How much will utilities cost in Lawrence (apartment, rent)

[jedgingt]

Hi,
moving to Lawrence for Grad school with my husband and two little ones, and wondering approximately what all utilities will cost. I found a house I like that includes all utilities for $960, but my husband would like to find cheaper rent in the 6-700s. I'm trying to figure out if, after utilities, that "cheaper" rent will still be cheaper.
Thanks for any help

[AnywhereElse]

That is going to be a tough call without a lot of other information. What months will you be there? How big of house/apartment are you looking at? What temperatures are comfortable for you? Will you be running a washer/dryer in your living quarters? Are you paying for your own utilities now where you are? What exactly is included in the one where utilities are paid? Is it water, trash, electric, gas (or maybe everything is electric?), cable, internet, etc. You have a lot to look at before you can really guess on something like this. Winters and summers have both had unseasonably low/high temps. We are probably 2 hours or so from Lawrence. I'm also wondering if the living quarters are in the same sort of neighbor. You should check for crime in the areas where you are considering and you can check for sexual offenders on the KBI website which I always do before moving in somewhere and generally, if you are seeing more than one or two in the general area, it is indication that the neighborhood isn't too great. I have no idea what the usual rent is in Lawrence.

[Mattks]

Hi, I live in Lawrence. For a family of 4, I'm guessing you can use a lot of water, elec., gas, etc... You may be able to find something cheaper then $960, but again how many bedrooms, bathrooms, location, etc.. Lawrence is a little more expensive then the rest of Kansas. I'd say if you like the location of the house, that sounds like a decent price. I'm assuming here the house is 3 bedrooms, maybe 2 baths. I'm going to go out on a limb and say your utilities will most likely be around $200-250 month during the summer and cold winter months, spring and fall should be drastically lower if you don't use a/c or heat.
Where about is the house location, a nearby intersection or area is fine.

[luzianne]

Like anywhere, it depends on the house. And older, drafty house (and there are a lot of older houses in Lawrence) is going to cost more to heat and air condition. You might look into Stouffer Place. That's the married student housing at KU. The rent is less than you are going to find anywhere else and it includes utilities. There might be a waiting list; you just have to call and find out.

[Rivertowntalk]

960 is a good deal if it is a house with 2 or 3 bedrooms. The landlord will have property taxes of about 1,500 a year at least. Other monthly expenses could result in total expenses of about 375 per month. At 960, the landlord may clear 500-550 a month, which is probably about a 6% return, or less, on the property value. If the house has the space you want, the flat rate is very predictable and easier to budget for. Looks good to me. You can get the place nice and cool during the summer.

[thriftylefty]

Something worth considering is in Kansas you will be using AC/heating for most of the year. Here it is a week from May and some are still using a little heat. There will be a little reprieve in May and June starts the AC season sometimes till September. Of course this depends on your own comfort levels but I would inspect the HAVC systems to see how efficient and up to date they are as well as how tight the dwelling is before I made my final decision.

[AnywhereElse]

Originally Posted by thriftylefty

Something worth considering is in Kansas you will be using AC/heating for most of the year. Here it is a week from May and some are still using a little heat. There will be a little reprieve in May and June starts the AC season sometimes till September. Of course this depends on your own comfort levels but I would inspect the HAVC systems to see how efficient and up to date they are as well as how tight the dwelling is before I made my final decision.

Good point on just how well the HVAC system will work. While ours did great the first summer, it was SO HOT last summer that it didn't keep up that well and same for the heat when the wind is blowing with below freezing temps so counting on something being nice and cozy these days isn't realistic. We are lucky that the windows don't leak and we have up heavy insulated drapes and carpeting downstairs. We started running the furnace again yesterday and by the end of the week it looks like it will be in the 80's! I packed the winter clothes and got them out again yesterday. Sometimes there are limits on the utility amounts so I would make sure that this wasn't that sort of case. I have never seen a good deal where utilities were included versus being thrifty with utility use and just paying rent.

[katie45]

I live in a 1-bed apt in JOCO and my elect runs $50/mo and gas is $49/mo (these are based on the average pay plan). It all depends on the insulation of a unit, and if an apt, which way it is facing. I used to live in a unit that faced west (windows) and during summer it was near impossible to keep it cool and the a/c seemed to run constantly.

If there are trees around the structure it does help in the summer.

Some like it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Either way, like one poster said, majority of the year you will use HVAC. We can count on one hand the number of consecutive days when no heat or a/c is needed.