STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Elle · Hermes

Help me not be cheap

JoceyBaby23 · Gucci

Pay the extra money! It looks great. Afterall, this is where you are going to be living.. your HOME! One thing that you should never scrimp on, IMO. You will be spending a lot of time there!

Drew · Gucci

Sorry, but since this isn't a home you are buying it really is throwing your money away. I know it's nice to live in a nice apartment, but don't you think it would be nicer to live somewhere someday that is yours? I say save the extra money in an account that will earn you interest, and save that money for a down payment on a home.

Get the cheaper place and decorate it with nice furniture and accents and it will be just as lovely as the expensive place.

Sorry I can't aid you in getting this place.

RyanJ · Coach

I can't give you my blessing either

.

You are still young and you have plenty of time to live in a great apartment/house. I know it must be very tempting to get a great place, but I would say save your money.

I have a friend who moved to Denver last year and he lives in Whisper Creek. He is in Lakewood, Co, but that was only about 10 mins from Denver. Just hop on the eway and you are there.

He lives in a one bedroom. The bathroom was pretty decent size with a garden tub ( i think that is what they are called. Not quite a jacuzzi, but not a small regular tub), washer and dryer in the unit, a built in desk, and a balcony. It was neat because balcony over looked a all these horses. We would go out to his car and there were all these hores starring at you. We would pet them. I just thought I would mention it because I have been there and thought it was nice.

lynnie · Chanel

I am torn. How much more expensive is it then a cheaper option? If it is only a little more expensive, then go with the nicer place. If a cheaper option would be way too small or crummy, then go with the nicer place. However, I agree with Drew in the fact that renting a place IS kind of like throwing money away. If you can find something that is cozy and nice but cheaper, save the extra rent to put towards your own place! I do like those closet sizes though

luckylily · Gucci

I'm torn too. I think 1,200sq ft is almost too much for just two people. Does the same building maybe have something w/ one bedroom and an office? Or do you think you need two bedrooms.

If it were me, I'd go with something a little smaller, do some saving, and maybe start investing in some nice furniture.

Elle · Hermes

We wanted a 1 bedroom - the only one they have left is on the 3rd floor, which I would rather not do. Other than that, they have 2 2-bedrooms left and that's it.

Do you think we should take the 3rd floor 1 bedroom instead? It's $125 less than the 2-bedroom.

913 sq ft.

member · Hermes

May I ask why you are against living on the 3rd floor? If it were me, I'd take the 1 bedroom and save the extra $125 a month. If you don't need a 2 bedroom, it's a waste of money IMO.

honey · Gucci

don't do it! as the others have pointed out, it really is throwing money away. and while luxury is nice there's a difference between reasonable luxury and opulence. it's not like you really want a 2 bedroom and that's the best one you've found, you want a one bedroom, so you're paying more for something you don't even really want, which really doesn't make sense. but then again i dream of buying my apt. and never spend anytime at home, so my opinion is biased.

kealoha · Kate Spade

quote:
Originally posted by: shopchicago33
"If it were me, I'd take the 1 bedroom and save the extra $125 a month. If you don't need a 2 bedroom, it's a waste of money IMO."

I agree. Good luck.

Elle · Hermes

quote:
Originally posted by: shopchicago33
"May I ask why you are against living on the 3rd floor? If it were me, I'd take the 1 bedroom and save the extra $125 a month. If you don't need a 2 bedroom, it's a waste of money IMO."

Living on the 3rd floor means 3 flights of stairs - our parking space would not necessarily be immediately in front of our apartment. I am envisioning attempting to lug 3 grocery bags (or a large suitcase, or a new piece of furniture, wood for the fireplace, etc) across a parking lot only to be met with multiple flights of stairs. It also means that we would be forced to have movers (both moving in and out) because we wouldn't be able to navigate all of our large furniture up/down the stairs without help.

We had a 3 floor townhouse before that was a pain in the a$$, but in that case the stairs were *in* the house. Maybe the disadvantages would be small potatoes in daily life? If it was between a 1st floor and a 3rd floor maybe it would be different, but I guess 2nd floor vs. 3rd floor isn't really that big of a deal?

laken1 · Hermes

Personally, I don't think 1,200 sq ft is too big for 2 people - I lived in the same size by myself & it was great - smaller alone was bad enough, but 913 sq ft with 2 people - that personally would drive me insane. At 913 you can't get away from each other, and at some point I know I need some space of my own. And for $125 more, I'd go for the bigger. Plus I would never look at 3rd story either - what a pain to move in & out, groceries, plus shopping bags!!!!

Having said all that, I think the real question is what is your other options somewhere else? If you can find a cheaper place for significantly less, but it still be acceptable, I'd consider that. I know I was in this situation and my choices were to live in a better complex in a smaller apt or crappier apt, have to buy washer & dryer, and it ended up being about the same. I was alone so I chose the safer / better complex.

I do agree with others that it is the smart thing to live somewhere less & save the money, but in reality when you put pen to paper, sometimes it's not as much difference as it seems. In that case, I'd live in the place you love because I never want to come home to a place I hated. But if the price is significantly different, the saved money would be the smarter thing to do. I'd do the math on all the expenses - see what the electricity, etc is in both units at different complexes, the energy company there should have an average on the size apt you will get - much easier to estimate than a house.

After all that babbling, I guess bottom line is not how much cheaper is a one br vs two br at same complex, but what is the difference between the same size apt at a cheaper complex?

Elle · Hermes

quote:
Originally posted by: laken1
"After all that babbling, I guess bottom line is not how much cheaper is a one br vs two br at same complex, but what is the difference between the same size apt at a cheaper complex? "

It's not that we wouldn't be open to doing it - but we are moving about 1,000 miles and will not have an opportunity to see these places in person before we give them the money and sign a lease. I am afraid that we'll go for a less expensive place that looks good online and then when we get there it'll be a hole and we'll be stuck (this is what happened before when we moved to Spokane).

I guess another option would be for FH to fly to Denver again over Memorial Day weekend, rent a car, and go around to look at as many apts as he could fit in.

$250 - flight

$300 - hotel

$100 - car

What do I do?!?!?!?

lynnie · Chanel

Will rent be about 25% of your income or less? I know you said it is affordable, but would you have to cut out savings/etc by living here? If you can REALLY afford it and have money to spare, get the nicer place. Even if there is a better deal out there, it might not be worth the time and trouble of trying to find it from so far away. Can you sign maybe a 6 month lease that you can renew? Then, while there, you can get a better handle on prices/where you want to live etc?

ILoveChoo · Hermes

have him go out there and look at places. seriously, what's 600 bucks in the grand scheme of things? I don't know what rent in Denver is like, but you could easily find a nice cheaper place and "make back" that $600 in two months. I've done the whole signing a lease before seeing the apartment thing too, and it's really hard- I would never do it again if I didn't have to. Plus, how are you going to know what the neighborhood is like, or even if it's really safe, without seeing it first? You never know, that could be the one nice apartment in a really sketchy neighborhood...

laken1 · Hermes

quote:
Originally posted by: LMonet
"
It's not that we wouldn't be open to doing it - but we are moving about 1,000 miles and will not have an opportunity to see these places in person before we give them the money and sign a lease. I am afraid that we'll go for a less expensive place that looks good online and then when we get there it'll be a hole and we'll be stuck (this is what happened before when we moved to Spokane)."

EEK - yeah, I'd have issues with that too. Do you have to sign a year lease, or can you do a shorter term? That way you could live there & get acquainted with the area, maybe find something cheaper later on. I wouldn't want to chance much cheaper places without seeing them in person - my experience from hotels / houses / etc is that they can indeed make them look great in a picture & then suck in real life.

If you are comfortable with that complex, here is what I'd personally ask myself about the space / price issue - would you rather have an extra $125 a month in shopping money (everyone says "savings" money, but who are we kidding? It's shopping for furniture or a house later money if you save it), or live in a bigger space on a lower floor? Everyone has their priorities, and again, it's an easy answer to say "save the money" but you have to go home there every single day, we don't. I'd say the perfect scenario is sign as short a lease as possible so you can have the option of moving if you get to the point that you feel you are throwing away your money.

Elle · Hermes

quote:
Originally posted by: laken1
" I'd say the perfect scenario is sign as short a lease as possible so you can have the option of moving if you get to the point that you feel you are throwing away your money. "

I think this is ultimately what we'll do. It's in a gated community in an upscale neighborhood only about 5 miles from the hospital where FH would work (and only about 3 miles from the valet-parking equipped Cherry Creek mall, but I digress) so safety isn't really an issue at this place.

Lynnie - I've been thinking about the income/rent ratio too. Currently, our rent is 45% of our income (!) and that's with a roomate!

If we took the expensive/2 bdrm/2nd fl apartment in Denver, rent would be 23% of our income.

If we took the less expensive/1 bdrm/3rd fl apartment in Denver, rent would be about 20% of our income.

RyanJ · Coach

I love the Cherry Creek Mall! I spent so long in the Anthro and URBN. That is a nice area.

-- Edited by RyanJ at 13:46, 2005-05-23

lynnie · Chanel

Well that's not so bad at all! I think its worth the extra $100 then to have the nicer apartment. It's not that different, and you'd be saving money from what you are paying right now! You still can save a lot of your money and it would be really close to your FH's new job. Are you sure that this place is nice though, and doesn't just look nice in pics?

Elle · Hermes

quote:
Originally posted by: lynnie
"Well that's not so bad at all! I think its worth the extra $100 then to have the nicer apartment. It's not that different, and you'd be saving money from what you are paying right now! You still can save a lot of your money and it would be really close to your FH's new job. Are you sure that this place is nice though, and doesn't just look nice in pics?"

Nope, it's niiiiiiiice! For real! They have 3 pools, a spa, a coffee bar, a big gym, etc in the community too.

Actually the apartment we have now eats up 45% of our income because we are POOOOOOOR, not because the apartment here is more expensive than the one in Denver. If we were to pay rent on the big apartment in Denver on our current income, it would be 63%!