What's the Rent like in your town?

[southerngirlwriter]

I want to compare rent prices. I read something recently (an apartment guide for another city) and was shocked.

The property: A one-bedroom apartment with washer/dryer connections and a dishwasher, disposal, full-sized refrigerator, in a very good neighborhood. Owned by a professional management company that has terrific and responsive maintenance staff. Other amenities include access to a pool and a gym, etc.

How much would that cost in your area?

[youngred]

1. for that in NW DC

1300-1500

[southerngirlwriter]

3. DAMN.

My parents have a 20-year mortgage on a 4-bedroom house on a huge lot, brand new (built in 2003), with their own lake in the backyard (yes, you heard me correctly). Their mortgage payment is less than that. ROFLMAO. What a difference some mileage makes. Wow.

[youngred]

8. it sucks a lot

because using transport to get to school from a cheaper spot would be another 2-3 months rent alone :-( no choice but to pay

[mlawson]

2. $701 to $900 in Asheville.

And your rent would go up every time you renew your lease.

[DemoTex]

5. For what?

1 br/1 bath? 2br/2bath? $701-900 in Asheville sounds a bit low to me. I say that because, before I bought in the mountains near Brevard I looked in A-ville. I thought housing prices a bit steep there. Especially close to Grove Park.

But! But! It's worth it. I love Asheville (and I'm the only one - right?). I'd pay any rent there rather than live in Dallas or Atlanta. 'Course, I ended up with the best of all possible worlds: Cabin in the Transylvania County mountains 45 miles from downtown Asheville, and a small condo right slap in downtown Greeenville, SC. Oh, life is good!

[mlawson]

9. It depends of location, of course.

Near Grove Park, that might be low, but rent varies a whole lot. In the newer appt complexes south of Biltmore, I bet that range is about the average.

I pay $680 for a 2 bdrm townhouse, but it's 55 years old, and there is NO insulation.

[neoteric lefty]

4. my rent is 335 a month

but I live with 2 roomates and it is a college town. Our apt. is nice and roomy but not perfect. Good enough for us. Full kitchen, 3 BR/ 3 bath, carpeted, central air, garbage & water is included.

on edit: btw, Gainesville, FL

[AlecBGreen]

6. Whats the square footage?

How many rooms? In Blacksburg, VA that would run ya about $600. Here in Winchester it would be closer to $800 - $1000

[southerngirlwriter]

7. well, a one-bedroom apartment

usually means a living room, one bedroom, one bathroom, one kitchen. Right???

[Flaxbee]

10. You're in Winchester, VA?

I'll be darned. My husband and I are in the area, though thinking of leaving this spring. Going further south, warmer, less cost and more land.

What do you think of the area? Do you work in the area or go to school?

[pagerbear]

11. Don't even ask about Manhattan!

If you can find such an animal as you've described, it would be exhorbitant! $2500 at least!

[southerngirlwriter]

14. That is just....

:wow:


In my city, $2,500 a month is the mortgage payment on 8-bedroom mansions in a gated community with 24-hour guards on duty. My friend babysits for a neurosurgeon who lives there. His mortgage payment is $2,300.


Is New York that awesome of a city to live in -- is it worth it??? I'm not trying to be snide; I'm just curious.

[sir_captain]

22. I think so :-)

I pay $1400 a month for a 1 bedroom 3rd floor walkup with no dishwasher or washer/dryer on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. And that's rent control!

But honestly, there's no place in the world I'd rather live. I generally find that if people really like it here, they can't even imagine being anywhere else. It's not the excitement exactly--when you live here, all of the "exciting" things that tourists associate with NYC are pretty much old hat--it's the pace of the life, and the diversity of people and businesses and interests. Well, I could go on for a while... ;-)

[pagerbear]

23. Keep in mind

NYC salaries are (often) inflated, too.

And if you're willing to make sacrifices you can find much more reasonable rents. I live at the northern tip of Manhattan in a small 1BR for $950.

[rbnyc]

28. Inwood?

There are some good deals there. But I actually haven't found that to be true about salaries. Maybe for high-end jobs, but wages here are about the same as anywhere else I've ever lived. The main difference I've found is that there are just more jobs. I could pay a much lower rent in another city, but I might not be able to find a job in my field at all.

P.S. I pay $1200 for 5 rooms in Brooklyn.

[rbnyc]

27. Yep.

At least is right. Hell, in a "good" neighborhood you could pay that much for a studio.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

12. Outrageous-thanks to the student population

Demand is high-even in the bad economy, the vacancy rates are low. When I was a renter, it was hell because most of the apartments turned over on September 1st. The competition for apartments and moving vans was fierce.

Prices here are out of control. Average 1 BD is 1200-1600, most don't come with parking and are quite small (less than 500 sq feet). Since most of buildings in the Boston area are from before the early 20th century, space is very limited. 2 BDs are anywhere from 1600 for a dump to 3000 for a nice place. 2 BDs are usually less than 1,000 sq feet. The other trick real estate agents pull is listing a 2 BD with a dining room as a 3 BD, and a 1 BD with an alcove as a 2 BD. There are so many students that are desperate for cheap housing that you often find 3 students in a 1 BD.

Mr. RR works in real estate, and I own a rental property for which I charge below market rentals (I know or am related to the tenants). I honestly don't know how poor folks can afford to live here, though there are some less expensive places farther from public transportation, or in dodgy neighborhoods.

[southerngirlwriter]

13. A good swift

:kick:

[Paragon]

15. 525,000...

[greendog]

16. $350....

...for a small (400 sq. ft.), fairly plain one bedroom apartment five blocks from main street in Kalispell, MT.

[curse10]

17. 1500-1800, Southend, Boston

Easy.

[TXlib]

18. Here in Houston, KCDem and I had the kind of apartment you described

with beautiful pool and gym, except our was a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom; 1200 sq ft.

$995/month

$935/month with a 12-month lease.

[Robb]

19. Probably $250-$300...

But you'd have to walk a few blocks to the nearest pool. And the nearest gym... well, actually, I'm not sure where the nearest gym is. Maybe a half hour drive. :)

[Interrobang]

20. For that, with all those amenities...

...probably somewhere on the order of $875-1000 here. Dishwashers, disposals (which almost no one has), and access to a gym/pool drive the price up enormously. Actually, in a lot of those kind of apartment buildings, you can't even *get* 1bdrs -- you can get "bachelors" (no kitchen, just a sort of alcove off to the side of the main room), 2 or 3bdrs.

I'm paying $525/mo.+electricity for a medium-sized apartment (upstairs) in a bad neighbourhood, with limited access to laundry and no parking. Rents here are outrageous, because we've had a housing shortage for years, and the previous provincial government (Ontario) turned over the creation of "affordable housing" largely to the private sector, so, naturally, since the ROI on lower-end housing is less, practically *none* has gotten built for the last 10 years or so, even though demand is skyrocketing. I can probably count four code violations in this place alone, but I really can't afford anything better.

[Jack_Dawson]

21. $1,200 in San Diego - Easy!

It's a nightmare here. Thank God I bought when I did.

:toast:

[GOPisEvil]

24. I have exactly the setup you describe.

Except that my apartment comes with a full-size washer and dryer.

I pay $639, but the market price is $655. I get a break, since I've been here for almost 4 years.

I'm still moving though. I'm tired of the mega-complexes.

Oh, this is Austin, TX. Not in a high-demand area, but still convenient.

[rbnyc]

25. 9 years ago...

...I had the same thing in Austin (Travis Heights) for $350!

EDIT: P.S. We all know that in a good neighborhood in NYC that could cost $2500 easy!

[GOPisEvil]

26. You couldn't get an outhouse in Travis Heights for that now.

:-(

I can't rail against the people who moved here recently though. I've only been here 4 years. :D

[rbnyc]

30. It's a nice area.

And bus service is great. I had no problem living car-free in Austin.

[GOPisEvil]

32. I love those older houses.

I'd love to own one, but damn, they're expensive. If I lived and worked in that general area, I could go car-free and survive. But sprawl has gotten so bad here, it's pretty impractical not to have a car. Plus, I work out in north Austin. It would take hours to get here by bus. Ugh.

I am moving though - that area in interesting, as are some of the surrounding areas. I might move to the north side of campus though. Whereever I go HAS to be in the Lloyd Doggett Congressional District though. Stupid redistricting...

[skippysmom]

29. Probably around $1000-$1200

Here on Cape Cod. We don't have tons of apartment complexes, but there are condos that some people rent out.

That's why we bought a house. Our mortgage payment is about as much as rent would have cost, even though the house cost $200K.

[THUNDER HANDS]

31. between $1,000 and $2,000

For a one bedroom on Long Island

$900 if you want to live in some old fart's basement.

[rbnyc]

33. Really?

How far out?