Apartment/Moving advice (updated with resolution)
Doxa
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I am 17 years old, 18 in May. I live in Houston. I would like to live in Austin. My girlfriend and I are driving up this Saturday to look at apartments. Her father was supposed to come to help guide us but his work caught up with him (doctor/businessman with no time) so we will be alone. We hope to leave Austin with a lease signed and only be up there during the day. We have several places lined up and appointments set.
We are looking at places in west university and a few others. She will be going to UT Austin, and I will be going to ACC getting my paramedic certification if all goes well with finishing basic this May and intermediate over the summer.
Her father moved out of his old house and in with a new wife so we received a lot of furnishings and basic needs for an apartment like cookware so that cost is massively mitigated. My girlfriend and I have agreed on a general budget we will keep close to. I will at least have EMT-Basic certification by the time I get up there, with EMT-intermediate coming in the mail. I hear from everyone in the field that I don't need to worry about getting a job with adequate hours but its still my biggest anxiety about moving.
I'm starting to familiarize myself with tenant/whatever laws in the state of Texas before we go up there. My girlfriend will sign the lease (she's 18), I will be listed as an occupant until I can sign (or co-sign?) when I am 18.
I think that is all the pertinent details...So, uh, help?
1. What should we consider in an apartment? I have a checklist that goes like this: location (neighborhood, safety, bus routes), landlord, parking, layout, repairs, and just if we feel like we would be comfortable living there.
2. How do we deal with landlords and the lease agreement? When I look at the lease will it be in lawyer talk and I have no clue what its saying? Are there any pitfalls I should avoid? What should I expect?
3. Getting stuff up there...what is the most efficient way? I was thinking just loading up my mother's van and taking 2 trips (one to get stuff up there, one to return the van and bring my car full of any leftovers), but now it looks like there are some large furnishings that we were gifted a queen sized mattress/bedframe, a dresser, a couch, and a few other things so...what now?
4. Holy shit! I'm moving hours away from home only a few months after turning 18. Oh my god. Oh my gawd. This is so awesome and exciting and scary at the same time. (General advice about first time moving away and first time living on one's own,...er...with g/f goes here)
Thanks in advanced
We are looking at places in west university and a few others. She will be going to UT Austin, and I will be going to ACC getting my paramedic certification if all goes well with finishing basic this May and intermediate over the summer.
Her father moved out of his old house and in with a new wife so we received a lot of furnishings and basic needs for an apartment like cookware so that cost is massively mitigated. My girlfriend and I have agreed on a general budget we will keep close to. I will at least have EMT-Basic certification by the time I get up there, with EMT-intermediate coming in the mail. I hear from everyone in the field that I don't need to worry about getting a job with adequate hours but its still my biggest anxiety about moving.
I'm starting to familiarize myself with tenant/whatever laws in the state of Texas before we go up there. My girlfriend will sign the lease (she's 18), I will be listed as an occupant until I can sign (or co-sign?) when I am 18.
I think that is all the pertinent details...So, uh, help?
1. What should we consider in an apartment? I have a checklist that goes like this: location (neighborhood, safety, bus routes), landlord, parking, layout, repairs, and just if we feel like we would be comfortable living there.
2. How do we deal with landlords and the lease agreement? When I look at the lease will it be in lawyer talk and I have no clue what its saying? Are there any pitfalls I should avoid? What should I expect?
3. Getting stuff up there...what is the most efficient way? I was thinking just loading up my mother's van and taking 2 trips (one to get stuff up there, one to return the van and bring my car full of any leftovers), but now it looks like there are some large furnishings that we were gifted a queen sized mattress/bedframe, a dresser, a couch, and a few other things so...what now?
4. Holy shit! I'm moving hours away from home only a few months after turning 18. Oh my god. Oh my gawd. This is so awesome and exciting and scary at the same time. (General advice about first time moving away and first time living on one's own,...er...with g/f goes here)
Thanks in advanced
Doxa on
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2. It will sound a lot scarier than it is. Just keep a few things in mind: You are signing a contract. After you sign that lease, you owe them money for that year, and just like with anything else they can do just about anything to get it. Including in some places breaking in and pawning your stuff. For the most part, all you are signing is that you agree not to screw them over, and they'll try their damnedest not to screw you. But if you don't understand something, ask. Remember, they want that sale, so they'll break it down for you. If push comes to shove, they want to keep you in, so all the last resort stuff they'll talk about probably won't come up. Its cheaper to keep you then to have you leave.
3. I would seriously look into a U-Haul, they're a shit-ton cheaper than you'd think, and you might be able to return it in Austin when you get there, saving even more money
4. Its awesome isn't it? I moved out the week after I turned 18. Really, the best advice I can give is budget. Budget. Budget. If you don't know how to cook or clean, make it a priority. Also, be prepared to live on the bare nessecities. I loved moving out, but I also was okay with eating nothing but noodles for two years. Living will also turn out to be more expensive than you plan on. Here's an idea of my bills a few hours north of you
Rent 615
Water 25
Electric 110
Cable 120
Then you factor gas, food, cell phone, insurance, car insurance, and entertainment. Make no mistake. Living on your own will cost more than you think. If your parents are helping you out with it, try to start saving similar amounts, just to get used to the responsibility
Anyway, regarding Austin, Bee Caves is rather nice, and probably cheaper or equal to what you would pay in the West U area. An extra 5 minutes away in Austin will save you a fair amount of money instead of trying to live in premium UT area housing. And a general rule is the more you go west/northwest, the more expensive it gets. Even up near Oltorf and Congress would be fine, as a lot of people were renovating Bungalows in the area by H-E-B to rent out, especially by Lamar and Oltorf.
Hell, if you wanted to live on Slaughter, the only thing you have to worry about is traffic on I35, but could easily take Manchaca to avoid it going into town.
The area around Brodie Lane and 290 might be worth a look too.
You need to check out the apartments at different times of the day. For example, one place swore up and down that they had tons of parking space available, one twice when I dropped at night the placed was packed.
Try to see your apartment (not just a random one)before you sign the lease. Go over it, and most importantly check for bugs. My apartment was infested with them.
Along those lines, don't be afraid to hound the managers. It's their job to make sure everything is up and up.
No matter how tightly you believe your moving budget is, more than likely you'll go over it. Even if it just comes down to going out and getting something to eat rather than cooking and such.
IKEA is your friend. There's one over in Roundrock that you'll find good deals on.
And this really applies to your GF more than you, but be very sure of what you guys are doing. Talk of how you're going to split the rent, food, utilities. It might not hurt to write up a contract between you two.
I lived in the Archstone complex at 290 and Mo-pac and it was real nice. Easy to get to food and groceries, though being from California I was completely annoyed by the freeway layout (basically it's 3 miles on the odometer to go 1 mile in distance, ugh).
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there are minor things to maybe put at the bottom of your checklist, in the event of a tie-breaker.ask about a laundry room and/or washer/dryer in the units. schlepping back and forth to the laundromat is only romantic in the movies. if you are noise-sensitive you may want to consider the unit's proximity to the pool (if there is one). if you are smell-sensitve consider it's proximity to the dumpsters as well. most apartment complexes won't let you keep garbage cans outside your unit or on the patio/balcony so unless you keep it inside you'll be making frequent trips to the dumpsters.
2) most lease/rental agreements are pretty straight-forward. THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU AND SHE SHOULD NOT READ IT THOUGH. always ALWAYS fully read a document before signing it. mostly it will go over the deposit, the monthly rent, how many pets and what size they can be (if you can have them at all), that you're responsible for replacing the mailbox keys if they're lost blah blah blah.
3) i don't know if u-haul will rent a trailer to an 18 year old, but if you can nail down an older friend or family member to get the trailer in their name that is the way to go, since you already have a van. http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=houston+uhaul&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&view=text&ei=9knASc2lFcrgtgeM671e&sa=X&oi=local_group&resnum=4&ct=more-results&cd=1 and for the trailer itself http://reservations.uhaul.com/ReservationsWeb02/Towing.aspx?rateID=656742371 . renting the truck is nice but it can get pricey. the 17' truck is 30 bucks plus 0.99 cents a mile.
4) good luck, man!
I think U-Haul actually will, strangely enough. I was 19 when I rented my first, and only 20 for the second
Also, number 1 here is true gold. Second floor sucks. you have to constantly be weary of every sound you make, and don't even get me started on moving. I had a 35 inch CRT TV I loved. Weighed 257 pounds. Upstairs. The worst part is, I'm a pretty big guy, clocking in 6'8", 295, so I can lift it more or less, however ,my 5'11", 135 roomate cannot. That sucked. A lot.
- When considering apartments and comparing costs, make sure you add in the cost of laundry, cost of water/sewage the unit is charging, estimate the cost of electricity, and other add-ons. An apartment might seem cheaper initially but because they're charging you $4 to wash/dry each load of laundry it turns out to be more expensive than an apartment with an in-unit. You can find out the past electricity usage for a unit by calling the local power company and giving them the address/unit number. They'll tell you what the average cost for the last 6 months or 1 year is so you can get a ballpark figure.
- As people said, check at different times of the day, check for noise, check for smells--for smells, this isn't just dumpster. One of my friends rented an apartment and found out later that it's the exact height for the bus exhaust to float in, and it was on several bus routes so he could never open his windows. If you're sensitive to cigarette smoke check to see if there are entryways under your window or your proximity to entryways because people will smoke there and your apartment will turn into a smokehouse.
- Make sure you check the contract -very carefully- and really read it. Check for things like charges to have the apartment cleaned when you move out, what the policy is on late rent, what the policy is on subletting, what the policy is for checking out, etc. These are all places where a landlord who is a jerk can try to ding you. Trust your instincts on landlords if you get a negative vibe. Don't sign with a landlord you get a negative vibe from even if the apartment seems nice.
- If possible, track down one of the residents of the apartment away from the landlord and ask them about living there. You can generally do this by just waiting outside the building if you have to.
- Landlord tip: Ask the landlord what kinds of people live in the building. If the landlord can give you specifics like, "The woman in 320 is a nurse, there's a couple downstairs who have a cat and they're in grad school" etc then that's a good sign. If the landlord says, "Mostly students and professionals" that's a so-so indicator, if the landlord looks out the window and says, "Well, I don't see any beaters in the parking lot, so not a lot of college students" then that's a very bad sign and don't rent from him.
- Since you're talking about moving in with your gf and this is your first time, you'll probably need a parent to co-sign your lease. Also, make sure that if absolutely necessary you can cover the full cost of rent in case the shit hits the fan. If your gf is going to be signing the lease and your name won't be on it, keep in mind that she can kick you out at any time.
- Lease/Landlord Tip: Do not trust anything your landlord says if he doesn't put it on the lease! If you see an apartment and there's a hole in the wall, and the landlord says, "Yeah, we'll fix that before you move in." Don't sign the lease unless you have written on it that he will have it fixed before you move in. If he says they'll re-paint or clean the apartment before you move in, don't sign the lease unless that's in there too. Landlords will sometimes say anything to get you to sign, and then once you've signed they have no obligation to actually follow up on that stuff unless it's written there.
- If the apartment is carpeted and you have allergies, make sure you know the history of the apartment residents before you decide to move in there. The dander can show up at very inconvenient times.
- Make sure you check the plumbing of the apartments. Flush the toilets, run the shower to check the water pressure, etc.
- Get renter's insurance. It usually doesn't cost that much per year and it's well worth it, particularly if something happens. It will also often cover your move.
- Check the security of the building, cameras are good, permanently locked front doors are good.
- Check the location, there are websites like http://spotcrime.com (I don't remember if that's one of the good ones) where you can see on the map how many crimes are committed in your area
- Ask the landlord what the arrangements are for package delivery. This is a big one if you get packages at all regularly. Sometimes landlords have worked with UPS and Fedex so that the delivery guys can get access to the building and put the packages in a safe place. If not, it can really suck to always have to go to pick up your packages
I would suggest a place with an elevator even if you don't own a lot of stuff.
Really look around for good prices and a nice building, it will be worth it in the end.
but they're listening to every word I say
2) The lease will be in fairly plain language, but you should absolutely read it all. It's fairly standard stuff, but if you have any questions you can ask. I had some weird clause in mine that said I wasn't allowed to put sheets on the windows in lieu of curtains. Whatever the hell that's about.
3) Depending on the size of the furniture you're bringing, and how far you're driving it might be better to rent a van from a regular car rental place (you'll need your parents to actually do the renting). Since they don't tend to charge you by the mile, it ended up being a better price. When I moved we got something close to this:
4) OMG!! It's totally exciting. As someone else said, living on your own is way more expensive than you think it is, but you should be fine. Also remember that in your first month or two you will be spending more than you will any other time since there are so many things that are basically once in a lifetime purchases that all houses just...have, but you have to buy. Especially kitchen and bathroom stuff. Things like toasters, knives, cutting boards, spatulas, measuring cups, strainers, toilet brushes, household cleaners, mop/broom/vaccuum, laundry hamper, etc. It'll take a while before you actually get everything you need. My favourite moment was when I needed to make a list for things to shop for and realized I didn't own any paper.
As for furniture, Craigslist can be your best friend. I got my kitchen cart for $15 and it's in great shape. Tables, chairs, stands, shelves can typically found cheap on CL. Target/BBB can be awesome for flatware, dishes and glasses as well.
I completely forgot about U-haul, we'll probably grab a truck and that should get us in one good trip.
Lots of good tidbits in here I'll be taking with me. Unfortunately I'm going to be really busy and our Saturday schedule is pretty full. I'll see if I can convince not to sign a lease immediately and let me come up during the week to check things out again and then sign one the following weekend. My g/f is really anxious to get a lease signed because she wants to make sure we don't miss out on the choice apartments. I'm going on a small vacation aside from a Thursday class for a couple months so it should be solid.
Yeah, someone else said ground floor is good, but I really would recommend an upper or top-floor. Sure, if there's no elevator it may suck occasionally, but the benefits (flooding, rodents, noise from neighbors, security) outweigh any negatives.
Scary, extreme example - living in Chicago aprtment, I was leaving for work one day, heading down from our 2nd floor apartment. At the bottom of the stairs was a homeless-looking dude hanging out inside the landing (it went down a few steps before their door) of the 1st-floor unit. He somehow got past two locked doors. Someone would have been stabbed if I had opened my door and he'd been standing right there.
Regardless of the floor, check under the sink, under the fridge, see how well the doors close, especialy the front and rear/back door. Check the plumbing; flush the toliet, run the shower, etc.
EDIT: Also, you may want to have a talk with your g/f to decide what happens bill/lease-wise if things don't work out. Of course they will, but just in case.
Oh...actually, you might want to check them out anyway. PPD and Cedra both hire paramedics. You wouldn't be out in an ambulance driving around or anything...you'd be taking reports from people about reactions to medicine, or treating them in the reaction...but it doesn't seem like such a bad job.
check out http://www.ppdi.com/home.htm and http://www.cedracorp.com/ you might want to look at http://www.covance.com/ but I don't think they are as good as the other 2.
We went through about 5 other places. They were so and so. This one was a clear winner because of $, the kitchen, double balconies, and the convenience of everything we need within a few blocks.
Get yourself a budget (plenty of free spreadsheet templates available online, even Office comes with a decent one) and make sure you don't overdo it the first month. Living solo costs more than you expect.
Congrats!
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Also it's just nice to come home and to the "Pain-keep."
And it may take a while before you know what your true monthly expenses are. Like I said before, there will be a lot of things you'll have to buy in your first two months that you'll keep forever. Cleaning and cooking supplies are most of the list. Curtains, towels, sheets, shower curtains, etc. too.
I didn't really figure out my budget until the third month after I moved in.