Apartments and homes

[Neo Emolga]

So, do you live in your own apartment or home?

What do you usually look for most when picking out a place to call home? I figured I'd ask because I've been looking around for places nearby that are affordable, but lately I haven't had much luck (the only places I've found were very low quality, were still pricey, and I didn't feel very safe there). Other places I found were way too expensive and I knew I would have trouble keeping up with the rent. Quite frankly, I'm a total newbie to the whole process and I'm not even sure how other people go about doing this.

So with that in mind, I'm curious as to how other people approach this and what kind of arrangements they have going.

[starmie]

currently im living in a studio apartment on my own, though in a couple of months i'll be moving into a bigger apartment and splitting rent there with a friend of mine

the process i'd recommend for finding places is, first and foremost, to pick an area you're interested in (remembering that in-city housing and housing in upper-class areas will be more pricy) and google "rent apartments in _____" or "buy homes in _____" or etc just to see what you can find from that. then see what kind of prices are around, what utilities and features are offered in the different places, and keep your eyes peeled for open houses if youre looking for a house or ask to see apartments before you decide on a place. house hunting sucks and is hard but if you narrow down what you really want most out of a place it can be easier to search looking for those specific things!

[Daughter of Mew]

I have a one-bedroom apartment with my boyfriend, which we found using a website that lists local properties. If you use something like that, check it every other day because the decent cheap places go really quickly. We were looking for somewhere with good transport links because neither of us can drive, but aside from that we decided not to be fussy. The place we ended up is out of the town centre, but has a train station which we're in walking distance of.

Our flat is really cheap for our area (£575 a month, most places are £650+) but we had to sacrifice a few things. The flat's kind of run down and hasn't been decorated in a while, and we don't have central heating. Unfortunately making sacrifices like that are often the only way to get a cheaper place :( Don't accept anything like mould/damp/structural issues though, that can be genuinely dangerous.

Also, remember to budget for utilities/tax/other bills when working how much rent you can afford! We forgot to budget in food at first and our first few months were a struggle!! Also, deposits and agent fees can be ridiculous so always budget a bit extra for those. I'm afraid I'm not sure what else to add, because the US system is probably quite different from the UK.

[Reyzadren]

I live in a student accommodation, but not the default on-housing campus provided by the university. So, I guess it counts as an apartment unit?

Obviously, as a student, I think the most important question is this: How do I get to university? If you have a car, great. If not, either you walk from your nearby house, ride your bicycle or use the bus. Fortunately, there is a van here that brings students to and from the university, and it is a feature that I appreciate everyday.

[Mujaffa]

i live in a cellar apartment. it's kinda .. crap, to be honest. bad phone signal, horrible isolation between the house over and very cold floors. buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut it's not too home-like for me anyways so i barely am here other than sleeping :p
i'm too much of a social person to live on my own.