Apartment hunting question

FH and I still live with our parents while we're finishing up school. I graduate this sunday and start my first real job next month Anywho, we want to start looking for an apartment soon, but since neither one of us have ever lived on our own, we're sorta clueless as to what we should look for and what kinds of questions we should ask. Any tips/suggestions?? TIA

Re: Apartment hunting question

First, try Cragislist... Great resource... we found our apt. there and this year will be 3 years.

Ask if anything is included; and if heat's included, find out if you have control over your own heat or not. Test everything... lights, sink/faucet, toilet (you don't want to have a weak flush, right!?). Ask about leases, security deposits. Ask if the landlord is on premise or not and if he's not, how responsive is he when you need him to fix something. Ask about pets. Ask about parking and use of yard.

Jot down things as they come to you.
Good luck! And congrats on graduating!!!

ETA: Don't be afraid to see if the rent is negotiable.

Re: Apartment hunting question

Things like is everything included (electric, phone, etc) How much down (month security,etc)

Re: Apartment hunting question

well what to look for is really up to you as far as what you're looking for in an apartment...personally one thing i look at right away now is the bathroom and kitchen bc it seems like many apartments have horrible ones, ill see so many great apartments with small kitchens or long but very narrow. Think about how many bedrooms you want. More importantly think of location first, pick places you want to look for apartments, see whats available in that area, and it will help. ALSO are you looking to buy or rent, if you are buying, make sure to look at the maintenance, many times the mortgage payments will sound great, but some buildings have a very high maintenance, actually even if you rent a co-op or condo you still pay maintenance which will double what you pay monthly. Is it near transportation...parking, ammenities, pet friendly if youre interested.

but wait are you looking to buy or rent

Re: Apartment hunting question

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Posted by Espo22

well what to look for is really up to you as far as what you're looking for in an apartment...personally one thing i look at right away now is the bathroom and kitchen bc it seems like many apartments have horrible ones, ill see so many great apartments with small kitchens or long but very narrow. Think about how many bedrooms you want. More importantly think of location first, pick places you want to look for apartments, see whats available in that area, and it will help. ALSO are you looking to buy or rent, if you are buying, make sure to look at the maintenance, many times the mortgage payments will sound great, but some buildings have a very high maintenance which will double what you pay monthly. Is it near transportation...parking, ammenities, pet friendly if youre interested.

but wait are you looking to buy or rent

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We're looking to rent. We're poor

Re: Apartment hunting question

A few other things to consider:

---Closet space
---the area where the apt is located; check it out at night and during the day. SOme nice neighborhoods may get sketchy after hours
---Whatever utilities aren't included, ask if they know approximately how much the previous tenant paid
---Ask why the previous tenant left.

Be careful because u want to ask enough questions to get a good feel for the place, but not too many so you come across as annoying and needy.


Congrats on graduating!

Re: Apartment hunting question

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Posted by tdebe

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Posted by Espo22

well what to look for is really up to you as far as what you're looking for in an apartment...personally one thing i look at right away now is the bathroom and kitchen bc it seems like many apartments have horrible ones, ill see so many great apartments with small kitchens or long but very narrow. Think about how many bedrooms you want. More importantly think of location first, pick places you want to look for apartments, see whats available in that area, and it will help. ALSO are you looking to buy or rent, if you are buying, make sure to look at the maintenance, many times the mortgage payments will sound great, but some buildings have a very high maintenance which will double what you pay monthly. Is it near transportation...parking, ammenities, pet friendly if youre interested.

but wait are you looking to buy or rent

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We're looking to rent. We're poor

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well see what you have after your wedding in gift money bc honestly many times it comes out cheaper per month to buy than rent...The apartments im looking at if i buy are about $1000-1300 a month(not including maintenance) if i rent an apartment in the same area its more money bc ppl are looking to make a profit on top of the actual monthly payments for the apartment

i even found an apartment in excellent condition for $84,000, its $1600 down payment and the mortgage is so cheap each month, less than $1000 alot less actually, this isn't one that im considering bc it is a little small but still a great option for somebody

Re: Apartment hunting question

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by tdebe

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Posted by Espo22

well what to look for is really up to you as far as what you're looking for in an apartment...personally one thing i look at right away now is the bathroom and kitchen bc it seems like many apartments have horrible ones, ill see so many great apartments with small kitchens or long but very narrow. Think about how many bedrooms you want. More importantly think of location first, pick places you want to look for apartments, see whats available in that area, and it will help. ALSO are you looking to buy or rent, if you are buying, make sure to look at the maintenance, many times the mortgage payments will sound great, but some buildings have a very high maintenance which will double what you pay monthly. Is it near transportation...parking, ammenities, pet friendly if youre interested.

but wait are you looking to buy or rent

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We're looking to rent. We're poor

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well see what you have after your wedding in gift money bc honestly many times it comes out cheaper per month to buy than rent...The apartments im looking at if i buy are about $1000-1300 a month(not including maintenance) if i rent an apartment in the same area its more money

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wow that surprises me. mine is $1600 a month. though i only could put 15% down and that includes about $100 of PMI, so i guess it's closer to $1500 which is about what i was paying to rent a studio in midtown.

Re: Apartment hunting question

i agree with everyone else's suggestions.

i don't know where you're looking to live, but i would ask if 1. the building has a mice/roach problem and 2. how often it's exterminated.

i caught like 6 mice in my midtown apartment. it was GROSS

Re: Apartment hunting question

I found my apartment on newsday.com! i had alot of problem Craigslist

Re: Apartment hunting question

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Posted by snwb08

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by tdebe

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Posted by Espo22

well what to look for is really up to you as far as what you're looking for in an apartment...personally one thing i look at right away now is the bathroom and kitchen bc it seems like many apartments have horrible ones, ill see so many great apartments with small kitchens or long but very narrow. Think about how many bedrooms you want. More importantly think of location first, pick places you want to look for apartments, see whats available in that area, and it will help. ALSO are you looking to buy or rent, if you are buying, make sure to look at the maintenance, many times the mortgage payments will sound great, but some buildings have a very high maintenance which will double what you pay monthly. Is it near transportation...parking, ammenities, pet friendly if youre interested.

but wait are you looking to buy or rent

---

We're looking to rent. We're poor

---

well see what you have after your wedding in gift money bc honestly many times it comes out cheaper per month to buy than rent...The apartments im looking at if i buy are about $1000-1300 a month(not including maintenance) if i rent an apartment in the same area its more money

---

wow that surprises me. mine is $1600 a month. though i only could put 15% down and that includes about $100 of PMI, so i guess it's closer to $1500 which is about what i was paying to rent a studio in midtown.

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it depends, there are about 2 that we're interested in that does come out to about $1500-1800 a month but even in those situations its ok bc its money that is going towards your investment. These are apartments in the $250,000 range some $225,000 or so. SOME ARE a little more too, but just letting ppl know that there are options like that out there and these are nice apartments too, not beat up or anything like that

Re: Apartment hunting question

another reason is if for example i wanted to rent out my apartment then i would do the same thing and charge a few hundred dollars more than what it costs this way it covers my mortgage payment that i have to make plus makes me a little bit of a profit

Re: Apartment hunting question

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by snwb08

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by tdebe

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Posted by Espo22

well what to look for is really up to you as far as what you're looking for in an apartment...personally one thing i look at right away now is the bathroom and kitchen bc it seems like many apartments have horrible ones, ill see so many great apartments with small kitchens or long but very narrow. Think about how many bedrooms you want. More importantly think of location first, pick places you want to look for apartments, see whats available in that area, and it will help. ALSO are you looking to buy or rent, if you are buying, make sure to look at the maintenance, many times the mortgage payments will sound great, but some buildings have a very high maintenance which will double what you pay monthly. Is it near transportation...parking, ammenities, pet friendly if youre interested.

but wait are you looking to buy or rent

---

We're looking to rent. We're poor

---

well see what you have after your wedding in gift money bc honestly many times it comes out cheaper per month to buy than rent...The apartments im looking at if i buy are about $1000-1300 a month(not including maintenance) if i rent an apartment in the same area its more money

---

wow that surprises me. mine is $1600 a month. though i only could put 15% down and that includes about $100 of PMI, so i guess it's closer to $1500 which is about what i was paying to rent a studio in midtown.

---

it depends, there are about 2 that we're interested in that does come out to about $1500-1800 a month but even in those situations its ok bc its money that is going towards your investment. These are apartments in the $250,000 range some $225,000 or so. SOME ARE a little more too, but just letting ppl know that there are options like that out there and these are nice apartments too, not beat up or anything like that

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How much of a down payment did you need for an apartment? We don't have bad credit, just not a lot of it. We'll both be 22 and just starting new jobs, so I don't know how much money we'd be able to get together.

Re: Apartment hunting question

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Posted by tdebe

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by snwb08

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Posted by Espo22

---

Posted by tdebe

---

Posted by Espo22

well what to look for is really up to you as far as what you're looking for in an apartment...personally one thing i look at right away now is the bathroom and kitchen bc it seems like many apartments have horrible ones, ill see so many great apartments with small kitchens or long but very narrow. Think about how many bedrooms you want. More importantly think of location first, pick places you want to look for apartments, see whats available in that area, and it will help. ALSO are you looking to buy or rent, if you are buying, make sure to look at the maintenance, many times the mortgage payments will sound great, but some buildings have a very high maintenance which will double what you pay monthly. Is it near transportation...parking, ammenities, pet friendly if youre interested.

but wait are you looking to buy or rent

---

We're looking to rent. We're poor

---

well see what you have after your wedding in gift money bc honestly many times it comes out cheaper per month to buy than rent...The apartments im looking at if i buy are about $1000-1300 a month(not including maintenance) if i rent an apartment in the same area its more money

---

wow that surprises me. mine is $1600 a month. though i only could put 15% down and that includes about $100 of PMI, so i guess it's closer to $1500 which is about what i was paying to rent a studio in midtown.

---

it depends, there are about 2 that we're interested in that does come out to about $1500-1800 a month but even in those situations its ok bc its money that is going towards your investment. These are apartments in the $250,000 range some $225,000 or so. SOME ARE a little more too, but just letting ppl know that there are options like that out there and these are nice apartments too, not beat up or anything like that

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How much of a down payment did you need for an apartment? We don't have bad credit, just not a lot of it. We'll both be 22 and just starting new jobs, so I don't know how much money we'd be able to get together.

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i can fm you later apartments in that range...but usually they recommend 20% down payment, some places ive seen said they'll take 10% down payment but that means your mortgage will be more each month. What area are you looking at?

Re: Apartment hunting question

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Posted by Espo22

i can fm you later apartments in that range...but usually they recommend 20% down payment, some places ive seen said they'll take 10% down payment but that means your mortgage will be more each month. What area are you looking at?

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We're looking at western suffolk/eastern nassau for the time being, but once FH graduates next December, we'll move into queens or brooklyn.

Re: Apartment hunting question

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by snwb08

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by tdebe

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Posted by Espo22

well what to look for is really up to you as far as what you're looking for in an apartment...personally one thing i look at right away now is the bathroom and kitchen bc it seems like many apartments have horrible ones, ill see so many great apartments with small kitchens or long but very narrow. Think about how many bedrooms you want. More importantly think of location first, pick places you want to look for apartments, see whats available in that area, and it will help. ALSO are you looking to buy or rent, if you are buying, make sure to look at the maintenance, many times the mortgage payments will sound great, but some buildings have a very high maintenance which will double what you pay monthly. Is it near transportation...parking, ammenities, pet friendly if youre interested.

but wait are you looking to buy or rent

---

We're looking to rent. We're poor

---

well see what you have after your wedding in gift money bc honestly many times it comes out cheaper per month to buy than rent...The apartments im looking at if i buy are about $1000-1300 a month(not including maintenance) if i rent an apartment in the same area its more money

---

wow that surprises me. mine is $1600 a month. though i only could put 15% down and that includes about $100 of PMI, so i guess it's closer to $1500 which is about what i was paying to rent a studio in midtown.

---

it depends, there are about 2 that we're interested in that does come out to about $1500-1800 a month but even in those situations its ok bc its money that is going towards your investment. These are apartments in the $250,000 range some $225,000 or so. SOME ARE a little more too, but just letting ppl know that there are options like that out there and these are nice apartments too, not beat up or anything like that

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mine was higher than that so i guess that's why; i know my payment is high. it was out of my price range but i loved it and it was a great 2 br and i loved the idea of having the extra room, so instead of putting down 20% i put down 15% and pay the PMI which was cheaper than taking a 2nd loan.

i want to rent mine out also - since it's a 2 br i think i could get $1700 for it.

Re: Apartment hunting question

Where are you looking to live? How much do you want to spend?? I love the fairhaven apartments in Hicksville, or even better the ones in syosset. I think they are nice. More money then living in a house but at least you don't have your landlord living in the same space.