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A place I'm looking at is a top floor apartment at the back of the building 4 stories up, no lift. Probably has good views though. Anyone got experience at living up that many stairs, and would you do it again if you didn't need to?
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Aug 26, 2012 01:06
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My last three apartments were all 3rd floor. Only one had an elevator. They were all huge pains in the rear end to get all my poo poo moved into the place - especially couches. Couches will be your bane if that place has narrow staircases. I'd recommend getting rid of your couch and picking up a futon instead if you're going to go that route. Once moving day is over though it's not all that bad though as long as you're in shape and don't wheeze from going up a few flights of stairs. Keep in mind that apartments on the top floor tend to be really hot since heat rises and have fairly poor insulation. Given the building doesn't have an elevator I'm assuming it's not very modern, so no central air and poor insulation. My last apartment was a converted attic space and it was horribly cold in winter and unbearably hot in the summer.
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Aug 26, 2012 01:35
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Comstar posted:A place I'm looking at is a top floor apartment at the back of the building 4 stories up, no lift. Probably has good views though. I lived on the 3rd floor while in halls of residence and the lift was out of action for about 6 months and I managed fine. Of course, I didn't have any furniture or much of anything to move around, bar taking my massive bag of laundry down to the basement. Now I'm living on the 3rd floor again and this place has a lift but I use the stairs nearly all the time. It's kinda invigorating to go up those stairs at the end of a long day at work before you can flump down and relax. Like a final obstacle. I wouldn't mind living up to the 5th floor without a lift. Any higher than that and I don't think it would be worth it. A mate of mine lives on the 8th floor in a Victorian block without a lift, taking out the rubbish is a nightmare.
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Aug 26, 2012 02:34
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Eggplant Wizard posted:So basically it's normal for cleaning the bathroom to take at least half an hour? Ugh. My current usual routine, for comparison: You really shouldn't use a bleach based spray near or on toilets. Pee has ammonia in it and ammonia and bleach are not friends.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach
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Aug 26, 2012 02:40
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madlilnerd posted:I lived on the 3rd floor while in halls of residence and the lift was out of action for about 6 months and I managed fine. Of course, I didn't have any furniture or much of anything to move around, bar taking my massive bag of laundry down to the basement. I once lived in a 15th floor and the elevators would die/break very often. It was a nightmare.
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Aug 26, 2012 02:43
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Red_Fred posted:You really shouldn't use a bleach based spray near or on toilets. Pee has ammonia in it and ammonia and bleach are not friends.  I suspect it's not really an issue or products like that wouldn't be released. edit: although I guess that's not a spray Xandu fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Aug 26, 2012 |
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Aug 26, 2012 02:43
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Xandu posted:
I think it's particular kinds of bleach.
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Aug 26, 2012 02:49
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Comstar posted:A place I'm looking at is a top floor apartment at the back of the building 4 stories up, no lift. Probably has good views though. When I lived in the dorms on campus people who lived on floor 4 and below were actually banned from using the elevator, so it's most definitely manageable. I've lived on the third floor of an apartment with no elevator, and on the second floor of a different place as well. It's not too bad except for move-in/move-out and if you hurt your leg and need crutches (which I had to do. In December and January. With non-covered stairs. It iced. It was horrible.)
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Aug 26, 2012 02:59
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FengShuiNinja posted:
Pothos!  I grow these in all my terrariums and I think they look magnificent and jungle-y in the planted house enviornment. Ferns are also super easy and low maintenance, I recommend button ferns for attractiveness. Consider succulent pots! Because of their smaller root systems you can mix and match to create really attractive "bowls" of succulents, or even hanging wall decorations 
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Aug 26, 2012 03:11
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FengShuiNinja posted:Philodendrons. My mom, who usually manages to kill any houseplant she acquires within a couple weeks, has a philodendron that she was given as a house warming present in 1980. It's still alive. This goddamn plant is older than me, and has survived a handful of long distance moves. All you gotta do is water it once a week or so and it'll be happy.
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Aug 26, 2012 03:14
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The Wiz sent me here (thanks for that, goonsire), so here's my stuff.Magnetic North posted:Forgive me if this is not the right place for this, but I didn't see any better place for this (except maybe the House Buying thread). I am trying to be less goony and move out of my parent's place. My thoughts so far are: I got question 3 answered, but I am curious if anyone has any other particular wisdom on it. I gave the sites in the OP a cursory glance, and I didn't like what I saw. So here's question 4: 4: Is MA still just stupid expensive to live in or something? Even after all the housing market collapsing that's been going on?
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Aug 26, 2012 04:17
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Red_Fred posted:You really shouldn't use a bleach based spray near or on toilets. Pee has ammonia in it and ammonia and bleach are not friends. I'm not pouring pure bleach into concentrated urine here dude. I'm using a dilute, toilet-oriented bleach-containing spray on a flushed toilet. I know bleach + ammonia = IMMEDIATE DEATH is currently an internet panic meme (true, yes, but for some reason I'm seeing it everywhere recently), but seriously. Magnetic North posted:4: Is MA still just stupid expensive to live in or something? Even after all the housing market collapsing that's been going on? MA is always stupid expensive to live in, yes. As for the housing market, it's not "even after" so much as "because of." Because fewer people can buy houses and fewer people feel comfortable even trying, more people are renting. More demand = higher prices. Renting prices are at an all time high in most areas of the country. HOWEVER, there are lots of universities in the area so there should be lots of rentals and lots of potential roommates (grad students & professors, not just undergrads). That also contributes to driving up the cost, though, because of more demand and turnover. You need to take more than a cursory glance at the sites in the OP. Finding a suitable affordable apartment is work. You need to look around, see what amenities you can expect for what price, find out what areas have more/fewer rentals, see what prices are normal for what areas, what some major rental companies and properties in the area are, and where there are more owner-rented properties. If you're coming from anywhere besides the northeast or certain parts of the coast, then yeah, MA looks expensive. It's the way it is though and you gotta pay what you gotta pay. Get a roommate if necessary. Whereabouts are you looking? Around 95 is a huge area so narrow it down for me a bit. Do you want T access? Commuter rail? What's your budget (or gross income & I'll look for things in 25%-33% range)?
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Aug 26, 2012 15:25
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Eggplant Wizard posted:You need to take more than a cursory glance at the sites in the OP. I'm with you here. I only gave it a quick glance because, well, everything I saw was more than 50% out of what you suggested should be my price range. Also, I'm in no hurry. I'm not being thrown out or anything, and I only recently resolved to move out. Eggplant Wizard posted:Whereabouts are you looking? Around 95 is a huge area so narrow it down for me a bit. Do you want T access? Commuter rail? What's your budget (or gross income & I'll look for things in 25%-33% range)? I was looking for Norwood/Walpole/Foxboro/Sharon area, and they started looking in Attleboro/North Attleboro/Plainville. I didn't bother looking any further north than Norwood because that's getting close to Boston, and I don't work in Boston so I don't make that kinda money. Eggplant Wizard posted:What's your budget (or gross income & I'll look for things in 25%-33% range)? According to the rubric you gave me, about $500 is my maximum budget. I have found some suitable places in the $750 range which I could theoretically swing, but that is half of my take home pay. Then again, I would save some money in gas, but not more than probably $20 per week at most, which is not insignificant, but it's still a +$200 swing. In fact, $700 seems to open up some options, so maybe I'll just have to tighten my belt. After looking at the map again, I see some towns off the beaten tracks that I could try, but they aren't in the $500 dollar range either.
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Aug 26, 2012 16:05
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FengShuiNinja posted:I forgot I was going to ask a question! I have a Chinese Evergreen (algaonema), and haven't killed it yet. They're frequently used in malls because they're so hard to kill. They do really well in low light, so I had no problem with it in my dark previous house (literally no light in the winter - had to have lights on at midday if you wanted to read a book or cook). They come in lots of nice varieties too. I actually just recently divided mine into multiple plants - I was repotting it and it was actually several separate plants grouped together to make it look bushier. So now I have three!  Also nthing spider plants. I've had one forever and it's doing fine. I neglected to repot it for years and years, and it was in a block of lovely old soil and seemed perfectly fine. Repotted it as well to see if it'll get bigger with some actual nutrients.
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Aug 26, 2012 18:30
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Magnetic North posted:According to the rubric you gave me, about $500 is my maximum budget. I have found some suitable places in the $750 range which I could theoretically swing, but that is half of my take home pay. Then again, I would save some money in gas, but not more than probably $20 per week at most, which is not insignificant, but it's still a +$200 swing. In fact, $700 seems to open up some options, so maybe I'll just have to tighten my belt. That means you have to get a roommate. Is that really not an option? When calculating how much it's going to cost for you to live in a place, don't forget to think about utilities.
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Aug 26, 2012 21:09
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Wondering if you guys could tell me if I'm being overly precious with this? Moved into a flat, paid a £400 deposit, was informed I'd get it all back when I moved out. I moved out last month, left the place in immaculate condition and after a 6 week wait I got £280 of my deposit back. £50 was deducted for a tenant reference check and £80 deducted for cleaning of the property. Is £50 standard for a credit reference check? I can't see how it can possibly be so expensive to do a search on Experian/Equifax. Also, the agency says the cleaning was required, but apparently can't provide me with a breakdown of what exactly needed cleaned. And I honestly can't think what the hell needed cleaned. I spent the last weekend in the flat making sure everything was spotless. Everyone I've spoken to just seems to think I was lucky to get even a part of my deposit back, but it's really bugging me that the letting agent gets away with a chunk of my money for no reason. I realise it isn't a huge amount of money, but a part of me wants to make a fuss until I get it back. Do you guys think I'd have a hope in hell of getting it back, or should I just chalk it up to experience and thank god that I've now got a house of my own?
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Aug 27, 2012 15:33
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No idea how it is in the UK, but in the US the property owner can pretty much defer all "cleaning" costs to you, which almost always is conveniently the exact amount of your deposit. It seems to be worse with large complexes owned by large corporations, who undoubtedly contract the cleaning out to people who charge an arm and a leg to mop your floor and don't give a poo poo about your threats to take them to small claims court.
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Aug 27, 2012 15:44
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psydude posted:No idea how it is in the UK, but in the US the property owner can pretty much defer all "cleaning" costs to you, which almost always is conveniently the exact amount of your deposit. It seems to be worse with large complexes owned by large corporations, who undoubtedly contract the cleaning out to people who charge an arm and a leg to mop your floor and don't give a poo poo about your threats to take them to small claims court. Yeah. Don't ever break your back cleaning up an apartment like that, since chances are they will just charge you regardless. Do a good day's worth and call it good.
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Aug 27, 2012 17:13
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Ctrl_Alt_Delete posted:- Get a cloth shower curtain that is machine washable, they are less than $10UD and it's so nice ot be able to just pop them in the wash rather than having to try and clean a plastic one. If you hate the earth, you can also just toss the plastic one and replace it as needed
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Aug 27, 2012 17:47
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Irisi posted:Wondering if you guys could tell me if I'm being overly precious with this? It seems you could make a stand about it if they won't provide any proof of the cleaning.
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Aug 27, 2012 23:49
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Typically, if someone moves into a large apartment complex, do they have to get the power and water turned on in their name and separate from their lease? Or do they typically turn on basic utilities when you sign the lease and just bill you for usage.
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Aug 28, 2012 13:21
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Generally everything is in your own name and you have to call to have it set up. They want to do a credit check on you at least.
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Aug 28, 2012 13:51
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Hughmoris posted:Typically, if someone moves into a large apartment complex, do they have to get the power and water turned on in their name and separate from their lease? Or do they typically turn on basic utilities when you sign the lease and just bill you for usage. If you're responsible for the utility in question, you have to set it up yourself. Many complexes cover certain utilities, however, usually including water and sewer. Right now for example I did have to set up my own electricity, but not gas/water/sewer. Make sure you're clear with the landlord/agency on what you're responsible for. For those things that you are responsible for, you need to call in advance and say you're moving in on whatever day and want the service switched over into your name on that day. I have typically asked for it to be done a day or two before just because I assume they will gently caress up and I don't want an interruption in service  That's probably unnecessary though.
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Aug 28, 2012 14:37
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Eggplant Wizard posted:If you're responsible for the utility in question, you have to set it up yourself. Many complexes cover certain utilities, however, usually including water and sewer. Right now for example I did have to set up my own electricity, but not gas/water/sewer. Make sure you're clear with the landlord/agency on what you're responsible for. For those things that you are responsible for, you need to call in advance and say you're moving in on whatever day and want the service switched over into your name on that day. I have typically asked for it to be done a day or two before just because I assume they will gently caress up and I don't want an interruption in service Seriously make sure you call ahead of time. You probably won't experience a service interruption, but what you will experience is a bill from the complex for about 10-15x the actual cost of the utilities they used because they've used a third party billing agency that charges you around $100 in fees for the $2 of utilities that the complex was charged.
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Aug 28, 2012 15:14
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If my landlord hires a plumbing company and the plumber he hired was overly rude to me, am I within logical right to request that he not use that company again? Should I mention it to him or should I just deal with it?
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Aug 28, 2012 19:19
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Mention it to him for sure. I don't know what you mean by logical rights, but you can certainly request (and he should honor) not to have the same guy work in your unit again. That doesn't necessarily mean switching companies, just technicians.
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Aug 28, 2012 19:35
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Mention it to him for sure. I don't know what you mean by logical rights, but you can certainly request (and he should honor) not to have the same guy work in your unit again. That doesn't necessarily mean switching companies, just technicians. I just meant like...logically, do I have the right to tell him about it, or is it just better to play it cool. I figure I won't make a big deal of it, but mention it in passing.
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Aug 28, 2012 20:32
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This is definitely the kind of thing a good property manager will want to know. If we have subs screwing up our resident relations, we need to know so we can fix it.
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Aug 28, 2012 20:37
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This thread got me to move out of home. I'm thinking of buying huge room sized rugs to go on the thin carpet of the apartment I'm moving too. It's pretty old and crummy, but I would think it would help keep the base carpet clean/undamaged in the long term, add some much needed colour to the boring beige, and help with insulation and noise issues. Would they make much difference in heat/cold/noise though? What should I look for in rugs? Every rug store I see amazingly has a SALE SALE SALE sign on the front, that never changes. Anything to avoid?
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Aug 28, 2012 21:21
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1) A very shaggy rug is an awesome way to spend the rest of your time there walking on accumulated dirt and grime, as shag will not clean well at all. 2) You probably already know about how dark/light colors make a room look bigger or smaller. 3) Naturally, a thicker rug is going to block noise and temperature change better than a thin one, but it will cost more. 4) You might want to invest in the thin rubber mat that goes underneath rugs to keep them from sliding around when people walk on them, but that's totally optional. And the amount of sliding depends on the amount of people walking on it and their size. A small woman won't slide a rug arond like a big fat guy will. When I went to a rug/carpet store searching for cheap rugs for the same reasons you listed, they told me something interesting: they had an entire room dedicated to huge rolls and scrap heaps of carpeting and rugs, and they sold it custom-length per square foot. The price depends on the quality/color/pattern of the rug, so the plush contemporary runner I had made was more expensive than a huge beige square but in the end it still ended up being $30-50 cheaper than a very similar product from Bed Bath & Beyond. They dragged the rug roll to their cutting area, chopped off the 7 feet I requested and bound the edges in the time it took to swipe my debit card and fill out their little carbon copy receipt. And of course they're salesmen so if you take your time and ask questions they'll come up with little discount incentives to get you to walk away with their product.
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Aug 28, 2012 22:25
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Hughmoris posted:Typically, if someone moves into a large apartment complex, do they have to get the power and water turned on in their name and separate from their lease? Or do they typically turn on basic utilities when you sign the lease and just bill you for usage. I've never seen a place include electricity, or else people wouldn't bother turning off lights or saving energy and the complex's bill would be enormous. I stupidly had an all utilities included lease for my tenants to start with. The TV and lights got left on 24/7 and I ended up with $300 electric bills regularly. Most places will include water and sewer and trash collection and sometimes gas.
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Aug 29, 2012 00:46
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The OP has a rule that I have heard from a couple of people - the amount of rent you pay for the year should be 25% - 30% of your salary. It says this is before taxes/withholdings, though. Shouldn't that be after? I don't follow the logic here.
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Aug 29, 2012 02:43
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Mike Danger posted:The OP has a rule that I have heard from a couple of people - the amount of rent you pay for the year should be 25% - 30% of your salary. It says this is before taxes/withholdings, though. Shouldn't that be after? I don't follow the logic here. It's a rule of thumb. It ends up being more than 25%-30% of your net/take home pay, yes, but that's considered the appropriate amount.
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Aug 29, 2012 02:44
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I think it's prudent to lump utilities and insurance in there, too.
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Aug 29, 2012 14:32
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Mike Danger posted:The OP has a rule that I have heard from a couple of people - the amount of rent you pay for the year should be 25% - 30% of your salary. It says this is before taxes/withholdings, though. Shouldn't that be after? I don't follow the logic here. I assume people are just applying the same logic to rentals. Not sure why mortgages use gross, but that's how it is.
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Aug 29, 2012 18:58
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I just got a bill for one month of gas and electric for my one bedroom apartment in Baltimore - and it's for $335! Is this normal?? In St. Louis it was a third of that. We keep the lights off most of the day and it hasn't been that hot. What the hell. I seriously cannot understand how this could be right. We don't even own a TV for crying out loud.
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Aug 29, 2012 19:27
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Baltimore is pretty expensive overall isn't it? That may just be an incorrect impression I have. My bill is usually 90$/month in California, but it can double easily if I'm not careful. You may be able to have your utility company come out and make sure your meters are correct.
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Aug 29, 2012 19:31
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We are paying 890 in rent, so it's not terribly expensive in general.
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Aug 29, 2012 19:32
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Doghouse posted:I just got a bill for one month of gas and electric for my one bedroom apartment in Baltimore - and it's for $335! Is this normal?? In St. Louis it was a third of that. We keep the lights off most of the day and it hasn't been that hot. What the hell. I'd expect a 1 bed apartment to run less than a 1/3 of that. How much did you run your A/C? Is it central or a window unit? According to this from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, electricty costs are in line with the national average and natural gas is ~20% higher. Gas is still a very cheap fuel.
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Aug 29, 2012 20:31
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I have a 1 bedroom apartment (in Madison, WI) with central air that I ran pretty often for most of the last week of July (when I moved in) and August. I don't otherwise use a lot of electricity - just my monitor and the occasional lights/washer/dryer. My bill this month was about 40 dollars. Now, I live in a certified-green apartment complex, so that'll skew the numbers a bit. The last apartment I lived in had a hideously crappy wall heating/AC unit and I still pulled about 40-45 a month for electricity. In the winter it'd go up to 70 a month or so. The last month I lived there, July, my bill was about 140 dollars and that was largely from being forced to run the AC all the time because converted attics have absolute crap for insulation and get horribly hot after having 10 hours of direct sunlight. (Oh, I also put plastic sheeting over most of my windows during winter and summer to help insulate. That'll save you quite a bit of money if you live in a leaky apartment.) So I guess what I'm saying here is that $300+ for a 1 bedroom is absolutely bonkers and you should be checking around to see that you don't accidentally have a window open or aren't running anything that you don't know about.
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Aug 29, 2012 20:51
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