite longer mileage due to being up a 70MPH highway).

**Kanriel** · 2013-03-01 10:53

Originally Posted by Sepukku

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mhj45...pittsburgh-pa/
http://www.forbes.com/2011/01/06/bar...e_slide_7.html
http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/28/aff..._slide_10.html

Pittsburgh is routinely ranked amongst the cheapest cities to live in America. The adjacent counties are still only an hour drive from the downtown part of Pittsburgh, but start at like $400 for 1000-1200 sqft homes. I google mapped my drives.... the main places I go are back to my college campus / the hockey rink there for my rec league (currently 55 min and 32 miles) and to my work (currently 45 min and 17 miles) from my parents' place. From a place in, for example, Washington, it would be 45 min / 25 miles and 45 min / 32 miles (just as quick despite longer mileage due to being up a 70MPH highway).

Is there ever traffic on that highway? And how expensive is it to move near your college/work?

**RKenshin** · 2013-03-01 11:19

Reinforcing what some have already mentioned, in that saving as much as you can before you move out will make things far easier for you in the long run.

I totally understand the sort of anxiety, impatience, frustration, etc, that sets in; particularly when you’ve been at home for a long time and now feel confident you can swing living on your own.

But, what is almost always even worse than that is the stress and lifestyle of having to live paycheck to paycheck, or having to spend half your time worrying about finances, or affording food/the next meal, or dealing with the unexpected expenses that ALWAYS come up eventually… Or, going through all of that only to fall on hard times and end up having to move back (however bad things may have been while you were living with your parents before, they’re almost guaranteed to be worse if you have to move back in later). Then you wasted all that effort/money for nothing.

Anecdotes, etc

Spoiler: show

**Manako** · 2013-03-01 11:47

Especially that you mentioned a lot of your friends live at home, I would think it would be possible to get a place to share with them. Especially if you are thinking part of the plan is for them to hang out all the time.

It can't hurt to start looking for a place, if you're paying $500 a month to your folks and feel like you are trapped it might be worthwhile to move on. Here you can get crummy apts or apts with roomates for $500-600 a month, so that may be affecting my opinion.

**tyven** · 2013-03-01 12:34

if one of your chief motivators for wanting to move out is so your friends have a place to hang out, you need to charge them rent. that shit is gonna get real old, real fast.

**Conrad** · 2013-03-01 13:31

Here's my situation: I moved out into a 1br last August, at 24 years old. I've been working full time since late 2009, and for most of that time I had few bills (car insurance twice a year for about $1200 p.a., phone bill for $43/mo, gas in my car, and $185 student loan payments). I used Craigslist exclusively in my search, and visited maybe half a dozen apartments before I found the place in which I currently live. When I moved out, I had saved about two-thirds of my income from working for nearly three years. Do this. People say to have about six months of an emergency fund saved when you move out, plus an extra couple thousand for supplies. I splurged on a new bed for myself which ended up taking the majority of the ~$3000 I spent furnishing my apartment. I had a television and desk, and the apartment came with a fridge, oven, and washer/dryer. I received an old dresser from a friend, an old coffee table from my parents, and bought a couch from a thrift store for $70 (note: go to a thrift store). My monthly living expenses are about $1300/month ($725 rent, $45 internet which I use to watch any non-broadcast TV, $35 electric, variable gas bill, the aforementioned phone/car/loan expenses, and up to $150-200 on food). I live in a relatively expensive place in the Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia.

Keep in mind other up-front costs such as setup fees for your internet, your security deposit (can be up to 1.5-2 months' rent), utility deposits, and delivery fees if you get any furniture. You may want to set up an account at mint.com and try and form a budget for yourself. Make sure you have some money going into a long-term savings account as well, and treat it like a bill (if you have a 401k at your job, invest in that and contribute more to a personal savings account). Just make sure you don't end up underwater at some point, and are making more than you're spending, and you'll be fine.

**Ayn** · 2013-03-01 16:07

Just going to echo what a lot of people have said:

Stay at home for as long as you can bear it and bank money. That will make moving out somewhat easier.

Lived at home with the grandparents after undergrad for a bit before moving out west for grad school. Hadn't saved as much money as I'd have liked (what I had left over from undergrad + money from shitty Gamestop job), but the money I saved living at home certainly helped out a heck of a lot more when I transitioned to CA.

There's a lot of good advice in this thread. I realize a lot of us aren't in your situation and may not have been for some time, but trust us: It's a heck of a lot better to stay at home. Furthermore, any halfway decent female will understand that if you actually have a plan to move out, but are banking money.

My cousin was in a similar situation where he couldn't wait to move out and ignored all of our advice to just chill at home a bit (when his family moved) and save some money. Now he's back home and in debt. Different situation, but seriously: Wait on it if you can.

Also on the roommate thing: I can see it from both ends -- I hate having roommates, and thankfully I didn't have to have any once I was on my own post grad school, but it was rough at first until I started making decent money. If you have to get a roommate, then think of it in terms of saving the extra money you'd be spending on rent as money towards a house (should you want one) or a better place once you start making more money.

**Aksannyi** · 2013-03-01 18:24

I guess I was the problem for hiding in my room and not trying to be confrontational about every little damn thing instead of trying to instigate stupid arguments, which is pretty much exactly what I did. Then I'd come out of my room and find half of my food gone because our apartment was the community outreach or something, which is why my roommate never locked the door, so anyone could come in whenever - we're talking all hours of the night. I had to stop buying perishable foods so I could store them in my room - yeah, but I'm the problem for not being a charity I guess.

Even when I did try to say something, I was the one who was unreasonable to my roommate for not wanting to give up my hard-earned money to feed her and her fucking friends. The end of that lease couldn't come fast enough.

Is everyone going to have this kind of horrible experience? No, but the bad experiences I've had with roommates far outweigh the good, and for that reason, no matter how hard it is financially, I will never again live with another person that isn't related to me.

**Ksandra** · 2013-03-01 18:36

On the tv front, I say this a lot (sorry for those who have read it multiple times), but it's such a dang good idea if you aren't into the whole pirating thing. Get a digital antenna. They are like $30 at Wal-mart. You can see what kind of reception you get, and if you can't get anything, return it.

Sad story about the reality of tv companies. We got the antenna about a year ago since we rarely watch tv and have netflix/hulu. But I wanted my judge judy and a few other shows not found on those platforms. So, husband kept saying we should get an antenna. At first I was all, "fuck. that." Thinking back to old antennas, but he finally convinced me.

They are amazing. They give HD signals and are clear as fuck. I felt stupid I had said, "no," for such a long time. Anyway, we recently moved to a new apt, and when I called to have our internet set up the guy on the phone, of course, was trying to get me to get cable. I guess they had a plan that was a combo that gave us basic with the same internet we were using but for $10 a month cheaper for the first year. I finally said ok, figuring I'd cancel after a year.

And yep, the cable is crappy. Not only are my antenna channels clearer (because they are HD I guess), but I get every English channel the cable does, plus some (most of the cable channels are in Spanish).

So ya, fuck cable.

Only thing that makes me sad in the pants is now we gotta buy our hbo shows to watch since you need extended cable in order for them to let you pay for HBO....

**Ratatapa** · 2013-03-01 18:48

I envy you in the USA not much shows here to pirate so that I could cancel tv

**noblemountain** · 2013-03-01 19:04

If you have a spine, having a roommate is fine. If you let people walk all over you...not such a good idea. Get the hell out of your parents house and get your ass motivated to do something with your life. Fuck these people telling you to live with your parents until your 30 or whatever.

**Brill Weave** · 2013-03-01 19:08

Originally Posted by Mazmaz

You're old and married (even though you dress like you're 17). How can you claim that you have any idea what it's like to be a young grad in this day and age? OP sounds like he's got his shit together. There's no point for him to continue sucking the teat.

I seriously don't know how you can claim to have even a shred of intelligence. Oh wait I forgot I'm talking to you. Here's a hint dumbass. Literally, the same exact problems that affected me as a grad affect Sep. He and I live in the same city. I am intimately familiar with the situations that he will be facing because I have already lived through them. So next time you want to talk or attempt to sound intelligent go back to poopdeck, post something stupid, cry about everyone picking on you and leave adult conversations to adults.

**Brill Weave** · 2013-03-01 19:09

Sep if you're dead set on this(which I disagree with) and want to discuss the Millvale house let me know. It's not huge but it's two bedroom, one bathroom. Your neighbors will be a meth addict and a wife beater.

**Ratatapa** · 2013-03-01 19:11

Originally Posted by Brill Weave

Sep if you're dead set on this(which I disagree with) and want to discuss the Millvale house let me know. It's not huge but it's two bedroom, one bathroom. Your neighbors will be a meth addict and a wife beater.

The best kind

**Brill Weave** · 2013-03-01 19:14

Originally Posted by Ratatapa

The best kind

Seriously lol they're fucking trash.

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