Um...

Theft is always a concern. But seeing I have 2 dogs, a .380 and a .40 it's not a major one. But Hurricane Sandy could have been a major concern. My landlord is my friend and would have gladly given me a place to stay if anything happened. But neither his wallet NOR his insurance would have paid for anything lost due to the storm. And one of our members here just experienced a fire ( https://cbrforum.com/forum/off-topic...t-fire-142929/ )

And the joke about someone taking a header down the stairs wasn't a joke. Friends don't tend to be litigious. But what about the cable guy? Or the plumber that comes to fix something and trips? I dunno about you but most landlords would immediately put the liability on the tenant, not their own insurance.

Speaking of liability, one of the major reasons I got renter's insurance is my 2 dogs. I'm absolutely positive neither Kai nor Kia would EVER bite anyone without provocation. And if provoked, their bite inhibition would stop them from breaking skin. But insurance is for the things that could never, ever happen... and do anyways. And dogs aren't the only pets capable of causing serious damage to a human. A fellow technician had to take a trip to the hospital after being mauled by a lady's housecat. Yeah, I laughed too when I heard it. Then I saw the shredded Carhartts and the blood.

 

[QUOTE=
If heat is to be paid by the tenant, don't be wasteful with your energy usage (eh, even if you don't pay for the utilities, it still isn't good to be wasteful!)
Trying to make an apartment 80 degrees may cost you an extra $100 - 150, or more a month.[/QUOTE]

OMG, this is so true, my gas central heat failed on me so we purchase a portable electrical heater, that months bill cost us nearly $200. So we call someone out to fix the gas central heat for $75. My next bill is $80....Wow...

And everything you don't use, unplug it from the wall circuit. Having a habit to turn off lights in a unoccupied room, shorter showers, makes a huge difference in you wallet & the environment.

 

Thanks for the input everybody! I went and took a look at a place today, and me and one of the roommates really liked it. It's a new (<5 years is my guess) house, so I hope it's been built well, and efficiently. The place is great, it has lots of room and a two bay garage that's attached (HUGE plus for us with our cars and motorcycles). We're filling out applications now, but our biggest issue is the cost of utilities.

I have never rented, and neither have the other guys. We're looking at a 2600 square foot home that like I said is newer construction, which means it should be fairly efficient. ..it has Propane hot water and heat for the home.

Anybody have a similar sized home in the Northeast (We're in Springfield, MA) or similar climate that could throw some rough numbers out? I've put in $150 a month for electric except in July/August I put $175 in case we use A/C. I also put in about $300/month for gas (heat and hot water) in the winter, and $100 in the peak of the summer. Do you think my figures are good?

Thanks, any more input would be great!

 

oh! which brings up a good point (as i'm reading your reply). a garage is a must. your bike needs to go in it every night for sure. if you don't get a garage, you need a roommate who is cool with it being in your living room. so many motorcycles get stolen in college areas - it's ridiculous.

 

Yeah, that's one of the criteria, one of my roommates is getting a new bike as well so we've established that a garage is a must.

This place just happens to have a two bay garage! Plus it has a car spot that doesn't block the doors, and two that do...so we'll have 3, possibly four cars, plus the bikes at the house, and they will all fit, if we have 3 cars nobody will be blocked in, unlike all the other places we were looking at haha

 

UPDATE : We're working on getting a place, but need at least one more person to move in with. A girl from our school is looking for a place and asked if we'd take females roommates...

Any guys roomed with girls? Was it bad, was it good?

 

It can be good it can be bad, just depends on the person.

Don't screw her, don't screw her friends. That can make it bad.

If you get to do both at the same time then * it. You only live once.

You can outfit your entire kitchen/ dining room for cheap at the dollar store.

 

it depends on one thing.



are you sharing any bathrooms.... if the answer is yes - then i would say hell no.






but it does depend on the person either way. girls tend to be a little different. we had a girl room in our apartment over summer one year. she hated, no wait, despised every girl that ever came over (party or not, g/f or just study partner, it didn't matter). she never really wanted to throw any parties - even if they were really small with people she knew.

all of that ^ can be attributed to the kind of person she was though - not just guy vs. girl. that's the only real experience i've really had with a girl roomate

but the bathroom thing stands - she'll have her hair spray/make-up/lotions/etc everywhere - all the time. hair dryers, straighteners, curlers, - everywhere. plus, you'll have long strands of hair everywhere - especially in the shower. there will be no room anywhere for a toothbrush - let alone deodorant, toothpaste, and shave gel. the feminine thing will be an issue too probably - at first.

and then, god forbid she ever finds a facial hair in the sink. you'll never hear the end of it.


it's not that guys and girls can't live together. it's just a big process - and i'd say it takes longer than one period of leasing. anyone who is married kind of knows what i'm talking about.

 

hahahaha

Ditto! I had a female roommate cause I thought it would be cool to meet her friends. And it was... until you start to break hearts, then it gets ugly, you cant have females over w/o the dirty eye. And she doesnt feel comfortable bringing her friends over.... smh