Cheapest rent near UM (Miami, Coral Gables: real estate, apartment, to rent)

[simo0831]

I need to rent an apartment near UM. More specifically, it MUST be within walking distance or a short bike ride from campus. Preferably no more than 1/2 mile away. How much can I expect to pay for a 2 bedroom apt/condo? I've seen some ads on Craigslist for places around $1000-$1200 (only one or two actually) but this seems too low, and I haven't gotten any responses. From other people i've spoken with, and from my searches on this forum, it looks like $1400+ is what i'm going to end up paying, correct? Some of the newer apt buildings (Valencia, Red Road Commons, etc.) all seem to be charging $1500+. I guess I'd be interested in an older/cheaper to rent unit. I've seen some on the east side of Dixie Hwy, right across from campus; how much would you guys suggest paying for something like this? Presumably it would be an older building, perhaps noisy if it's on Hwy 1, and have few amenities if any. I realize that i'm looking at places in the nicer part of Coral Gables, and that the location itself is highly sought after due to the university. Any opinions would be appreciated.

[miamiblue]

Originally Posted by simo0831

I need to rent an apartment near UM. More specifically, it MUST be within walking distance or a short bike ride from campus. Preferably no more than 1/2 mile away. How much can I expect to pay for a 2 bedroom apt/condo? I've seen some ads on Craigslist for places around $1000-$1200 (only one or two actually) but this seems too low, and I haven't gotten any responses. From other people i've spoken with, and from my searches on this forum, it looks like $1400+ is what i'm going to end up paying, correct? Some of the newer apt buildings (Valencia, Red Road Commons, etc.) all seem to be charging $1500+. I guess I'd be interested in an older/cheaper to rent unit. I've seen some on the east side of Dixie Hwy, right across from campus; how much would you guys suggest paying for something like this? Presumably it would be an older building, perhaps noisy if it's on Hwy 1, and have few amenities if any. I realize that i'm looking at places in the nicer part of Coral Gables, and that the location itself is highly sought after due to the university. Any opinions would be appreciated.

I don't know what the rents are like now, but about 4 years ago I was paying $925/month for a 2/1 older condo on SW 55 Ave and SW 77 St in South Miami (just south of Sunset Place, east of Red Rd). My boyfriend lived in a slightly larger similar condo on SW 56 Ave one block over and paid ~$1100. I think that the going rate in that area was around $1200 by the time I moved away, but that was in the peak of the real estate craziness.

There are several different post-war condo communities in this area, mostly a block or so of two-story buildings that contain four condos (two upstais, two downstairs). These places had a mix of residents when I lived there, many of which were long-time owners and professionals, so it was not noisy at all. They are also surrounded by some really nice residential neighborhoods, so the area is really safe. The condos that we rented did not have dishwahers or W/D in the units, but each group had a coin laundry room on-site, and they each had a pool. Some of them have probably been updated and might have dishwashers, but honestly this was not a big deal for us, and we cooked a lot. My condo had window A/C units, but they did fine and my electric bills were not bad. They also had plenty of off-steet parking and were walking distance to Sunset Place, a grocery store, the Metro Rail station and biking distance to UM and Coconut Grove.

I really enjoyed living in that area and the price I paid really could not be beat.