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The median apartment price in Sydney is $700k. I'm in a fairly comfortable white collar job, but I'm looking for a shitty studio apartment and will be paying around $1400 a month myself. None of the other Australian capitals are an improvement.
We finally got the permit for the fence. The township had no problem with it, just had to wait for the neighbor to complain about it and then get denied.
And in a final act of cockknobbery, my neighbor stacked a quarter cord of wood over the property line. I know he did it on purpose because he had to pull up the stakes the surveyors put down marking the line. I figure the morning before they drop in the post holes for the fence I'll go out nice and early and throw all the wood into his yard. Really making us happy we have the fence going in.
It sounds to me like you just gained a quarter cord of wood.
+9
mightyjongyoSour CrrmEast Bay, CaliforniaRegistered Userregular
Despite my high rent I was starting to enjoy my apartment... And i dont have enough saved up to buy anyways. And then an elephant moved in upstairs and reminded me why I hated renting.
So I'm setting up to go to some room showings.
Having never done this before..help
How do these things work? Do I just go, meet the person, look at the room...and then what? "I'll let you know?"
Look at the room. Confirm it's big enough for you, will have room for all your stuff, find out if there's any restrictions on painting / hanging stuff just in case. Look around the apartment, at all the shared spaces - bathroom, kitchen, etc. Test the appliances / water if you're particularly paranoid. Ask about utilities, are they included in the rent or are you splitting them amongst the house, if the latter how much do they come out to every month, etc. Find out about pet restrictions if you have or are thinking of getting a pet, or if you're allergic as fuck make sure they don't have pets (or if you don't like vacuuming because boy does dog hair pile up fast). See how long your new roommates have been there and whether or not they've had problems talking to the landlord to get things fixed. Be sure the place has working heating, find out if it has AC during the summer - oh also if the room has no windows ask if it turns into an oven when the door is closed. If it's a basement, find out if it floods when it rains, see if there's mold on the walls, etc.
If you like the place and you're satisfied with all those questions, fucking jump on it right then and there or you'll miss your chance because it will be taken by the guy you nod at on your way out of the building.
You probably don't need to know half that shit I'm just trying to think of everything that could possibly come up. If there's only one bathroom maybe find out what time they go to work versus when you go to work.
i have been struggling to get an apartment since May here in my hometown in Kentucky.
shit has been an absolute nightmare. i've gotten at least half a dozen solid offers to move out of state, but I've been fighting really hard to stick it out here and continue with what I've worked on in this state. I make only around $800 or so a month working part-time retail while I travel the country so much, which isn't an issue if I could just find a roommate willing to stick it out with me and really find something. alas, my latest attempt fell through again, and I'm back at square one.
my friends are offering me to let them live out of their living room for $150/mo and I'm tempted to jump on it at this point. ;_;
Yesterday I was leaving my apt and it smelled like vom and sure enough outside our doorstep there was a pile of vomit and it was gross
And then i came back in the evening and it had been cleaned up but the vestibule of our building still smells kind of like vomit and it's gross
And our landlord is negligent a bit but also has kind of forgotten about us and hasnt renewed the least in over 2 years or raised rent so it's like hmmm
poo
0
Mx. QuillI now prefer "Myr. Quill", actually...{They/Them}Registered Userregular
If I close our bedroom windows at night, it gets too hot and the termites start coming out of the walls
If I leave the windows open, we get to hear sirens all night long
We have gotten used to the sirens
I haven't hung anything up on the walls for fear that the hammering will alert the termites of another entry point
Leave the window open and invest in some ear plugs.
I started using ear plugs recently, and I cannot go back. It is the best thing.
Pillows in your ears!
I had to rely on ear plugs at my old shithole of an apartment since all my neighbors were unemployed jackasses who never went to sleep prior to 4AM in the summer and neither the landlady nor police would do jack shit despite numerous calls from me. But I also had to go ahead and buy a Fitbit Flex to vibrate in order to wake me up, as I have to get up at 5:30 at the latest (my job is 7-4). So I basically got to go and spend about $120 to sort out those assholes. Not to mention the drug dealers, roaches, shitty appliances (god damn that oven hood was fucking filthy, and of course she didn't let me see it when I initially looked at the place), etc.
So glad I'm in a new, better place. Kinda less space (previous was two floors) and $95 more per month, but I have not needed the earplugs or the Fitbit, had any issues with the neighbors or landlord, have on-site laundry and a pool, and I now have two baby ferrets (that I don't have to pay rent for).
I'd say that you really can't take every possiblity into consideration when renting. It's largely a "learn as you go" process. In my case, I learned "Do Not Look For Apartments on Craigslist," and "Avoid the Eastern Side of Springfield IL."
The median apartment price in Sydney is $700k. I'm in a fairly comfortable white collar job, but I'm looking for a shitty studio apartment and will be paying around $1400 a month myself. None of the other Australian capitals are an improvement.
The housing market is kinda horrific in general.
Housung affordability is at it's lowest in ten years.
Yesterday I was leaving my apt and it smelled like vom and sure enough outside our doorstep there was a pile of vomit and it was gross
And then i came back in the evening and it had been cleaned up but the vestibule of our building still smells kind of like vomit and it's gross
And our landlord is negligent a bit but also has kind of forgotten about us and hasnt renewed the least in over 2 years or raised rent so it's like hmmm
I'm glad my landlord hasn't pressured me into a new lease, because I'll be clearing out at the end of June assuming everything goes well, and I know she'd want a year and I just can't afford that.
The best decision I ever made re: renting is not renting anymore and buying a place.
My mortgage is currently less than the apartment I lived in three years ago.
Here's a tale of the tape:
Apartment Townhouse
Size: 660 sq ft 1430 sq ft
Bedrooms: 1 3
Bathrooms: 1 2.5
Ensuite laundry: No Yes
Central AC: No Yes
Heat: Electric Gas
Garage: No Yes
Location: Good Okay
Seriously, the rent on the apartment is $100 more a month than my mortgage. And then remember that renting gets you absolutely no tax breaks or anything of the kind. (Though of course I have to pay property tax now.)
And to think, at the time I moved out of that apartment because they wanted to raise my rent to $1420 a month... it's now $1900. The Bay Area is crazy and/or stupid.
Why can't it be both? My place here is $2k, though I have a bit more space, my own laundry, AC, gas heat/stove and a garage with one of the best parking spots (for my no car)
Of course, if I tried to buy something I'd be laughed out of the bank, and it would mess up future plans and my immigration status. Woo!
Despite my high rent I was starting to enjoy my apartment... And i dont have enough saved up to buy anyways. And then an elephant moved in upstairs and reminded me why I hated renting.
Top floor apartments. I didn't even look at anything else
Mx. QuillI now prefer "Myr. Quill", actually...{They/Them}Registered Userregular
Oh yeah, top floor is best. My new place is on the third floor and it's been damn cold lately, but I don't need to even turn on the heat just yet. Get all that free heat from the other apartments below.
Also no chance of hearing someone stomp around above me; they get to listen to a pair of ferrets go crazy, though.
0
#pipeCocky Stride, Musky odoursPope of Chili TownRegistered Userregular
WE'RE MOVING TOMORROW
hopefully the move goes smoothly and doesn't take a million hours since we're paying these guys by the hour. Also I hope this damn rain stops. Moving in the rain is the worst.
KakodaimonosCode fondlerHelping the 1% get richerRegistered Userregular
Fence is up. And both sets of neighbors are being silly gooses. But especially the neighbor who already has a fence up. Came out and took pictures and yelled at the workers. I'll just wave the permit in their face if they come by again while I'm around.
Looking for a cheap apartment that's also in a nice part of town is hard. There's a reasonably cheap apartment in a reasonably nice part of town I'm considering, but the grounds are so old.
Also some of the costs of apartments you people list are crazy.
two months in a row, my rent payment has come straight back into my account cause it's been rejected by my letting agents.
Last month I rang them about it. "Oh yes we screwed up the reference number but it's all fixed now." "Is this going to happen every month?" "No it should be fine."
yeah, bullshit.
So I suppose I'm obligated to tell them about this or it will come back to bite me. I suppose.
Fence is up. And both sets of neighbors are being silly gooses. But especially the neighbor who already has a fence up. Came out and took pictures and yelled at the workers. I'll just wave the permit in their face if they come by again while I'm around.
So I guess we don't need to ask you about why you're building a fence.
The median apartment price in Sydney is $700k. I'm in a fairly comfortable white collar job, but I'm looking for a shitty studio apartment and will be paying around $1400 a month myself. None of the other Australian capitals are an improvement.
The housing market is kinda horrific in general.
Housung affordability is at it's lowest in ten years.
Which means what? That the mortgage rates are low because the price itself is so high?
It's still 10 years of a middle class salary.
0
Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Nah, Blake means that house prices are the highest they've been relative to median income for a long time.
And it's not just ten years of the average white collar salary, because when you punch the numbers into a mortgage calculator, the interest rate may be 6%, but over the 25 year repayment period, you end up paying back approximately double the initial amount. So you're looking at 1.4 million, plus fees. It's absolutely ridiculous. The situation is made worse in WA by the frankly insane amount of urban sprawl there's been since the second world war, in particular since the 70s. The roads and public transportation haven't grown to deal with the increased population and distances at the same rate, so for many people, being able to afford a house out on the edge of the suburbs is made more difficult by the cost of having to drive an hour each way to work and ending up spending a hundred+ dollars/week on fuel because of that.
Nah, Blake means that house prices are the highest they've been relative to median income for a long time.
And it's not just ten years of the average white collar salary, because when you punch the numbers into a mortgage calculator, the interest rate may be 6%, but over the 25 year repayment period, you end up paying back approximately double the initial amount. So you're looking at 1.4 million, plus fees. It's absolutely ridiculous. The situation is made worse in WA by the frankly insane amount of urban sprawl there's been since the second world war, in particular since the 70s. The roads and public transportation haven't grown to deal with the increased population and distances at the same rate, so for many people, being able to afford a house out on the edge of the suburbs is made more difficult by the cost of having to drive an hour each way to work and ending up spending a hundred+ dollars/week on fuel because of that.
No I mean the opposite.
Housing affordability is at it's lowest in ten years.
First place I ever rented was not IN the ghetto but within spitting distance.
The walls (even exterior) were paper thin.
I lived on the second floor and there was this big metal catwalk that ran the length of the building to give access to all the apartments. You could hear people clanging and clunking up and down that thing all day long.
No laundry on site so wash day and groceries had to be hauled the length of that walkway and up and down stairs.
The old lady next door died and stayed there for a few days. Even after they took her out we would hear stuff going on over there which weirded us out.
My truck was broken into twice in the year I lived there.
Somebody was shot in the courtyard the week after I moved out
However:
It was literally 2 blocks from work so walking was good
The chick next door was into me so she brought me food and cookies all the time
The girls in the next building over smoked weed out on their porch all the time so I'd go hang out with them from time to time
I only paid $400 for the place
They put in an AC unit with a remote control and I felt like Donald fucking Trump
Update on rent situation: Got a snotty call from the agents this morning telling me my rent hadn't been paid. I pointed out that it had been paid and the payment had been returned. "Well you need to check with your bank because clearly there's a problem." I asked "Can you tell me the reference number you have for me because I wondered if the information didn't match -" "No there's nothing we can do on this end, it's a problem with your bank."
Well, no, it fucking well isn't. My bank is dutifully sending out the payments. YOUR bank is rejecting them for unknown reasons. I fail to see how this is my problem, or even one I could reasonably be respected to resolve. I rang back (my personal agent refused to talk to me, so I spoke to a secretary, who was nicer) and managed to at least get her to confirm that all the bank details and referencing information was correct. Bit of a mystery, really.
They're emailing me a new standing order form and I'm going to cancel the existing one and set up a new one. If that doesn't work then I'll just cancel everything and pay it manually each month, but I'm kind of pissed at the attitude of the agency, to say the least.
smof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
My lease isn't up yet, but I expect it will only last a couple more months.
Part of why I want to move is not knowing when I will have to move, if that makes sense. I don't like the uncertainty and would rather be somewhere with a definite contract.
Man, fuck property managers. Nic that really blows.
I was on the other side of the fence with shitty property managers where the circuit breaker on the house was fucked and they didn't bother to tell me or my brother for nearly a full week. The poor tenants (a young couple with 2 kids) had minimal hot water and no power for 4 days!
We actually only found out because my brother went around to say g'day and grab some stuff out a side shed that we have some gear in. Needless to say, we had an emergency electrician come out and do the repairs right then and have begun the process of changing agents
You would think that if they were that concerned with getting their money that they would at least be willing to double check their information just on the off chance that something was wrong.
You would think that if they were that concerned with getting their money that they would at least be willing to double check their information just on the off chance that something was wrong.
yeah just trying to get them to confirm the reference number was a hassle. "He says there's nothing we can do." "Ok but can you please just TELL ME ...", rinse repeat.
@Tef The rollout pantry in the kitchen is super dodgy and tends to fall off the upper rail (which could eventually break the whole thing and/or kill someone). The first week I moved in there I rang the property manager and told him about it. He said they'd send someone out, but I made the mistake of saying it "wasn't super urgent" (because I had to go away for work and didn't want to juggle appointments) and so of course nothing has been done. Sigh, guess I should get back on them about that.
I actually have my landlady's contact details but frankly she's batty as all shit so I'd rather not speak to her if possible in any case.
Yeah I think it stems largely from how these agents do business. They operate on such little margin per agreement they have to have a shitload in their portfolio which means none of them really get the treatment they deserve.
Having said that, I've met quite a few that are just incompetent who realise that they don't really have a boss performance managing them so they can screw the pooch
Nah, Blake means that house prices are the highest they've been relative to median income for a long time.
And it's not just ten years of the average white collar salary, because when you punch the numbers into a mortgage calculator, the interest rate may be 6%, but over the 25 year repayment period, you end up paying back approximately double the initial amount. So you're looking at 1.4 million, plus fees. It's absolutely ridiculous. The situation is made worse in WA by the frankly insane amount of urban sprawl there's been since the second world war, in particular since the 70s. The roads and public transportation haven't grown to deal with the increased population and distances at the same rate, so for many people, being able to afford a house out on the edge of the suburbs is made more difficult by the cost of having to drive an hour each way to work and ending up spending a hundred+ dollars/week on fuel because of that.
No I mean the opposite.
Housing affordability is at it's lowest in ten years.
Last place I rented was a creepy looking house at the end of a dead end street, with the bush behind it. Everyone thought it was haunted.
It was pretty cheap, 500, all inclusive for a 2 bedroom. No air conditioning (although the house was shaded by trees, and there was always a nice breeze), and the water pressure was so horrible that I could take a shower, and my cat would jump in the tub, and not get wet. All in all, it was a pretty nice place for it's price.
Then my ex fucked up and decided to not pay rent for a few months, getting us kicked out. I still feel stupid about trusting him with the rent money.
Posts
The housing market is kinda horrific in general.
It sounds to me like you just gained a quarter cord of wood.
Having never done this before..help
How do these things work? Do I just go, meet the person, look at the room...and then what? "I'll let you know?"
BF3 Battlelog | Twitter | World of Warships | World of Tanks | Wishlist
Look at the room. Confirm it's big enough for you, will have room for all your stuff, find out if there's any restrictions on painting / hanging stuff just in case. Look around the apartment, at all the shared spaces - bathroom, kitchen, etc. Test the appliances / water if you're particularly paranoid. Ask about utilities, are they included in the rent or are you splitting them amongst the house, if the latter how much do they come out to every month, etc. Find out about pet restrictions if you have or are thinking of getting a pet, or if you're allergic as fuck make sure they don't have pets (or if you don't like vacuuming because boy does dog hair pile up fast). See how long your new roommates have been there and whether or not they've had problems talking to the landlord to get things fixed. Be sure the place has working heating, find out if it has AC during the summer - oh also if the room has no windows ask if it turns into an oven when the door is closed. If it's a basement, find out if it floods when it rains, see if there's mold on the walls, etc.
If you like the place and you're satisfied with all those questions, fucking jump on it right then and there or you'll miss your chance because it will be taken by the guy you nod at on your way out of the building.
If I leave the windows open, we get to hear sirens all night long
We have gotten used to the sirens
I haven't hung anything up on the walls for fear that the hammering will alert the termites of another entry point
and soon i will pay my last "we had to replace your carpet because the cat ate it that will be four hundred dollars please" bill
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Leave the window open and invest in some ear plugs.
I started using ear plugs recently, and I cannot go back. It is the best thing.
Pillows in your ears!
BF3 Battlelog | Twitter | World of Warships | World of Tanks | Wishlist
shit has been an absolute nightmare. i've gotten at least half a dozen solid offers to move out of state, but I've been fighting really hard to stick it out here and continue with what I've worked on in this state. I make only around $800 or so a month working part-time retail while I travel the country so much, which isn't an issue if I could just find a roommate willing to stick it out with me and really find something. alas, my latest attempt fell through again, and I'm back at square one.
my friends are offering me to let them live out of their living room for $150/mo and I'm tempted to jump on it at this point. ;_;
And then i came back in the evening and it had been cleaned up but the vestibule of our building still smells kind of like vomit and it's gross
And our landlord is negligent a bit but also has kind of forgotten about us and hasnt renewed the least in over 2 years or raised rent so it's like hmmm
I had to rely on ear plugs at my old shithole of an apartment since all my neighbors were unemployed jackasses who never went to sleep prior to 4AM in the summer and neither the landlady nor police would do jack shit despite numerous calls from me. But I also had to go ahead and buy a Fitbit Flex to vibrate in order to wake me up, as I have to get up at 5:30 at the latest (my job is 7-4). So I basically got to go and spend about $120 to sort out those assholes. Not to mention the drug dealers, roaches, shitty appliances (god damn that oven hood was fucking filthy, and of course she didn't let me see it when I initially looked at the place), etc.
So glad I'm in a new, better place. Kinda less space (previous was two floors) and $95 more per month, but I have not needed the earplugs or the Fitbit, had any issues with the neighbors or landlord, have on-site laundry and a pool, and I now have two baby ferrets (that I don't have to pay rent for).
I'd say that you really can't take every possiblity into consideration when renting. It's largely a "learn as you go" process. In my case, I learned "Do Not Look For Apartments on Craigslist," and "Avoid the Eastern Side of Springfield IL."
Housung affordability is at it's lowest in ten years.
Satans..... hints.....
I'm glad my landlord hasn't pressured me into a new lease, because I'll be clearing out at the end of June assuming everything goes well, and I know she'd want a year and I just can't afford that.
Why can't it be both? My place here is $2k, though I have a bit more space, my own laundry, AC, gas heat/stove and a garage with one of the best parking spots (for my no car)
Of course, if I tried to buy something I'd be laughed out of the bank, and it would mess up future plans and my immigration status. Woo!
Top floor apartments. I didn't even look at anything else
Also no chance of hearing someone stomp around above me; they get to listen to a pair of ferrets go crazy, though.
hopefully the move goes smoothly and doesn't take a million hours since we're paying these guys by the hour. Also I hope this damn rain stops. Moving in the rain is the worst.
Need some stuff designed or printed? I can help with that.
Also some of the costs of apartments you people list are crazy.
Last month I rang them about it. "Oh yes we screwed up the reference number but it's all fixed now." "Is this going to happen every month?" "No it should be fine."
yeah, bullshit.
So I suppose I'm obligated to tell them about this or it will come back to bite me. I suppose.
But I'd be reassured to know it's just that I'm a magnet. I've been amazed that anything here gets done at all.
Or maybe everything is just set up in such a way that it inconveniences immigrants, at the insistence of the Tories?
So I guess we don't need to ask you about why you're building a fence.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Which means what? That the mortgage rates are low because the price itself is so high?
It's still 10 years of a middle class salary.
And it's not just ten years of the average white collar salary, because when you punch the numbers into a mortgage calculator, the interest rate may be 6%, but over the 25 year repayment period, you end up paying back approximately double the initial amount. So you're looking at 1.4 million, plus fees. It's absolutely ridiculous. The situation is made worse in WA by the frankly insane amount of urban sprawl there's been since the second world war, in particular since the 70s. The roads and public transportation haven't grown to deal with the increased population and distances at the same rate, so for many people, being able to afford a house out on the edge of the suburbs is made more difficult by the cost of having to drive an hour each way to work and ending up spending a hundred+ dollars/week on fuel because of that.
No I mean the opposite.
Housing affordability is at it's lowest in ten years.
Satans..... hints.....
The walls (even exterior) were paper thin.
I lived on the second floor and there was this big metal catwalk that ran the length of the building to give access to all the apartments. You could hear people clanging and clunking up and down that thing all day long.
No laundry on site so wash day and groceries had to be hauled the length of that walkway and up and down stairs.
The old lady next door died and stayed there for a few days. Even after they took her out we would hear stuff going on over there which weirded us out.
My truck was broken into twice in the year I lived there.
Somebody was shot in the courtyard the week after I moved out
However:
It was literally 2 blocks from work so walking was good
The chick next door was into me so she brought me food and cookies all the time
The girls in the next building over smoked weed out on their porch all the time so I'd go hang out with them from time to time
I only paid $400 for the place
They put in an AC unit with a remote control and I felt like Donald fucking Trump
Update on rent situation: Got a snotty call from the agents this morning telling me my rent hadn't been paid. I pointed out that it had been paid and the payment had been returned. "Well you need to check with your bank because clearly there's a problem." I asked "Can you tell me the reference number you have for me because I wondered if the information didn't match -" "No there's nothing we can do on this end, it's a problem with your bank."
Well, no, it fucking well isn't. My bank is dutifully sending out the payments. YOUR bank is rejecting them for unknown reasons. I fail to see how this is my problem, or even one I could reasonably be respected to resolve. I rang back (my personal agent refused to talk to me, so I spoke to a secretary, who was nicer) and managed to at least get her to confirm that all the bank details and referencing information was correct. Bit of a mystery, really.
They're emailing me a new standing order form and I'm going to cancel the existing one and set up a new one. If that doesn't work then I'll just cancel everything and pay it manually each month, but I'm kind of pissed at the attitude of the agency, to say the least.
Part of why I want to move is not knowing when I will have to move, if that makes sense. I don't like the uncertainty and would rather be somewhere with a definite contract.
I was on the other side of the fence with shitty property managers where the circuit breaker on the house was fucked and they didn't bother to tell me or my brother for nearly a full week. The poor tenants (a young couple with 2 kids) had minimal hot water and no power for 4 days!
We actually only found out because my brother went around to say g'day and grab some stuff out a side shed that we have some gear in. Needless to say, we had an emergency electrician come out and do the repairs right then and have begun the process of changing agents
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better
bit.ly/2XQM1ke
yeah just trying to get them to confirm the reference number was a hassle. "He says there's nothing we can do." "Ok but can you please just TELL ME ...", rinse repeat.
@Tef The rollout pantry in the kitchen is super dodgy and tends to fall off the upper rail (which could eventually break the whole thing and/or kill someone). The first week I moved in there I rang the property manager and told him about it. He said they'd send someone out, but I made the mistake of saying it "wasn't super urgent" (because I had to go away for work and didn't want to juggle appointments) and so of course nothing has been done. Sigh, guess I should get back on them about that.
I actually have my landlady's contact details but frankly she's batty as all shit so I'd rather not speak to her if possible in any case.
Having said that, I've met quite a few that are just incompetent who realise that they don't really have a boss performance managing them so they can screw the pooch
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better
bit.ly/2XQM1ke
???
It was pretty cheap, 500, all inclusive for a 2 bedroom. No air conditioning (although the house was shaded by trees, and there was always a nice breeze), and the water pressure was so horrible that I could take a shower, and my cat would jump in the tub, and not get wet. All in all, it was a pretty nice place for it's price.
Then my ex fucked up and decided to not pay rent for a few months, getting us kicked out. I still feel stupid about trusting him with the rent money.
WoW
Dear Satan.....