Renting in with 2 small children (Melbourne, Rockledge: apartments, rental homes, condo)

[msmondat]

Hi everyone, we are looking to rent a 3bd (will settle for 2bd) apartment, condo or home in Viera/Melbourne/Suntree with a max rent of $1300 mth. We would like to be in Quest, Manatee or Suntree elementary school district. In my research its seems that things are not on the market very long before being rented out. Is it more cost effective to rent an apartment or home? How much is lawn services and how often do you have to do the lawn? We are moving from Chicago and don't have to worry about lawn care 5 months out of the year. Do most apartments have hurricane shutters and concrete floors? Also can you suggest a day care center?

[budlight]

With $1300.00 set aside for rent you should not have a problem finding a nice place. Melbourne would be the cheapest. Renting or buying depends on how long you plan on being here. There are some really good deals for home buyers right now. Most apartments do not have hurricane shutters, but don't panic about hurricanes. We haven't had a serious one in almost 9 years. Expect to mow your lawn 2-3 times a month 8 months out of the year. A typical lawn service for a standard 1/4 acre lot is around $50-$75 a month, unless you find a neighborhood kid who will do it cheaper.

[lovelie4u]

I live in Viera and have a 3 year old. I am renting at Three Fountain of Viera, you can get a three bedroom easily for less than $1200. We are right across from the Viera Park and next door (as in we have our own gate into it) to the shopping center, so my son and i walk there for their events. He goes to Rockledge of Nazarene Academy which is about 8 minutes north in Rockledge. Some rental homes include lawn services. I would suggest looking up the rental at brevard mls. Good luck. BTW I would not personally put your children in Viera Academy, too strict.

[FloridaDreaming2013]

Good luck with your move! I just moved down from the far northern suburbs last month. We LOVE it so far. Your price range sounds reasonable and you should be able to find something. I was looking in the same areas you were but opted to live beachside. I figured, why not- if I'm leaving Illinois- I'm living close to the beach.

[Carrie8038]

I guess I'll be the voice of dissent here. We just moved to Viera about a month and a half ago and decided to rent to make sure this is where we want to be before buying. We live west of I-95 in a single-family home. I think you will have a very difficult time finding a house in your budget. When we started looking for a house our budget was about $1400/month. Once we got down here and saw that no homes were in that price range in the area we wanted to live, we realized we had to bump up what we were willing to pay. If you want to stay in the Suntree/Viera area you're probably looking at closer to $1500-1600 a month. This is for a single-family house. Many rentals include lawn service as well as community amenities such as a pool in the price of the rent. Ours does. I don't know what rent is going for these days in apartments, because with kids and dogs, we never even looked into them. But if you're wanting a house, be prepared to pay a little more and be prepared to move on the first house that meets your criteria because houses come on and go off the market within days. We were down here looking at rentals thinking we could take our time. We quickly realized it doesn't work that way here. On our last day a house came on the market that fit all the things we needed. We jumped on it at 10:00 in the morning. They already had two other applications on it and other appointments booked to show it to other people. We ended up offering to lengthen the rental contract as incentive for the homeowners to choose our application. I will say that now that we're getting settled, I absolutely love it here. Good luck with your move!!