Movin' On Up

[Tiberius Jim]

Well, more like movin' on out. Not to the East side, either. My fiancee and I have been living with my folks for the past year and a half or so. I've lived at home my whole life, all through college. With my student loans using a significant portion of my income I've never made enough to get out on my own. However, now that I'm engaged, set to be married in less than a year, have a better paying job (albeit still not in my chosen profession) and am now 25...its well past time to leave the nest.

It's just a baby step, I suppose. My future in-laws have just completed renovations on an approx. 350 sq ft studio apartment. It's attached to their house but has separate entrances, has a kitchen and a bathroom. It shares the laundry room with the rest of the house. Everything is all new and clean and its really a great space, especially in comparison to my bedroom at my folks' place that we've been sharing.

The big plus to this is that we will both be much closer to work. Right now our commute is about an hour. It should only be about 20 minutes but we both commute during peak hours where traffic jams are a given. Now...we'll be 10 minutes away at most from work with no need to even touch a wheels to the freeway. We'll save a ton on gas and our days will seem that much longer when we don't spend so much of them stuck in the car.

Another plus is that now we won't have to worry about who her parents would end up renting out to. Her dad works a lot and her mom, having just been laid off (thus why they renovated the apartment for rental) is always home. Background checks are great, but we still felt uncomfortable about a stranger basically living with her...so now we won't need to worry about that.

As far as rent goes, I won't be spending much more than I am at home. I pay my folks for use of the utilities, and my portion of the rent will only be about $50 more than that. My fiancee is very near getting a big promotion, so while she'd be able to handle her portion as is, she'll be even better suited to once she gets the new job.

Anyway, I'm really excited about the place. it's ready to be moved in to so we're going to slowly start making the transition. If anybody has tips for the first time leaving home, on living in a 1 room studio apartment or anything related I'd be all ears to any advice. I'll be sure to post some pics once we get everything situated, I think its going to be really nice.

 

[Timby]

350 square feet? Yeesh, my wife and I live in an 891-square-foot apartment and sometimes that feels cramped.

 

[Finn]

350 square feet? Yeesh, my wife and I live in an 891-square-foot apartment and sometimes that feels cramped.

My sister in-law and her husband lives in an apartment way smaller than that in Nob Hill. San Francisco makes makes apartment living in DC look like a bargain.

 

[Marc]

350 square feet? Yeesh, my wife and I live in an 891-square-foot apartment and sometimes that feels cramped.

Thought it was bad being in a 500 odd sq foot apartment though it can come down to how the apartment is laid out. All the 2 bedroom apartments in this building are roughly the same size but becasue of the poor design and planning (and trying to fit too many apartments in) they have a lot less usable space.

 

[Timby]

350 square feet? Yeesh, my wife and I live in an 891-square-foot apartment and sometimes that feels cramped.

My sister in-law and her husband lives in an apartment way smaller than that in Nob Hill. San Francisco makes makes apartment living in DC look like a bargain.

I think I'm spoiled from eight years of living in eastern Iowa. Before we moved, we were in 1,500 square feet, utilities covered, for $450/month. Now we're in Dane County, living in 891 square feet, heat included, for $755.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

350 square feet? Yeesh, my wife and I live in an 891-square-foot apartment and sometimes that feels cramped.

Well when the room we're in now is less than half that, 350 seems huge. Besides, all of that space is one big open area and doesn't include the bathroom or kitchen.

 

[MHT1138]

Sounds like a nice little space. It'll be great that the two of you will get to arrange and decorate the apartment yourselves. A little more privacy will be nice too.

 

[RoJoHen]

Now we're in Dane County, living in 891 square feet, heat included, for $755.

Yikes. I'm renting a 2-story, 1700 sq ft, 4-bedroom house for less than that!

 

[Timby]

Now we're in Dane County, living in 891 square feet, heat included, for $755.

Yikes. I'm renting a 2-story, 1700 sq ft, 4-bedroom house for less than that!

Yeah, but the Quad Cities' real estate market (outside of the outer rims of Bettendorf, with all the white flight) has been depressed for quite some time.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm fine with it.

 

[Timby]

I'm fine with it.

As well you should be. If my wife and I could transplant our jobs back to eastern Iowa, we'd do it in a heartbeat. Enjoy it. (While it lasts ... Governor Branstad is sure to take Governor Walker's lead in repealing a bucketload of tenant protections in the near future.)

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm fine with it.

As well you should be. If my wife and I could transplant our jobs back to eastern Iowa, we'd do it in a heartbeat. Enjoy it. (While it lasts ... Governor Branstad is sure to take Governor Walker's lead in repealing a bucketload of tenant protections in the near future.)

I'm actually planning to buy the house that I'm in relatively soon. My landlord has offered it to me for only $53,000!

 

[auntiehill]

Now we're in Dane County, living in 891 square feet, heat included, for $755.

Yikes. I'm renting a 2-story, 1700 sq ft, 4-bedroom house for less than that!

We BOUGHT a 18,100 sq. ft. 2 story, 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, plus two offices (two small rooms, one with glass doors, one in a loft space) and a garage--for $1000 a month. The Houston area may SUCK, but it's mega-cheap.

My very first apartment was 800 square feet, and I thought that was a little small for more than one person.

 

[Timby]

I'm fine with it.

As well you should be. If my wife and I could transplant our jobs back to eastern Iowa, we'd do it in a heartbeat. Enjoy it. (While it lasts ... Governor Branstad is sure to take Governor Walker's lead in repealing a bucketload of tenant protections in the near future.)

I'm actually planning to buy the house that I'm in relatively soon. My landlord has offered it to me for only $53,000!

Yeah, you've said that earlier. I still think there are significant problems in the house. The Quad Cities real estate market is depressed, but not that depressed. $53,000 for a house that size means there are major fixer-upper issues.

 

[RoJoHen]

As well you should be. If my wife and I could transplant our jobs back to eastern Iowa, we'd do it in a heartbeat. Enjoy it. (While it lasts ... Governor Branstad is sure to take Governor Walker's lead in repealing a bucketload of tenant protections in the near future.)

I'm actually planning to buy the house that I'm in relatively soon. My landlord has offered it to me for only $53,000!

Yeah, you've said that earlier. I still think there are significant problems in the house. The Quad Cities real estate market is depressed, but not that depressed. $53,000 for a house that size means there are major fixer-upper issues.

No, it's worth more than that, and all of the major things have already been addressed (roof, furnace, appliances, etc). He has made a ton of money on it as a rental property, but he moved out of the area and finds it too hard to be a landlord anymore. $53,000 is what he still owes on the house, and he just wants to break even. I think he'd rather just sell it to me and be done with it than have it sit on the market for an indefinite amount of time. There are hundreds of homes around here that have been sitting vacant for 3-4 years because nobody will buy them.

Plus, the guy has an awesome job at John Deere and makes plenty of money already. I don't think he's worried about it.

 

[Timby]

I'm actually planning to buy the house that I'm in relatively soon. My landlord has offered it to me for only $53,000!

Yeah, you've said that earlier. I still think there are significant problems in the house. The Quad Cities real estate market is depressed, but not that depressed. $53,000 for a house that size means there are major fixer-upper issues.

No, it's worth more than that, and all of the major things have already been addressed (roof, furnace, appliances, etc). He has made a ton of money on it as a rental property, but he moved out of the area and finds it too hard to be a landlord anymore. $53,000 is what he still owes on the house, and he just wants to break even. I think he'd rather just sell it to me and be done with it than have it sit on the market for an indefinite amount of time. There are hundreds of homes around here that have been sitting vacant for 3-4 years because nobody will buy them.

No one wants to move to the Quad Cities because the job market is as stagnant as the real estate market.

Hey, if you've done your due diligence, that's a great deal -- go for it. Good for you. Sounds like you lucked into a one in a million situation.

 

[RoJoHen]

Hey, if you've done your due diligence, that's a great deal -- go for it. Good for you. Sounds like you lucked into a one in a million situation.

Trust me, I was as skeptical as you when he first made the offer. That price just sounded WAY too good to be true. I have done my research since then, and I think it's solid deal. The house is old and definitely needs some updates, but all the major things have been taken care of. I think it will be a worthwhile investment.

Now I just need to go to the bank and convince them to give me a mortgage!

 

[Sector 7]

350 square feet? Yeesh, my wife and I live in an 891-square-foot apartment and sometimes that feels cramped.

Well when the room we're in now is less than half that, 350 seems huge. Besides, all of that space is one big open area and doesn't include the bathroom or kitchen.

As long as the both of you are happy, Flux, that is all that matters.

After Mom's stroke, it was a challenge to combine two separate homes. I searched for a house we could both live with, but it is actually smaller than what I had before. Over the last 10 years it has become Home to us. It is 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and separate garage on 2 acres in the country. While it needs some work, we both love it. The grandchildren love playing here.

 

[propita]

Watch some hgtv shows on how best to utilize small spaces. It's amazing what can be done. A lot of it is having furniture do double duty, like the height-adjustable table that's a coffee/dining table. Or a shelf unit that breaks down into stackable stools. Pretty cool, though costs money. But sometimes deals can be found.

 

[Kestra]

I agree with the above, plus just stay organized. My first apartment was a studio and it was cramped, but I always knew where everything was and everything had to go back to its place. Focus on saving up money so that you can someday move out, and in the meantime, enjoy each others company!