Apartment Decision

[Fingolfin269]

I'm moving into one of the summarized choices next month. I don't have to decide for another two weeks which one I want so let me see if you guys can help out here.

The price is the same. The townhouse is 1200 square feet and the apartment is 1012 or so square feet. The townhouse is on the end of the unit so I will only have one direct neighbor. The apartment comes with a washer/dryer which really doesnt matter because I can always buy a set.

This seems like a definite for the townhouse but I will be living by myself and I am worried that the utilities (electric) in the two floor townhouse will be considerably higher than the single bedroom apartment. Does anyone have any idea what kind of % difference I might see between the two? I'm not a perfect climate freak so it doesnt matter to me if it gets a little cold downstairs in the winter.

 

[minendo]

Get the townhouse. As long as you don't leave lights on, use extreme heating/ac, etc you will not notice a large difference in electric bill.

 

[nageov3t]

go for the townhouse. the modest increase in costs will be more than made up for by the extra room and less neighbors

 

[z0mb13]

townhouse..

on a side note, since u will be living on ur own, why dont u get a 1 bedroom and save some money?

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: z0mb13
townhouse..

on a side note, since u will be living on ur own, why dont u get a 1 bedroom and save some money?

Well, this is a college town and for the most part the prices of 1BR apartments are jacked up ridiculously. If I were to get a 1BR apartment here it would cost $50 less per month and I'd honestly rather have the extra space for storage, office, errmmm maybe a Golden Tee machine?

Also, have any of you ever lived in a townhouse by yourself? It just seems like it will feel massive relative to the apartment.

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: z0mb13
townhouse..

on a side note, since u will be living on ur own, why dont u get a 1 bedroom and save some money?

Well, this is a college town and for the most part the prices of 1BR apartments are jacked up ridiculously. If I were to get a 1BR apartment here it would cost $50 less per month and I'd honestly rather have the extra space for storage, office, errmmm maybe a Golden Tee machine?

Also, have any of you ever lived in a townhouse by yourself? It just seems like it will feel massive relative to the apartment.

whoa if it is only 50 bucks more of course take the townhouse

 

[Fingolfin269]

Bump for the morning crew...

 

[huesmann]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: z0mb13
townhouse..

on a side note, since u will be living on ur own, why dont u get a 1 bedroom and save some money?

Well, this is a college town and for the most part the prices of 1BR apartments are jacked up ridiculously. If I were to get a 1BR apartment here it would cost $50 less per month and I'd honestly rather have the extra space for storage, office, errmmm maybe a Golden Tee machine?

Also, have any of you ever lived in a townhouse by yourself? It just seems like it will feel massive relative to the apartment.

The stuff you own follows the laws of gasses...it grows to fill any space.

 

[dayg]

I'm assuming you are renting the place since you mentioned Apt. I live in an 1BR condo which is about 800sqft. I just want to inform you that my avg gas and electricity bill for Dec, Jan, Feb, and Mar was $160/month. Thought you might want to take that into consideration.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: dayg
I'm assuming you are renting the place since you mentioned Apt. I live in an 1BR condo which is about 800sqft. I just want to inform you that my avg gas and electricity bill for Dec, Jan, Feb, and Mar was $160/month. Thought you might want to take that into consideration.

We have the same size and ours averaged about $100/mo and we live further north than you. Our thermostat is usually at 70-72 degrees.

 

[MrBond]

I'd say townhouse - especially if you plan on living there for any length of time.

Don't put too much stock in a washer/drier that's included. I've been living in the same complex for a while now partly because of the included washer/drier. They're not top of the line at all - they're very small (A weeks worth of clothes for me is about four loads) and the dryer takes 2-3 hours to dry most clothes.

See if you can talk to current residents too. That might be hard, but it could be worth it if you can. I never had appliance problems here until recently, then my dishwasher died and it took them over a month to replace it. My washer died too and it took them almost two months to replace it. Talking to other people in the complex and that's about par for the course as far as managment repairing/replacing appliances. I just hope my furnace or water heater never breaks !

 

[dayg]

iamwiz82,

WOW. I can't believe it. That's cheap. My avg was like $50 bucks per month back when I was living in Apt building. Ever since I own the condo last year in August. My monthly bill gets bigger and bigger. No joke!. It went like 50, 70, 85, 90, 170, 210, 240, 170. I am single and shut off heating when out of the house, and still the bill is high. Not sure why...

 

[iamwiz82]

Hmm... I can't imagine that my gas is that much cheaper than yours. Our last electric bill as $30 and gas (water/dryer/heat) was $70.

 

[Wooglin]

I guess I would say townhouse as well. I moved from an apartment with a good washer/dryer to one that doesn't recently, and said I would buy them, but didn't. I became cheap and didn't want to, and damn having them in the apt. is a nice convenience to have. So make sure you buy them!

In school I lived in a 7 bedroom house all by myself for 4 months. Loved every minute of it.

I live in a townhouse style apt right now, and electric has been low, about 40 a month, but my gas bills for Nov, Dec and Jan were 150, 170 and 200.

SUCK.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Yah, I plan to live in whichever I choose for a year. Maybe a little longer. The length of time pretty much depends on how long it takes for me to accumulate enough cash for a decent house downpayment.

I'm going to try to talk to some of the current residents just to get a handle on the utility cost. I know that the apartment averages out at ~$60 a month for both water and electric. I probably won't move into the townhouse if the combined utility cost averages more than double the apartment.

 

[Aharami]

go for the townhouse!!!!

 

[Toasthead]

go with the one with the hottest neighbors

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: Toasthead
go with the one with the hottest neighbors

That would probably be the apartment.