Renting

In many ways, living with a roommate is a rite of passage that teaches us about compromise, companionship, and responsibility. But, for many, it can also be a nightmare: From unpaid bills to illicit behaviors, a number of bad things can pop up when you live with a complete stranger, or even a friend, without doing your due diligence. However, avoiding these circumstances can be as easy as having a brief, honest conversation.

If you’ve ever rented before, you know that all landlords are not created equal. While some do the absolute minimum to get your monthly rent check, others do an incredible job at maintaining clean buildings and keeping their tenants’ best interests in mind. Recently, Brick Underground released a list of these amazing landlords. It got me thinking: Who better than a great landlord to give maintenance tips?

In the immortal words of Jimmy McMillan, “The rent is too damn high!” I live in Austin, which means my wallet cries each time I pay rent. Of course, I don’t live in a city where rent is sky-high like New York or San Francisco… but still, I don’t live in Toledo or Memphis, cities where the rent is barely-there. The burden for this writer is heavy to bear alone.

You can only have your leftover lo mein eaten by your roommates so many times before you start to curse communal living. And for the legions of recent grads who are moving on from college dorms this spring, living alone may sound like a dream come true. But is it financially feasible? Locking down a job is the first step to determining your rent budget.

In the past seven years, my family and I have been through seven moves. That may seem like a lot, but as a former military spouse and sailor, I can tell you it’s normal for families like mine. You don’t just move—you move quickly: You only get 10 days after you transfer to a new duty station to find a house and move into it. Yeesh! Most of the time, families spend those first days in a hotel (which, thankfully, the military pays for), but I was rarely interested in this option.

Finding reasonably-priced real estate in New York City is no simple task. So if you happen to be breezing through the apartment listings looking for your next home, you may come across this one-bedroom unit in an adorable East Village co-op building. But before you start packing boxes and updating your magazine subscriptions, you may want to look a bit closer. Listed at $2,500, the apartment is extremely charming.

Gather round, friends, and let me tell you a tale of the magical, mystical, under $1,000 apartment. You’d think such a unicorn wouldn’t exist on the isle of Manhattan, but lo! thar she gallops, across Central Park to the Upper West Side. But alas, not everything is as wonderful as it seems, and there’s a catch to this sweet deal.

I won’t claim to know just how much overlap there is in the Venn diagram of hardcore Patti Smith fans and people on the hunt for impressive Brooklyn real estate, but if that sounds like you — welcome to your dream apartment! The Brooklyn home Smith shared with partner Robert Mapplethorpe is available to rent. Smith and Mapplethorpe moved into the Clinton Hill townhouse in 1967 and paid $80 a month (about $600 today) for the apartment.

Want to have a one-bedroom apartment all to yourself? Living alone invariably costs more than splitting the rent and utilities. But the price of escaping a roommate’s obnoxious habits or stray toenail clippings is a lot lower in some places than others — like Bloomington, Ind., for example. Most single Americans prefer to live alone, if they can afford to.

You don’t have to be a helpless damsel in distress to have Rapunzel-esque dreams: this historic, turreted Crown Heights home is available for rent—though it would help to have a royal partner to actually foot the bill. Carved out of the “tower” section of this landmark home nicknamed “The Castle,” the two-bedroom, two-bathroom “penthouse” apartment has all the romantic character and charm one could want from a Brooklyn brownstone.

This house is fit for royalty; now that the future duchess is officially across the pond, Meghan Markle’s Toronto rental is on the market for $1.395 million.

A new baby on the way, a cockroach infestation, a creepy roommate: While there are many legitimate reasons to break a lease, it’s often easier said than done. But you’re not entirely out of luck if you’re looking to hightail it out of there in one piece. Here are our tips for escaping with your sanity and your security deposit: When you’re hoping to break a lease, time is of the essence. Be honest and open with your landlord, and explain your situation.

How many times have you heard that renters are “just throwing their money away”? Well that’s not true, for a few reasons. First, owning a home is expensive. There’s a mortgage — which, in the early years, is more taxes and interest than actual equity (i.e. the first few years of owning a home is also throwing a lot of money away; I broke down my actual mortgage payment in this post, if you’re interested in reading more about that).

Did you know that most studies of average rents pull their data from apartment listings? That can provide a pretty accurate snapshot of the prices a newcomer can expect to encounter on their apartment search—but it’s not always reflective of real-life rental situations. Asking rents generally skew higher, since there are plenty of listings for brand-new luxury units, but you’re not likely to find a rent-controlled apartment or a word-of-mouth hand-me-down deal listed online.

Reality TV star Kelly Osbourne, daughter of metal icon Ozzy Osbourne and talk show host Sharon Osbourne, is renting out her luxe condo in West Hollywood, California’s famed Sierra Towers building. This isn’t your mama’s Airbnb rental; Osbourne’s unit in this trendy tower means neighbors that include the likes of Courteney Cox and Sandra Bullock, as well as a rent payment of $19,500 per month.

When the rent is too damn high, there are a lot of resourceful things people will do and sacrifices they’ll make in order to make ends meet, from a diet of boxed mac n’ cheese for the perfect 2/2, to compromising on location. But would you go an entire year without sex?

Most of us have complicated relationships with the places where we live. Unless you have unlimited amounts of money, there’s probably something about your home that you don’t like. Maybe you don’t like the place where you live much at all, and are stuck there because of circumstances or budget.

You may have heard about guarantors during your apartment hunt, but if you’re not familiar with what they actually do—or how you can still find one if you don’t know anyone personally who can be a guarantor (or even land an apartment you love without one!)—we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about getting a guarantor. A guarantor is someone who signs your lease with you to guarantee payment in case you can’t pay for some reason.

Just in time to give you the heebie-jeebies before Halloween, a recent survey from Insight Pest Solutions found some… well, surprising information about how far people will go for free rent. Apparently, nearly a third of respondents said that they would be willing to live in a house full of spiders in exchange for a year of free rent or mortgage payments.

You know the saying, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is”? Well, that definitely applies to apartment hunting. If you see a listing for a beautiful, spacious apartment that’s well below the median rent for the neighborhood it’s in, for example, there’s gotta be a catch. Like, you know, it might not even exist (!).

If the real estate gossip is to be believed, abbreviated power couple J-Rod is closing in on their new pad. The superstar actress and singer and former baseball player have been seen peeking around one (particularly tall) residential building. The New York Post’s Page Six reported that JLo and A-Rod have visited units at Midtown property 432 Park Avenue four times thus far.

There are a lot of factors that go into making a big move, and for many people, the top priority is either their job or their family. But if you’re on your own and you have job flexibility to go basically wherever you want (i.e. you work remotely), then what? In that case, you have the luxury of finding a place that suits you—and not necessarily just your career. To help you figure out the best U.S. city for you and your priorities, HighSpeedInternet.

It’s not surprising to learn that there are a lot of people who want to leave their expensive cities for a lower cost of living. But what is a little surprising? The concentration of people who want to move out of the Big Apple—a whopping 83.2 percent of renters in New York City want to settle elsewhere, according to a Apartment List’s annual survey.

How often do you browse popular websites for apartment listings? As it turns out, they might not be giving you all the facts—at least not according to a new report from Apartment List. It’s what they’re calling a “luxury bias.

The whole point of having a job is to be able to afford housing, food and the necessities so you can keep on keeping on, right? So it would make sense for salaries to rise with housing costs, but that’s not always the case. In many areas, rent prices move on up without giving wages a chance to catch up, and it especially varies when you factor in the industries people work in.

We all have deal breakers in just about every facet of our lives—from dating to jobs, and of course, to our homes, there are some things we just can’t deal with. And those deal breakers are different for everyone—for one person, a roommate leaving dishes in the sink overnight could feel like the end of the world, while for another person, cleanliness (or lack thereof) is a non-issue compared to whether or not they get along with their roommate on a personal level.

Timeout: Mark-Paul Gosselaar, star of the beloved 90s show Saved By The Bell, is renting out his Sherman Oaks, California home. Gosselaar, whose career took a turn for the dramatic with series regular status on NYPD Blue and TNT lawyer drama Franklin & Bash, has listed the five bedroom, five bathroom home for $13,500 per month. The 5,266 square foot “custom French country” home sits on a .44 acre lot and was built in 2005.

Contrary to what some might believe, avocado toast isn’t what’s keeping Millennials from buying houses—rather, a shortage of affordable homes is stopping prospective homebuyers from their purchasing dreams, no doubt combined with things like student debt (according to Forbes, more than 44 million people face a total of $1.3 trillion of student debt, more than any other kind of debt, outside of mortgages).

There’s a lot about the roommate experience that can be tricky. Like chores, chores and, uh… chores. But even after you’ve mastered homekeeping, there are still some things about sharing a home that may come as a surprise. For example, your roommate’s renter’s insurance policy might not cover your stuff.

In this week’s episode of “So You Think Your Place is Small?” we bring you this “renovated” studio in Boston’s tony exurb of Brookline, wedged just between all of the urban universities and the suburban ones in the city of 1,000 colleges.

As a renter, you know what your price range is and what you’re looking for in an apartment, but do you know your rights? Last year when I was apartment hunting in Brooklyn, I was shocked to learn that it was possible that a potential new landlord might ask for 6 months’ rent up front for my security deposit (luckily that didn’t end up being the case, but still!).

Much like finding out your new boyfriend is actually the heir to the throne of a small European country, living a life without rent is something that most of us will only dream about. But there are actual, real, human people living that life—who eat, sleep and work in the five boroughs without spending their hard-earned cash on their apartment. How do they do it? They’ve managed to co-opt the conventional “hard-earned cash” equation and cut out the middle man.

Nationwide, home renters are on the rise. So much in fact that according to a recent study by ABODO based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 36.4% of the American population is renting their household—the largest percentage the nation has seen since the 1960s. And as the number of renters continues to grow (there were 1.4 million new renter households in 2015 alone) so do renter-dominated cities. As of 2015, renting has the become the majority in 21 cities across the United States.

Interior designer Alissa of Lenore Design has had the task of turning her family’s rental into a warm home that matches their personality. With an industrial feel (think: overhead pipes meeting very little overhead lighting), the space wasn’t an easy project to tackle. Thankfully, Alissa’s design skills were just what this space needed, to transform it from a standard rental to a warm and welcoming home.

If you’ve ever searched for an apartment in New York City, you’ve probably heard the term “pre-war” before, but are you familiar with what it means? Pre-war apartments refer to buildings that were constructed before 1939 (AKA those that were built before World War II began). Pre-war style came about during a population boom in the city in the 1880s, according to Street Easy.

If you’re reading this from New York City or Boston or San Francisco (or really anywhere!), I don’t have to tell you: the rent is too damn high. (It’s an old meme, but it checks out because it’s still too damn true.) Wages aren’t keeping up with the cost of living, and housing in metro areas is getting prohibitively expensive. “Prohibitively” expensive?

Find boxes? Check. Pack your entire life into said boxes? Check. Hire movers to get said boxes to your new home? Check. You’ve got everything for your upcoming move totally covered, but there’s one small-but-important step you might be forgetting: Take photos!

If you’re new to the apartment hunt, the idea of using a broker might be a very confusing concept—especially so if you’re moving from a lower-demand rental market to a bustling (and crowded) one like those in NYC or San Francisco.

Two thousand square feet is massive in almost anyone’s book, so you can expect that apartments in this tier are going to fetch top dollar in any region. But “top dollar,” it turns out, is quite different depending on where you happen to be apartment hunting. Although SLC and NYC don’t seem all that different when you abbreviate them, living in a rental in the former would be about $6,000 cheaper than the latter.

Anyone who’s ever started on an apartment search knows the basic math of renting, delivered here à la Biggie Smalls: Mo’ money, mo’ square footage. If you have more dollars to spend, you can get yourself into a bigger apartment. Much bigger, in some places. From the deep South to deep in Manhattan, here is what it costs to rent five 1200-ish-square-foot apartments across the U.S.

There’s a bit of difference between what’s considered a small living space across the country. In Manhattan, 900 square feet can feel like a palace, while some Southern coastal cities would consider anything under 1,000 square feet to be on the small side. It shows, too, in what rent the same size apartment can fetch across the country.

While not as expensive as San Francisco and New York, Boston does claim the number three spot for highest median one bedroom rents in the nation ($2,800). Nearly 700,000 people live in the city proper—many of them students—and they have to live somewhere, for something a bit more reasonable. We took a look at Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Brookline to see what $1500 can rent you, right now.

I move a lot. Like, a lot. I even wrote an article about the benefits of being a serial mover like myself. And in moving so much, I’ve gotten really good at finding great apartments, the newest one always better than the last. (Ask my friends, they’ll back me up!) I’m currently in my seventh Seattle apartment with a view of the Space Needle from my living room. So I promise, I know a thing or two!

Moving is a huge process full of high and low points. Some moments will have you doing a celebratory dance, and others will have you more overwhelmed than you thought possible. Whether you’re signing the lease on your first apartment or you’re trading spaces for the 15th time, your move will probably look a lot like this: Your lease is almost up, and you’re ready to move into a new apartment.

It’s time for a congratulatory toast. We’re halfway through the year! It’s a great time to take a style inventory, get some projects done and tackle a really important topic: Am I going to stay in this apartment? If you know you’re going to renew your lease into 2017 (So far away! That doesn’t even look like a real year, does it?), make sure your summer plans include tackling some updates to make your apartment into a home.

What do you do when you’re a design lover but your rental is less than inspired? Well, you get creative. We tallied up 7 common nuisances experienced by renters and paired them with stylish solutions so you can get your temporary pad feeling more like home. Design Woe: Generic flooring Stylish Solution: Rugs on rugs on rugs It might seem silly to layer a rug over carpet, but the visual effect of a graphic or colorful floor covering really helps to distinguish a space.

Q: After two months of apartment hunting, I finally saw an apartment today that I absolutely loved. It’s in one of my favorite neighborhoods for a very affordable price (all utilities included, and central heat/AC to boot!). It’s 1,000 square feet and has modern finishes, gorgeous hardwood floors, and in-unit laundry.

A lot of the spaces that we feature on Apartment Therapy have gorgeous, soaring ceilings. “Sure,” I hear you say, “it’s easy to make a space look good when your ceiling are 14 feet tall.” But what if your living space is a little humbler, with ceilings no higher than the standard eight feet? There are still things you can do to make your home look fantastic — and spacious to boot. Here are four ideas, with plenty of (low-ceilinged) examples to inspire. 1.

Need to be away for a while but don’t want to eat a chunk of rent? You might be in the market for a sub-leaser. Letting someone in your home comes with plenty of issues so let’s wade through them together. Read on. You have a set of guidelines for your tenancy; it’s your lease. Check it to see the rules for sub-leasing. In the event that it’s not addressed, you really need to bring it up with your landlord.

If you’re languishing in a dorm room, sublet or any other type of temporary housing, you’re probably facing a particular kind of decor dilemma. On one hand, you’re living there so you want it to be nice. On the other, the idea of putting tons of time into fixing up a place where you won’t be for very long is exhausting. What to do? Read this. If you know you’re gonna be on the move again soonish, it’s worth it to figure out how to weed your belongings down.

Even a great rental will be hell if you’re stuck with a bad landlord. Don’t be blindsided by a dud. Heed these warning signs before you commit to a lease and it’s too late. Even if the apartment you tour looks immaculate, be wary if the rest of the building seems surprisingly run down in comparison. What about the landscaping outside, the lounge or the laundry room?

While buying a home often seems like the mark of adulthood and stability, there are plenty of reasons home ownership is not all it’s cracked up to be. So whether you aren’t in a position to buy a home at this point or you just aren’t sure about taking the plunge, here are some reasons to celebrate your non-homeowner freedom. If you buy a home, get ready to take on the management and expense of every single thing that goes wrong.

The landlord v. tenant relationship can be a tricky one to master; there are so many minefields to step around when dealing with your home and his property. But going into any discussion with the right knowledge and attitude can significantly improve your chances of request success. Here’s where to start. The number one secret to getting extra-good service from your landlord? Be the kind of tenant your landlord wants to keep around.

Dear Landlord, I’m your future tenant and, I get it, your priorities are a little different than mine. You want things to be durable, long-lasting and, usually, cheap. I, on the other hand, would really love them to look nice. I heard you’re doing a little work on the place before I move in so I wanted to share some do’s and don’ts, my wish list and no-no list. Some of them come at a cost, but others won’t cost you a penny.

You’ve tried so hard to spice up your rental but it’s just not quite doing the trick. Is it time to consider the horrible-of-all-horrible four letter words? Is it time to move? Answer these six questions to know for sure. There are lots of ways to change the aesthetics of your place, but some things just can’t be fixed.

I’m having a love affair with my neighborhood. The industrial Westside of Atlanta has been experiencing a total resurgence lately, something my boyfriend and I have been lucky to witness for the four years we’ve lived in our 1100-square-foot 2-bedroom apartment — the one with the tiny kitchen but a great view of the city skyline.

Carpet is a bit like upholstered furniture: it tends to hold on to dust, stains, and other marks of wear and tear. (Even after a professional cleaning, undesirables tend to resurface.) And those signs of other tenants’ lives are something you probably prefer to live without. Following are some tips for refreshing carpet that’s seen better days. Fluff Dents with an Ice Cube.

If you aren’t allowed to paint your walls or you simply don’t want to commit, and if the though of hanging even removable wallpaper gives you hives, we should be friends. Also, you should consider brightening up your standard-issue walls with a lovely wall hanging. A few tiny tacks is all it takes.. TOP ROW: Jesse & Lucas’ Simply Stylish Home + Studio: A vintage Egyptian tapestry livens up the white walls in their son’s room.

When you’re looking for a new apartment you no doubt have a laundry list of what you’re looking for and what you’re not looking for. Some criteria you may be uncompromising about (like the maximum price) but there are always secondary criteria that are more flexible. Which floor the apartment is on likely falls into this category and there are pros and cons for each floor. I live in Brownstone Brooklyn where most apartment buildings are 4 story walkups.

Knowing what you want in a rental apartment is pretty easy: space, location, storage, beautiful floors, light, etc. Finding all of those things within your budget can be a bit more difficult. But before you even start contemplating your rental possibilities, you should probably know what your budget is, and fortunately, this step isn’t all that difficult.

Everyone has moving horror stories, but there are just some things you don’t think to check until you’ve already signed a lease. Here’s 10 things that should be on everyone’s “must-check” list. 1. Hallway/Doorway Size: Sometimes it’s easy to get carried away with great architecture lines of square footage, but sometimes (Even if you buy small furniture) things simply don’t fit in awkward hallways.

Just because you don't own your apartment doesn't mean you can't dress it up.

This subject has been on my mind lately as I wrap up a renovation in the second apartment of the home I bought last year. I am preparing to put the apartment on the rental market within the next few weeks and have been thinking about the best way to price it.What not to do is take your actual monthly mortgage plus expenses such as yard maintenance, and charge half of that cost to a future tenant (assuming the space is comparable.

They often call getting married and moving in together as “taking the plunge,” but if you ask us, moving in with someone you know and love is a lot less scary than moving in with a stranger. Don’t go into the roommate interview unprepared; we’ve got the questions to consider before you both sign the lease.