May be renting my first apartment!

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I found an apartment for 400$ a month , it is in a very nice area and a short walk form the bus station (I don't drive).

I am so excited!! !

The reason I am so excited is because I live in a family where I was beaten as a child and still verbaly abused , and controled to this day.

I made a stand and toled my mother 2 days ago that I was moving out as soon as I found a nice place that I could afford.

She wouldent let me move out because she wanted to keep me in the cycle of controle.

Well soon I may be braking out of that.

I have to go look at it some time this week. I talked to the realter lady this morning and I found out the water utility is only A flat fee of 25 dollars a month.

Would that mean that mean I can use a certain amout of water for only 25$ a month or can I really use as much as I like? I just want to be shure there arent any strings attached to that deal.


And the rent is 400$ a month , would that go up in the future?

I ask all this because I like to be very informed about things before I make a major decison like getting my own place.

Any other things a first time renter should know ?

I know very little about renting so I want tons of advice and possibly things to avoid.

I am 21 and live in the usa if that matters any.

Thanks a bunch!! !!

Generally you have to be given 30 days notice of a rent increase. In some places water is metered and in some places it's not. If the place you're moving into is damaged in any way, be sure and document that, even if it's just pealing paint. Take pictures and date them.

great, i am glad for you that you get out of the cycle of control.

400$ a month?

i paid 500€ in lisbon and 750€ in paris, while in paris i only have a little tiny studio.

in portugal the goverment controlled how much the rent could be increased every year, it was usually 3%. but of course, that's not helpful to you

Waow, congratulations!! It is not expensive! my first flat in london was around $1000
I cannot help you
But i am very pleased for you. It is not easy to leave "the nest" especially when people are controlling you.
Good lluck on your first flat!

Congratulations! A flat fee means you use as much as you want of something for a set price.

When you get ready to move in to your place, get a "check in" list. Most realtors in the USA have them, not sure about overseas. On it there is a place to describe any existing damage to anything, room-by-room. You'll want to note if there are stains on the carpet, damage to the walls, anything that doesn't work properly. Be very thorough, leave nothing off the list. Then take the list and have the person renting to you sign off on it that they are aware of these things. That way, if they try to charge you when you move out for these damages you'll have proof that they were there when you moved in and that you are not responsible for them. If there's not a set form, you might want to just make a list of these things on a sheet of paper, but be sure to get the landlord or their representative to sign off on that sheet. Then keep it in a VERY safe place in case you need it later.

(The same thing should happen when you move out - you should get the person who rents to you to go through the property with you, listing on a sheet of paper any damages. Then get them to sign it. That should keep them from coming back at you in a week claiming you owe money for repairs or damages that don't exist.)

Will you be signing a term lease? That means, will they agree in writing to rent to you for a set period of time (a year, for example) at a given price? That is a good thing to have if you need the rent to remain the same. The down-side is that if you move out earlier than the end of your agreement, you might be responsible for the remainder of the rent for that period. It varies from location to location. Typically if you have a term lease the rent cannot be changed unless there is something in the agreement you both sign that allows that. In some cases you'll sign a term lease, say for the year, and then go "month-to-month" after that. That means you pay a month's rent at a time and can leave at the end of any month without having any sort of repercussion. It also means that the landlord can raise the rent at any time (subject to local laws) and by any amount. You'll want to check to see what your local laws are regarding tenant rights. Some communities have agencies that deal with landlord/tenant disputes and agreements - you might want to see if there is one in your area and ask for any informational pamphlets they might have.

Best of luck to you, and enjoy your new place!

PS Be sure the locks work on the door and the windows, and use them.

Yea!

My first apartment was $525 a month and that was in 1997.
$25 flat fee for water USUALLY means that you will only pay $25 per month for water, whether you use 2 gallons or 2000.
That also probably means that the water is not separately metered, so this is their way of sharing costs.

Also check on costs for heat, hot water, electric, and gas (depending on what is available). Some may be included, some may not. Some, like electric, may be for you to work out with the electric company. Even if they aren't payable to the landlord, they may be able to give you a rough idea from the prior tenant.

I recommend that you set aside a bit of each paycheck towards "home expenses" like rent and utilities. Pay that account first - pay everything else second. Keep it in a separate bank account or envelope so that when things are due, you have the money available.

Good Luck and feel free to PM me if you need any advice with setting up a new apartment, signing leases, what the landlord does versus you, what stuff you need besides clothing, etc.

Oh, thats awesome! I just moved into my own place for the first time a few months back. Was supposed to be just mine, but BF got kicked out by his roomies, so I share it. I only pay 450 a month for the building, water is free. It IS the ghetto, but it's a realitivly decent area of said ghetto. I'm gonna have to move in a couple years, cause the landlords selling the land we're on, but until then, I'm safe.

Plus, the guy is cool enough to accept only part of the rent cause he knows I'm broke.

I am so happy for you taking control of your life, things are going to work out for you.

I wrote down all of the stuff you guys toled me to check on . I will ask the realiter these questions.

I am meeting with someone tomorrow and I will probable have many more questions for you guys when I get back.

Thanks! And keep the advice comming!

$400 a month would be about equivalent to £200 here.

It was a couple of years ago that I went to see a flat for let at £350 a month. That would be the absolute cheapest you can get in Edinburgh. Normally around £450-550 for the absolute lowest, one bedroom that's halfway decent.

The £350 place was absolutely tiny, and more importantly it was totally unfit for human habitation. I didn't take it.

I remember that, back in 1977, my very first apartment cost $150 a month and I had to pay all the bills on it as well (electric, phone, natural gas) except water, sewer, and trash were free. I had to sleep in the bathtub in the winter as that was the only room in the place that had reliable heat - an open-flame stove in the wall that burned natural gas. The dog's water bowl used to freeze over in the kitchen in the winter! It regularly got to -10F there in the winter. I was earning $1.80 an hour working on an assembly line dipping wires into a vat of lead solder for 9 hours a night. I could fill my car's gas tank up for $5.50cents (15 gallons). (But a woman's haircut cost $30!) The oven in my kitchen would work for a while, then the gas pressure would drop and the flame would turn off, and then the gas pressure came back up but since I had to light the flame with a match it just seeped gas into the kitchen. Amazing the place never actually blew up!

Oh my, that seems soooo long ago!

To get a one bedroom with a separate living room and kitchen here in a part of town where the car wouldn't be broken into all the time and nobody'd be climbing through the windows to rob the place would cost about $900 - $1,000 and the bills would vary. Most would have you make your own arrangements for electric, if they used electric heat. Minimum wage here is $8 an hour now and it costs $60 to fill up the car's gas tank. I don't know how a kid just starting out here would make it without having to have roommates. At least one can get a haircut for $10 now (sorta)!