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Until now, I have been renting apartments from apartment communities. However, I have gotten tired of dealing with the usual complaints of living in a community - people slamming doors and cabinets, stomping, things like that.
I just visited a duplex that is being managed for a private owner by a property management company. It is an older duplex, but that doesn't bother me. I'm fine with that. The two things that bothered me there were that there is a wall unit A/C in the living room, but no units in either of the two bedrooms, and that there is no washer/dryer. I don't know how effective a wall unit A/C is because I've never lived anywhere that had them. This duplex does have central heat and there are vents near the baseboards, which is good. It has washer/dryer hookups but the management company said it doesn't know where to rent washers/dryers. At apt. communities they either have a laundry room if they have no washers/dryers or know of companies to rent from.
The management company said they required an entire month's rent as a security deposit, and I believe they said it's non-refundable. I'll have to check on this. Is a whole month rent typical? At communities they generally require a deposit, which is considerably less, and/or an administrative fee. So, I guess that balances out. But what really surprised me is that they said they require a 90 day notice in moving out. I've never heard of such a thing.
I didn't like the vinyl floor in the bathroom; one of the faux tile pieces was darker, not sure if a permanent stain or if it could be scrubbed out. Ditto for a spot in the bathtub. Can I try to negotiate that in any way, i.e. ask them to provide a bathroom carpet or something to cover up the floor? There was also a chemical sort of smell in the duplex that made me cough several times when I was in there. I'm not sure what that was. The person showing me the place from the company said that the place had not yet been cleaned and needed to be before it is rented.
I did like the duplex itself in that it was a really nice, quiet area. The person who showed me that place said that I needed to apply ($42 application fee) but that I was third in line. Two people had submitted applications for it. Should I still submit one being third in line? The person told me they'd apply the fee to another place if this one isn't available.
Until now, I have been renting apartments from apartment communities. However, I have gotten tired of dealing with the usual complaints of living in a community - people slamming doors and cabinets, stomping, things like that.
I just visited a duplex that is being managed for a private owner by a property management company. It is an older duplex, but that doesn't bother me. I'm fine with that. The two things that bothered me there were that there is a wall unit A/C in the living room, but no units in either of the two bedrooms, and that there is no washer/dryer. I don't know how effective a wall unit A/C is because I've never lived anywhere that had them. This duplex does have central heat and there are vents near the baseboards, which is good. It has washer/dryer hookups but the management company said it doesn't know where to rent washers/dryers. At apt. communities they either have a laundry room if they have no washers/dryers or know of companies to rent from.
The management company said they required an entire month's rent as a security deposit, and I believe they said it's non-refundable. I'll have to check on this. Is a whole month rent typical? At communities they generally require a deposit, which is considerably less, and/or an administrative fee. So, I guess that balances out. But what really surprised me is that they said they require a 90 day notice in moving out. I've never heard of such a thing.
I didn't like the vinyl floor in the bathroom; one of the faux tile pieces was darker, not sure if a permanent stain or if it could be scrubbed out. Ditto for a spot in the bathtub. Can I try to negotiate that in any way, i.e. ask them to provide a bathroom carpet or something to cover up the floor? There was also a chemical sort of smell in the duplex that made me cough several times when I was in there. I'm not sure what that was. The person showing me the place from the company said that the place had not yet been cleaned and needed to be before it is rented.
I did like the duplex itself in that it was a really nice, quiet area. The person who showed me that place said that I needed to apply ($42 application fee) but that I was third in line. Two people had submitted applications for it. Should I still submit one being third in line? The person told me they'd apply the fee to another place if this one isn't available.
I personally don't like renting a duplex. The reason is, that you are almost roommates with just one other tenant. It's actually pretty close quarters, when one side is having a loud barbeque with friends, and their friends have parked all over the street. Or their dog is barking on the other side of the fence, or you can hear them arguing or whatever. It's just more intimate than it is in an apartment building with lots of tenants, where it's more anonymous. I'm not sure if I explained it well, but whenever I've rented duplexes, I felt like I had a relationship with the other tenant. Some I liked and some I didn't. But, it's more like having a roommate, than just a neighbor in a multi-tenant building.
To your other questions: I had a wall unit in a 2 bedroom apartment I had in a hot area of California, that was only in the living room. It worked great for the living room. I put huge fans on the floor and blew the cool air down the hall. It wasn't very effective getting the rest of the apartment cool. When it was really hot, I just pulled out the sofa bed and slept in the living room. So, I think air conditioning would be a problem for you.
Having washer/dryer hookups is great. But, of course, you'll have to buy your own or rent them. I'd rather do this than have to haul my laundry to a laundry room, personally.
I don't think it would be reasonable to ask them to provide a carpet for the bathroom.
I would not rent this duplex. The air conditioning alone will be a problem, unless you want to buy a portable unit to move around with you. Plus, as I say, you would have to really like your duplex neighbor, or it can be really weird. You'd also have to consider the cost of a washer/dryer. Of course, you could always just take your laundry to a laundromat or have it done for you somewhere.
But, I wouldn't rent it. Maybe you could find a quieter apartment somewhere? To me, the ideal apartment is top floor, end unit on a quiet street.
And by the way, a large fan for white noise really helps muffle the noise in apartment buildings. I have one on right now. I keep it going almost 24/7 just to drown out the apartment noises. It also helps keep my dog from barking at little noises.
Thank you, NoMoreSnowForMe! I appreciate your thoughtful and non-combative response to me. You have some really great points and have helped me in making my decision. I can picture it well by your excellent description, that it would be pretty close quarters. What you say about getting a fan to blow the air from the living room makes a lot of good sense. It's, as a I say, something I've never experienced before since I've always rented from an apt. community. I could do what you suggested, buying a fan and/or sleeping out in the living room on one of North Carolina's hot and humid summer nights. That wouldn't be a problem at all.
I think I'll take the apartment after all at another place. That was an apt. community with a really good deal of including the washer and dryer. I was going to take the third floor apt. there but after climbing 28 steps I realized that it would be too hard being a bit older and having that occasional kink in the knee. Plus, being alone and having to cart groceries up there would be difficult too. So, I'll take the first floor unit there and buy the white noise fan.
You're more than welcome. Without an elevator, forget it!
The funny thing is, I'm also older and have a dog, and I am really happy being on the first floor, end unit in the building I'm in now. It's easy to take my dog out, and I never have to ride the elevator with a tenant I don't like LOL. The lady above me stomps around a bit, but it's bearable, plus my ceilings are 10 feet high, which helps. My next door neighbor is hard of hearing, and I'll hear her TV sometimes, but only for about an hour. I'm blessed with thoughtful neighbors. I can hear the back door open and close and people walking down the hall talking, etc., but the fan really helps drown it all out.
This is the fan I have. You can swing it to face up, so it circulates the cool air from the floor. Works great at helping to cool a place. These don't rattle. My last one lasted about 10 years. It just gives off a nice, even humming noise.
Right now I have a 14" one. In the big place I talked about where I blew air down the hall, I had an 18" one.
Thank you NoMoreSnowForMe! You are so right! It will be a lot easier to go out the door on the first floor with the dog. I have one too.
Goodbye, Renting Forum, and thank you again NoMoreSnowForMe!
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 10-11-2015 at 11:03 PM..
Reason: Post removed
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