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How do I go about negotiating for a new oven to be put into my apartment? While this one works, the top range is so-so at best (and this is after replacing all the elements). The oven runs at minimum 100F above what it states it is, but sometimes still jumps up 150-200+F over what it states it is. As someone who likes to cook, it's rather frustrating. So, we would like to try and get a new one. One thing to point out is that the current oven is comically small (~20inch?) and there really isn't room for a bigger one without knocking out a cabinet...
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Mar 11, 2012 01:04
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If the other one isn't a hazard to health and safety (you could argue that the temp weirdness is, maybe), then your best bet is to condition your lease renewal on it, or offer to go in halfsies or something. Those are really the only two things you can offer. Preview edit: Actually, you could also offer to redo the lease and pay more rent too I guess.
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Mar 11, 2012 01:09
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I just went through that with my landlord and they said it was a reasonable range for the heat to go through so they weren't replacing anything. The likelihood of your apartment replacing it, let alone replacing it with a bigger one and having to knock out a cabinet, isn't great.
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Mar 11, 2012 01:20
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I've been getting sick a lot lately congested, sore throat, coughing, having issues eating. I hadn't put much thought into it but I honestly suspect its my apartment, this is a really old building whose only maintenance has appeared to be a coat of paint on top of the previous new tenant coats of paint. When I spoke to someone about it they assumed it could be mold or something in the apartment that's setting me off I've heard bad things about DIY air quality tests so where would I check for mold and how much do professionals generally cost?
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Mar 12, 2012 09:42
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I'm moving into my first apartment on April 1! Can anyone recommend some cheap seating solutions for a living room? I currently have one nice futon that's going in there, but that's not going to cut it. Also, my current desk is super tiny and I'd love to buy/put together a larger one, but my budget doesn't exactly allow for anything extravagant. Any tips?
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Mar 12, 2012 16:13
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Millions posted:I'm moving into my first apartment on April 1! Can anyone recommend some cheap seating solutions for a living room? I currently have one nice futon that's going in there, but that's not going to cut it. For desks, craigslist. I bought a gorgeous dark cherry computer desk with a matching smallish bookshelf for $100 and a lot of times people are just giving poo poo away. Cheap seating/sleeping options always scare me because the one bug that gives me the willies is old cimex lectularius. I would advise against low-end (LOW END, don't jump down my throat I know they have some nice stuff) IKEA couches. The couple I've had have fallen apart and been generally uncomfortable.
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Mar 12, 2012 16:45
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Millions posted:I'm moving into my first apartment on April 1! Can anyone recommend some cheap seating solutions for a living room? I currently have one nice futon that's going in there, but that's not going to cut it. Otherwise, craigslist, ikea, walmart will probably have some decent options. If you dont have a truck to haul stuff in, overstock has decent sales and ships everything for $3
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Mar 12, 2012 18:30
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2508084 posted:If you're living alone, I would save and buy something nice. One of my bigger regrets is gunning for cheap poo poo that I didn't really like, but it worked for what I needed it to, instead of saving for something well made. My couch has no coushins at the moment and I could replace it with a lovely CL couch that I dont really like for $50-100, or I could save $50 every week and get a nicer couch that I actually do like for a couple hundred. Same goes for a desk. This, exactly. I had folding chairs in my living room for a good three months after I moved in because I was waiting for good options. Now I have a couch and two chairs that I am very happy with, both aesthetically and price-wise. Opting for high quality and low price will take a lot of looking, but in my mind it's worth it. Start looking around - new furniture stores, consignment, antiques, garage sales, Craigslist - you'll start to see price trends for the pieces you want and it will make it easier to know when you've got a good deal.
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Mar 12, 2012 19:11
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2508084 posted:If you're living alone, I would save and buy something nice. One of my bigger regrets is gunning for cheap poo poo that I didn't really like, but it worked for what I needed it to, instead of saving for something well made. My couch has no coushins at the moment and I could replace it with a lovely CL couch that I dont really like for $50-100, or I could save $50 every week and get a nicer couch that I actually do like for a couple hundred. Same goes for a desk. I'm guilty of that as well, but I've also found a few nicer items that I would not be able to afford new on craigslist. I guess it depends on your area too. When I was looking for a couch I couldn't find anything new on the lower end that was decent, or at least not foam. I found a solidly built used sleeper sofa on craigslist that is probably the most comfortable couch I've ever sat on. Also, tax time is a great time to trawl through craigslist and thrift stores as a lot of people use their tax refunds to buy new furniture.
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Mar 13, 2012 07:16
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Don't buy furniture till you know you're going to be somewhere for a while. There was a delay in constructing my place so my roommates and I got temporarily put in a smaller place till it was finished, so I didn't buy furniture because anything I'd buy for the small place would be way too small for the new place so we just had an assortment of chairs in the living room for a while. My roommates bitched about it, yet miraculously suddenly were okay with it when I told them if they REALLY wanted a couch they could buy one themselves. Speaking of moving/furniture, if you see a piece of furniture you like on sale but you're moving soon and don't want to deal with moving more furniture, it's possible to buy it and then delay the delivery date to some far off point in the future till you actually move. I did this for almost a year with my couch while I was waiting for my place to finish being built.
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Mar 13, 2012 15:56
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I made a post earlier, so I figured I'd make a quick update: We got an apartment, and will be moving in April 10th. The manager was willing to overlook our credit for a deposit like some people said, and we didn't need a cosigner. Of course before this we almost had another apartment when she "totally forgot" it was already set up with someone else  Is that a very easy mistake to make? Only reason I'm hung up on that is that I really hope that she doesn't regularly "forget" major things like that!!
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Mar 14, 2012 03:00
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Received a water turnoff notice in the mail today. Apparently the landlady didn't bother paying my water and refuse bill (this is clearly outlined in the lease) and now she has 10 days to pay it before I take her to court to break my lease and move.
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Mar 14, 2012 14:05
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I wrote a 3-star review on apartmentratings.com of my old place, titled it "all in all, pretty fair" and detailed my experiences with parking, maintenance, safety (found knife in bushes and bullet in parking lot!), etc, plus my rent/avg utility bills, and how much of my deposit I got back... Within 24 hours had a comment on it accusing me of being management staff trying to boost their rating.  Uh.... Some lesson about apartment review websites in that story. Damn Bananas fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Mar 15, 2012 |
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Mar 15, 2012 17:34
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drat Bananas posted:I wrote a 3-star review on apartmenttatings.com of my old place, titled it "all in all, pretty fair" and detailed my experiences with parking, maintenance, safety (found knife in bushes and bullet in parking lot!), etc, plus my rent/avg utility bills, and how much of my deposit I got back... Within 24 hours had a comment on it accusing me being management trying to boost their rating. I don't trust those websites at all. I don't even bother. Who writes apartment reviews besides management trying to boost their own sales, people who have a vendetta, or people who (felt like they) were treated like poo poo?
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Mar 15, 2012 17:38
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That's basically why all apartments have terrible ratings. The management ones tend to get noticed and culled, and anyone else rating tends to be someone with an axe to grind or a legitimately horrendous experience. People who just lived there and it was fine don't bother to post a review. I mostly gave up on ratings after I noticed how many reviewers talked about how the place used to be nice until THOSE PEOPLE started moving in and now its all gone downhill with drugs and hookers and western civilization is collapsing.
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Mar 15, 2012 18:25
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Ashcans posted:That's basically why all apartments have terrible ratings. The management ones tend to get noticed and culled, and anyone else rating tends to be someone with an axe to grind or a legitimately horrendous experience. People who just lived there and it was fine don't bother to post a review. Pretty much, my apartment is quiet, safe, and peaceful, management was pretty good (still unsure of new management, as problems are really rare, and I haven't had to get them involved in anything yet), and a decent price for what it is, but the reviews are absolutely scathing.
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Mar 15, 2012 18:41
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I just posted it because when I was deciding where to live I wished there were more honest/average accounts, so I figured I was doing some later apartment seeker a favor. I plan to do it again for my new place - at this rate it deserves a 4 or 5, but I have yet to get a Texas summer electric bill in this bigger townhome.... I'm scared to find out how their insulation is and how junky the a/c is.... 
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Mar 15, 2012 19:36
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drat Bananas posted:I just posted it because when I was deciding where to live I wished there were more honest/average accounts, so I figured I was doing some later apartment seeker a favor. I plan to do it again for my new place - at this rate it deserves a 4 or 5, but I have yet to get a Texas summer electric bill in this bigger townhome.... I'm scared to find out how their insulation is and how junky the a/c is.... I'm with you there. I wrote up a pretty detailed review of my last apartment...but I totally forgot to post it. I guess I should do it now 
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Mar 15, 2012 20:32
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The best "review" you can get is to case the place before you move in. Thoroughly. Visit morning, noon, and night and keep an eye out for bad stuff. Drive around back and see if it's nice, too. Ask other residents questions. Do you like living here? How long have you been here? Any problems with crime? Loud parties? Scary dogs? Stray cats? Is the pool kept clean? Do you feel safe here? and so on
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Mar 16, 2012 03:51
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Well, we did it, we signed the contract. Get the keys next friday. Awesome! It's about time - my parents judging every little thing is really getting on my nerves now.
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Mar 16, 2012 22:42
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Moved in to my first apartment and I'm stoked. 1BR approx. 780sqft in 10 unit complex built in 1954. They exposed the solid oak flooring throughout and polished it up real nice before I moved in. They also put a brand new (albeit it somewhat cheapish) kitchen. The bathroom is ORIGINAL; Pink tiles with a matching pink lid on the tiny toilet. It's cool though because it's retro and kitsch. The only issue is on the day I moved in was a note from the landlord saying to call PGE to get the new gas wall heater going. I called them (a Friday) and they couldn't get a tech out until Tuesday evening. I talked to the landlord and he said he couldn't get the pilot light lit. Going to be mid-30s to low-40s overnight tonight, maybe a little higher over the weekend. Is this acceptable and "habitable" ? Don't want to push my luck with my landlord but wondering if I should for $20 off the rent or something. Or if I'm just being a baby being cold whilst I browse the internet. Bald Stalin fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Mar 17, 2012 |
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Mar 17, 2012 04:11
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This seems like the best place for me to gush, and I absolutely need to gush. I'm 24 and I'm moving out of my parents' home for the second time (economy and bad choices brought me back) into a 120 year old building downtown in the morning! It's 660 square feet, full kitchen, and a walk-in closet that's so big it has its own goddamn window. Fourth floor overlooking the local biergarten and a historic concert venue, and a ten minute walk to work. I furnished the place for under $400 mostly on Craigslist - kitchen table/chairs from a local designer, smallish desk, like-new microfiber couch, glass top coffee table and end table. I already had a bed, and I'm getting an entertainment center and a bookcase from my aunt. A friend of the family just moved her rich mother into a nursing home, so I'm getting a ton of high-end kitchen things from her. All the incidentals (cleaning supplies, etc) I bought at Big Lots when they had their 20 percent off everything sale a few weeks ago. It may not look like much, but to me, it's the most beautiful building I've ever seen: http://i.imgur.com/qzHsJ.jpg (I'm sure I'll be back in this thread when my water heater blows up or my stove melts or something but right now I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself.)
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Mar 17, 2012 06:18
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I'm 27 years old, and I have never lived outside of my parents' house. Not out of choice, mind you, but out of necessity. I've just never been able to afford to move out. Whenever it seemed like I might be on my way, something might happen like my car dying or losing a job. And I've had long stretches of unemployment, too. AND if I'm being completely honest with myself, I've never been as independent as I should be. I'm a late-bloomer. I think I'm ready now, though. I've had a job for about 10 months, pays around $12 an hour. My last two bi-weekly paychecks were about $820 dollars. I've been saving money for a few months now, and I'm at $2500 right now, along with about $480 in checking. My current monthly expenses are a $260 car payment, $112 (and falling) car insurance and $68 iPhone bill. I figure I can fit a $550 1BR rent into my budget, yeah? I also think I have enough saved up, right? I figure I can move with $500-750. I have a bed, desk, dresser drawers, bookshelves, something that passes as an entertainment center, and um, a papasan. I have no problem getting the rest from Craigslist, Goodwill and the like. The only thing I'd want to buy new (or take used from my parents) would be cookware.
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Mar 17, 2012 19:34
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I suggest going into BFC and asking their help for budgeting etc.
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Mar 17, 2012 20:04
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Why is the car payment so high?
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Mar 17, 2012 22:01
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So my building has central air, but it sucks, and the landord doesn't turn it on soon enough, so it's 85 degrees in my apartment. It's about 1000 square feet, and I'd like to get an AC unit, but my windows slide sideways and not up and down, making installation difficult. Would those stand units with the vent hose outside work better than a traditional window unit? E: I guess I need a unit for a horizontal or casement window, which exists. FISHMANPET fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Mar 17, 2012 |
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Mar 17, 2012 22:20
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d3rt posted:Why is the car payment so high? $260 is not a high car payment.
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Mar 17, 2012 22:28
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Hey, I have plenty of experience paying rent, getting into/out of leases, etc, but it looks as though the coming year will mean a much bigger portion of my monthly budget will go to rent: I'm on a graduate student stipend, and with the cheapest livable 1-bedrooms (i.e. not surrounded by drunk 18 year-olds or drug dealers or too far from campus) being about $550 + utilities, I'm looking at spending something like 2/3 of my stipend on rent + utilities. Up til now, I've been able to stick to places that were about 25-35% of my income in rent. Most of the students in my program, however, live by themselves, and many of them pay $650 or more in rent, exclusive of utilities, so I guess it's doable. But my question is, HOW? I suppose I should say that I am busy enough that I don't have a lot of free time to do things that cost money, and I also get about $120 in food subsidies, but, even so, this seems like a lot of money to be spending when I'm on such a tight budget.
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Mar 21, 2012 01:58
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It is a lot of money and I'm willing to bet that the students paying $600 or more have outside help, ie parents. I can understand the desire to not live near campus and/or near the more crime ridden parts of town, so I think the best route might be roommates? If possible? I know a lot of my grad student peers found roommates through the graduate program itself, which is nice because they understand your lifestyle, but personally I just sucked it up and lived on campus for grad school. Yeah, I was surrounded by younger students, but I didn't have to worry about money quite so much (and I chose the international dorm which was on the whole very quiet and good for grad students) I would say that 25%-30% is good for rent and bills, and anything less than 50% is normal, so 66% is going to be verrrry tight. A roommate could cut that to ~40% which is much more doable.
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Mar 21, 2012 02:56
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Yeah, I really think that's too large a portion of your income to be spending on rent. I'm spending 1/4 to 1/3 of my income on rent (depending on whether we have 2 or 3 roommates in any given month) and anything more would be pretty rough. Having roommates is pretty normal in my department though. I don't think you will manage 2/3 of your income going to rent without taking out student loans.
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Mar 21, 2012 03:00
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Definitely look into roommates. I have always lived with a roommate in grad school and it's been fine. Run your budget by BFC too and see what they can do to help you cut corners. I do know that it's generally recommended to not spend more than around 30% of your (gross) income on rent, though.
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Mar 21, 2012 03:20
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The 30% is recommended, but its a sad truth that as your income gets low you're just going to have to spend a lot of it on necessities like housing. There were times in grad school when I was spending 40-50% of my income on rent, despite living in a lovely place and sharing it with a bunch of other people. There is simply going to be a lower bound on what housing rents for, and if its more than 30% of your income you suck it up. Or live in your car. Definitely look for roomates - typically, you can find a two bedroom place that is only marginally more expensive than a one bedroom or studio. You should also revisit those questionable areas and see if you can find somewhere on the border that is tolerable. A last piece of advice is to get out to actual neighbourhoods and beat the streets looking for 'rent' signs. A lot of the time people who are old/luddites/etc will just do that rather than use an agent or listing, and you are more likely to find a deal with them.
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Mar 21, 2012 03:41
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I'm actually currently living with a roommate, and it's been great (and cheap) but she's decided she wants her own place for next year. In the past, I haven't been all that happy with roommates whom I didn't know beforehand, but this has gone very harmoniously--I guess she just wants her own space to spread out and work on her thesis. I'll see if there's anyone else in the department, or among my acquaintances, who's looking for a place. You're right; I really shouldn't be spending that much.
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Mar 21, 2012 03:55
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Anyone had success with roomster?
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Mar 21, 2012 16:04
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I am planning on moving to the other side of the US in August. I still have roommates in my current city who are staying here. I already have an apartment arranged in the new city and just need to work out the details such as what to do with my furniture. I am flying out to the new city so would have to ship the furniture out through UPS or another company. Would it be cheaper to leave the furniture in my current apartment and buy new when I get there or should I have it shipped to the new city? The roommates are fine with me leaving it there as most of it is public space stuff (tables, couches). I have never shipped anything that large or heavy through UPS so I am not sure what the costs will be. Is there a better company to use for shipping things I will definitely need (books, computer) than UPS/FedEx?
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Mar 21, 2012 18:42
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It'll be more expensive to ship it than to use a moving van... why isn't that your first thought? I mean, the company will be expensive but goddamn I cannot even fathom putting like a dining room table in a box for the UPS man. Actually I stand corrected, depending on how much stuff you have and how well you can pack it you could probably PROBABLY get away with breaking down, packing, and shipping your furniture on the cheap. But... I dunno that's a lot of ifs. Your biggest problem will be irregular shapes: you can't like, take apart a tabletop. Gunshow Poophole fucked around with this message at 23:45 on Mar 21, 2012 |
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Mar 21, 2012 23:40
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Sorry I forgot to mention this originally.I did consider the moving van but I can't drive a van out there myself because of time constraints. I am doing contract work in my current area until August 4th and I have to be out to my school by the 7th. So I have to fly out myself to be there on time. I don't have a day off to let a moving company in and sit with them while they load my stuff up so dropping it off with a shipping company and giving them the address is the ideal solution or just leaving it here and buying new which is what I am really leaning towards right now. Should I go with UPS or FedEx for my books and computer though or is there a cheaper alternative I haven't thought of?
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Mar 22, 2012 00:43
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I just moved into a basement apartment (about 3 weeks now). It's a really nice basement in a new house, but the upstairs tenants have loving odd hours and talk and make noise early in the morning. I'm sometimes up late too, but when I have to go to work I hold normal hours. For example, last night it sounded like there was a full-blown gathering from 2-3 a.m. It was very noisy with chatter (no music). What do I do? Do I confront the upstairs tenant? I sent him a text around 3 a.m. saying it's way too noisy and got no response. He has responded previously to my other benign texts. We've been cordial to each other so far, but neither of us have had serious conflict with each other. Do I confront the landlord? The problem is that that the landlord and people in this house and the neighbouring house are all relatives from the same east Asian country. In all likelihood, the landlord was at this gathering last night. What rights do I have here? I just bought everything I would need and settled in too. The contract is less than a month old.
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Mar 22, 2012 16:36
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TO UNDERAGE GYMNASTS
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The thing about noise complaints is that it's less about your rights and more about your perception in the apartment complex. I'm willing to put up with some noise within reason: the occasional late party, infrequent loud music, etc. The key words being occasional and infrequent. These are just the downsides of living in close proximity to other people and I'd rather be on good terms with them than not. However, frequent, sleep-disturbing noise is not something that should be ignored. For this situation I would escalate starting as friendly as you can be. Talk to the neighbors first. They might not realize how much you can hear and modulate accordingly. If not, then approach the landlord. The last resort is noise complaints with the local police. The race thing is not relevant at this point, since you haven't had a conversation (in person, not text) with the neighbors yet. Finally, knowing your rights is not really going to solve your problem. It's hard enough (in my town, anyway) to get the police to take notice of serious noise offenders like frat houses, much less a private gathering with no music. It might be worthwhile to talk to the landlord about whether they would install some noise-dampening ceiling tiles, or if you could take similar measures. You really shouldn't be able to hear everyday conversation to the point where it's disturbing your sleep: those are some thin drat walls.
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Mar 22, 2012 17:03
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I just talked to the upstairs tenant and they were watching a cricket match, I think the finals of Bangledesh and Pakistan (Asia Cup). It's totally understandable given their culture and the time difference of the live match. That's a bit of a relief. He did say he was mindful of the noise, loud T.V., walking, etc. I do hear walking and noise from conversation (can't make out words, but they're not speaking English anyway) and stuff like shower and toilet water flow, dresser drawer movement. I think that's normal stuff, but also not indicative of great sound insulation. I sleep with earplugs normally and it's been okay so far, but last night was an exception.
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Mar 22, 2012 17:47
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