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I will be looking to move back to CT with my husband and 2 children in the next 2 years after living abroad for some time. We will be looking to Fairfield County mainly either Stamford or Fairfield.
As the last time I lived in the USA was with my parents I really have no clue as to the cost of utility bills. We will be renting to begin with, probably only be able to afford a moderate 2-3 bed place between 900-1250sq ft to begin with. Does it make much difference between condo/duplexes and single family homes as to the cost of bills?
Also if you rent who is responsible for paying the property tax? One other thing how difficult is it to rent with a lovely large labrador retriever dog and cat? From what I remember most US homes have proper hardwood flooring and not the fake stuff, which I presume most landlords would not like the idea of a large dog running around it!
If youare renting the property taxes on the unit are paid by the landlord, not the renter. You will have to pay taxes on your cars though. As for utilities, it really depends on the place you rent. A few may pay for your heat and hot water but most do not. You will have to pay for your electric, telephone, cable television and internet. I amm sure others here can give you an idea of what these will run. You can ask the landlord if he has a history of what the utilities are in the unit you are renting. Jay
Also, no matter where you live, ask your landlord if it would be ok to install a Dish TV service. Generally, they offer packages at far lower rates than Comcast, with many more options. All of them require a small dish to be installed, usually less than 1' in diameter. TV services are in a hyper-competitive market, so if you can have multiple options, you can take advantage of that.
As the last time I lived in the USA was with my parents I really have no clue as to the cost of utility bills. We will be renting to begin with, probably only be able to afford a moderate 2-3 bed place between 900-1250sq ft to begin with. Does it make much difference between condo/duplexes and single family homes as to the cost of bills?
One other thing how difficult is it to rent with a lovely large labrador retriever dog and cat? From what I remember most US homes have proper hardwood flooring and not the fake stuff, which I presume most landlords would not like the idea of a large dog running around it!
I appreciate the help,
Originalgoonie
I won't bother answering the other questions since other beat me to em.
Utility cost in Condo vs. SFH - all depends on the quality of construction, insulation, windows, type of heating/cooling, etc. And even then it can vary by a huge amount, for some reason.
Renting with a lab will be much more difficult, unless you offer to have the floors refinished when you leave. Even with carpeting, big dogs can do some serious damage and cost the landlord a good amount of $$.
Heating can vary widely in the winter. For instance, I paid almost $500 a month a couple months in an 80's condo with electric heat and only $250 tops in a new house with natural gas that was almost twice the size.
We live in a small single family rental - maybe 1000 square feet - 2 bed, 1 bath. Heating in the winter can be a lot ($500+ a month), though it's come down a bit since the landlord put in a new heating system. Electricity seems cheap to me, we pay under $100 a month, except maybe in the peak of summer. As for the animals - we have a declawed cat that our LL was fine with, and I know a previous tenant had a reasonable-sized dog, so you just have to ask around.
I figured that would probably be a stipulation of having the floors refinished because of the dog. Other than that she's well trained and the cat causes no trouble. I think we'll have take a list of questions with us when we look round a places to rent with the above points!
originalgoonie
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