Apartment Searches: Lose the Rose-Colored Glasses First by Dan The Roommate Man If you're getting ready to rent, don't do what this editor did once ... a long, long time ago. Don't walk into the unit -- particularly if it's not the same unit you're getting (It's pretty similar, you'll be assured, but don't listen) -- nod, and let that affordable rent lure you into blurting out, I'll take it! (That exclamation is often fueled by that familiar lust for freedom that new twentysomething college graduates experience. The fear of another year under Mom's and Dad's roof is a power ... Apartment-Hunting Season Returns: How to Arm Yourself by Dan The Roommate Man If you're on the hunt for an apartment right now, you've probably noticed that you're in good company. Each weekend, hordes of hunters arrive at the newest and most luxurious complexes. The apartment business is growing increasingly competitive in many markets, and leasing companies are offering tempting specials to sweeten the deal and lure prospective renters away from competitors. Working in this kind of every man for himself climate, however, requires a little prior knowledge before you begi ... The Bare Necessities by Dan The Roommate Man You're a twentysomething fresh out of college. You've landed a job, and the world is your oyster. Tonight, you're spending your first night in your new apartment. Or perhaps you're newly single and suddenly striking out on your own for the first time in years. For example, you lose your electricity, and suddenly, it hits you that you should have purchased a reliable flashlight. Take some time to assemble a home first aid kit, for lack of a better term. This kit will be your compilation of necess ... Pet Policies: Pleading Your Case Successfully by Dan The Roommate Man I was spending the evening with friends, a married couple who had just moved into an immaculate, upscale apartment community in North Dallas. Their two children were a good-natured cat and a very large, yet friendly dog who claimed the apartment's second bedroom for herself. How did you get the leasing staff to agree to let you keep her here? I asked, motioning to the dog. The couple exchanged a knowing look as one of them said, Well ... I showed them a picture of her when she was a puppy. That' ... How to Create the Illusion of Space by Dan The Roommate Man By positioning mirrors in the right places, you have the power to make any room appear larger. Whether you live in a loft, or a four bedroom house, you can follow these tips to make small areas more comfortable. If you are living in a loft, you probably might have pillars throughout the room. Mirror them and they'll seem to disappear. If you want a hallway/stairway to appear wider: stagger mirrors on either side. If you want a hallway/stairway to appear longer: a mirror at the end will double it ... Keeping Renters Happy by Dan The Roommate Man The results of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) recent bi-annual housing survey supports what the multi-family housing industry has already known for a long time - that given the opportunity, many renters would rather own their own homes than rent. Not only do multi-family properties compete for tenants with other apartment developments, they also compete with the lure of homeownership. The NAR survey indicated that over 40% of homebuyers in the last half of 1997 came from rental situ ... Signing a Roommate Pre-nup by Dan The Roommate Man You're just graduating from college. You and your new roommate are moving into your first off-campus apartment. Now you can just kick back, relax, and enjoy the real world. Right? Wrong! The real world walks hand in hand with real responsibility. Just as there are new freedoms and new opportunities, there are also new things to consider. One thing that's incredibly helpful, but generally overlooked, is knowing how to lay some ground rules with your new roommate. So you're thinking Hey! I'm movin ... 8 Tips for Renting the Right Apartment by Dan The Roommate Man So, you're looking for an apartment to rent or share with a roommate. Whether you're a first-timer or an experienced apartment-hunter, it's worth taking the time to decide what's most important to you in where you live and to plan your search strategy accordingly. With that in mind, here are eight tips to consider: 1. Make a list of your top housing priorities. Do you need extra parking spaces? A place that welcomes pets? A large kitchen or linen closet? A ground-floor entrance to your home? Or ... Don't Sign That Lease Yet by Dan The Roommate Man You're being transferred to a new city in another state for a position that you start in exactly two weeks. You fly to your new hometown to select an apartment. You have exactly two days to make a decision and sign a lease, so when, after much searching, you find a vacancy in a relatively decent property, you're anxious to sign when the lease is placed in front of you. Resist the urge. As mentioned in previously in our report Avoiding Tenants' Tribulations, wearing rose-colored glasses can easil ... Too Many Clothes and Not Enough Bedroom by Dan The Roommate Man The commercial and residential building trend for today is more living area space and less bedroom space. When an apartment complex has to compromise - the large bedroom and its accompanying storage space will be the first to get the pink slip. Lack of storage space is a flash from the past, when storage was not in walls or in shelving but in massive pieces of furniture each had a specific purpose and the grouping seemed to take up the whole room. As a renter - you'll have to supply your own sto ... Is Renters' Insurance Really Necessary? by Dan The Roommate Man You and your landlord share a common goal: You both want to ensure the protection of your interests. Obtaining a security deposit from you -- usually ranging from $100 to a full month's rent, and averaging $250 -- is how your landlord obtains a degree of insurance from you. The deposit covers your landlord should you cause any damage to your apartment while you are a tenant. Your landlord, in turn, may keep the deposit if you fail to pay your rent or you leave before the end of your lease. Howev ... Online Shopping – Is It Really So Great? by Kyle James Online shopping - is it really so great? That is the question among many consumers in the United States. There are many that would rather go to the local shopping mall to make their purchases. Perhaps it is the socialization aspect or the smell of the mall that attracts them. Yes, I know people that like the smell of the mall! Other consumers are still intimidated by the Internet and afraid to give their credit card number to online merchants. This is a misnomer as online shopping has become mor ... Beaches, and Three-Quarter Fried Chickens by Ed Williams MACON,GA.- Pretty soon, I’m taking my family over to Tybee Island. We started going there back in 1986, and have continued to do so each summer since. We’ve had some great times there over the years, and, even though Will and Alison are almost grown, I still think they enjoy it just as much as they did as kids. I kinda get a kick out of that, if the truth be known. Each time we go there, my mind slips back to my first ever trip to the beach with my parents. I was ten years old when Ed Jr. decide ... What Makes People Move? by Dan The Roommate Man Do you have a new job? Want more space? Want to own your own home? Move closer to relatives? Want a change of scene? How about - do you want to move away from your relatives? Believe it or not, moving away from relatives was the number three reason cited for moving according to a new Internet survey. Clyde and Shari Steiner, authors of The Complete How-to-Move Handbook, compiled a comprehensive survey targeting people who pay for their own moves. The Steiners are self-styled moving experts havin ... Saving Space in the One-Room or Small Apartment by Dan The Roommate Man Whether you are living in a small apartment or a tiny efficiency apartment, there are ways to make your home cozy, practical, and attractive. No longer are you bound by the confines of designated space - you can make up your home's character and allot space as you see fit. To make your one-room or small home a place you love to come home to - make sure you arrange and decorate your belongings to suit your activities and interests. Space planning begins with thinking through how you plan to live ... Adjusting to Small Town Living by Dan The Roommate Man Sometimes your chosen career path can take you away from the bright lights of the big city to the quiet, slow pace of a rural community. If you want to be a ski instructor, for example, you will more likely settle in one of the small Rocky Mountain towns of Steamboat Springs, Durango or Beaver Creek than in the big city of Denver. You may be in the motion picture/television business where a job awaits you not in Hollywood, but in the burgeoning film capitols along the Carolina coasts in Wilmingt ... Renting Versus Buying: Pros and Cons by Dan The Roommate Man Realtors have benefited from a new variety of homebuyer in today's market: the young, single professional. It used to be that most single men and women resigned themselves to a somewhat transient, short-term renters' lifestyle until Mr. or Ms. Right came along. That's not the case anymore. With more and more people delaying marriage until their careers have assumed the direction they wish to take -- and due to the fact that a greater percentage of young people are financially independent and qui ... When Renting Is Better Than Buying by Dan The Roommate Man If possible, it is ALWAYS better to buy than to rent. Right? Perhaps Not. No one will deny that owning your home is a big part of the American Dream. It is also a goal that most people, rightfully, strive to attain. Home ownership can provide substantial financial rewards, afford tremendous peace of mind, be the source of immense personal pride, and greatly add to a person's general well-being and quality of life. Having said all that, there are still certain times, and certain situations, where ... Cheap Tricks For Decorating Your Apartment by Dan The Roommate Man Just because you are on a shoestring budget doesn't mean you have to be hamstrung when it comes to style. Your job is to shoot higher than making your apartment habitable - you want to make it comfortable, attractive and a place to which you want to come home. You'll be able to achieve a lot of bang for the buck with a staple of first-time renters and home buyers - the ordinary bed sheet. As a textile resource, the bed sheet is a relative bargain. It can be cut, trimmed, disguised and reborn for ... How Much Rent is Too Much Rent? by Dan The Roommate Man You want what every apartment renter wants: the most comfortable surroundings you can get for the lowest possible monthly rent. Some of today's newly constructed apartment communities have taken luxury to an entirely new level. Some complexes have gas fireplaces, TV monitors by the front door, drive-through mail service, and office equipment for their tenants, among other creature comforts. Every renter has to consider the importance of amenities like these. Are they important enough to you to m ... How Much Rent is Too Much Rent? by Dan The Roommate Man You want what every apartment renter wants: the most comfortable surroundings you can get for the lowest possible monthly rent. Some of today's newly constructed apartment communities have taken luxury to an entirely new level. Some complexes have gas fireplaces, TV monitors by the front door, drive-through mail service, and office equipment for their tenants, among other creature comforts. Every renter has to consider the importance of amenities like these. Are they important enough to you to m ... High-income Earners Consider Renting Chic Again by Dan The Roommate Man Over the past two years, households that earned $50,000 or more annually and had the means to join the ranks of home owners or continue owning the roofs over their heads represented the fastest growing segment of the rental market, according to the National Multi-Housing Council. These are people who could have bought but choose not to, NMHC's Kim Duty reported at the National Association of Real Estate Editors' annual conference late last month in New Orleans. Their older, more affluent and bet ... How Much Rent is Too Much Rent? by Dan The Roommate Man You want what every apartment renter wants: the most comfortable surroundings you can get for the lowest possible monthly rent. Some of today's newly constructed apartment communities have taken luxury to an entirely new level. Some complexes have gas fireplaces, TV monitors by the front door, drive-through mail service, and office equipment for their tenants, among other creature comforts. Every renter has to consider the importance of amenities like these. Are they important enough to you to m ... Cost of Living Analyses by Dan The Roommate Man If you've ever moved from the Midwest or the South to either coast, you realize just how different the costs of day-to-day living can vary among various U.S. cities. Many transplanted families pursue cross-country moves with the knowledge that their new hometowns will be more expensive. And many employers recognize that impending cost-of-living increase with a cost-of-living allowance -- a slight raise in salary so that an employee may maintain his or her current standard of living without havin ... Packing Properly: How To Move And Keep Your Valuables Intact by Dan The Roommate Man You've arrived. You've joined the ranks of move-up buyers. The deal on the new house has closed, and all that's left is to pack up and leave your overcrowded, two-bedroom life behind. With visions of new neighbors, social teas, potluck suppers and picket fences dancing through your head, you hastily toss your treasured valuables randomly into a box labeled Accessories, slap some tape over the seams and hand fate over to Manny the Mover. Now, picture your arrival in your new four-bedroom home. Yo ... |
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