what is your home / apartment / van like?

[brighteye]

I like this thread! It's interesting to see that most of us made some kind of compromise in this area.
We (boyfriend and I) live in a ~55m2 (about 600sqft) apartment (kitchen, office/living room, bathroom, bedroom). I find the size of it to be just right, but I could live in a smaller place without problems. Our furniture and kitchen stuff is mostly inherited from my grandma (a lot of it is from IKEA). No dishwasher, but I don't care as it is the boyfriend's job .
The apartment is part of a farm house, we are the only renters/tenants. Aside from us, there is the farming family with two children, the wife's parents and the grandma. So a multi-generational house. They are very easy going people (as are we) and we have a good relationship. This is a living arrangement that I would like to have one day (all your family close by or in the same house). For animals, they have cows and pigs (mind you, this is Switzerland, so it is very idyllic, no CAFO). The house is a steep 30 min. walk from the village on a hill in a nice agriculture and forestry area. We live in a place where other people visit on the weekend to go for a walk and enjoy the nature. I can step out of the door and am surrounded by forest and grassland.
Cost-wise, the apartment is a really good deal for the area we are living in but it is by far the biggest percentage of our expenses, so from a general ERE perspective, it should be the first thing to optimize in order to increase our savings rate. Buying is no option at the moment, as the prices are overvalued so renting is cheaper than buying. That means for the time being, we are staying where we are.

[EdithKeeler]

I live in a 1000 SF house in Memphis, built in 1952. It's on a quarter acre fenced and wooded lot, 3 bedrooms, 1 bath. I don't have a garbage disposal or a dishwasher.... but I also don't have a mortgage! I actually like it very much--it's not my dream home, but I love my hardwood floors, the last owner put in really nice new windows, and the location is great--it's 8 miles from my office, about 8 miles from downtown, and convenient to pretty much everywhere I want to go. I also have pleasant neighbors--not too nosy, just friendly enough if one of us needs something. My other house (currently rented out) is twice the size of this one, and I never went into the back of the house. I do miss my fireplace and my garage, but living here is my best route right now to as early a retirement as I can do. My property taxes are only about $700 a year, too, and my utilities run around $125/month for gas, electric, sewer, garbage, and all those other fees they tack on. All that stuff was more than 3x higher in the bigger house. I live by myself with 4 dogs.

I actually bought this house sight unseen. Well, not totally--I had driven by it once when I was home visiting my mom and noticed it was in foreclosure. A few months later, when I was deciding whether or not to move back here, I checked online and it was still available. It was a HUD home, and on a whim, I put a low bid on it... which was, to my surprise, accepted. I thought I'd either rent it or my mom could move into it as she was having some money problems at the time, but I ended up moving back to town and living in it myself. I had some work done on it before I moved in--some minor bathroom remodeling, the fuse box upgraded, and the floors refinished. I know I got lucky with my internet real estate purchase!

[Kriegsspiel]

I'm in a 1bd/1ba in a pretty nice apartment complex just outside a small town. I don't really have much furniture... or other stuff, really, so it is plenty of space. I like the space and lack of stuff. For instance, my bedroom has a bed, and a nightstand in it, asymmetrically aligned.

It also has a cool pool with a waterfall, hot tub, and sauna.

[Angelpie]

I basically live in 211 sf right now. That's my bedroom/bath I'm renting in someone's house. I have use of the kitchen and yard, but I don't use them much. I pretty much live in here all day, except to go get food out of the fridge. If I had any room in here for a mini kitchen I would definitely just live in here, but that would entail adding a breaker, since this room only has a 15 amp breaker. I can't even run the microwave and a/c at the same time.

I have a 2-room tent, and I'm planning on leaving here in April and living in the tent through the summer while looking for something no more than 500 sf. I like to spread out a little, but not too much. There is a homeless shelter near the tent city that allows you to shower there once a day, and I can work at the library. I just want to try it out for the summer and see how miserable it is. I will actually have the money to rent by then, but if I can hack living in the tent for the summer, I'll maybe stay through fall and get a place when it gets too cold.

I've thought about buying a van and living in that, but it's hard down here in FL to do that. Everything is so restricted and it's really not too safe sleeping at WalMart here.

[The Old Man]

I live in the Los Angeles metro area, specifically in Long Beach. Long Beach is about an hour from downtown LA by light rail.

Studio apartment is in the Wilmore City neighborhood of Long Beach. It has a walk score of 88. I am within close walking distance of the metro rail station, numerous bus lines, Walmart, barber, post office, many restaurants and bars, coffee shop, movie theater, pharmacy/booze, dry cleaners, various stores, grocery store, and the beach.

Studio of about ~400 sq feet is $800 per month inclusive of utilities and on the third floor (top) with a nice view of downtown Long Beach. Unit includes ceiling fan, but no air conditioning. Unit also includes a murphy bed w/ mattress and a built-in ironing board. Building seems to have been built in the 1930s and has been well maintained.

[stand@desk]

Great Thread.

I lived in a Bachelor Apartment (400 sq ft) for 6 Years about a 2 minute walk from work. Rent was $400-$430 per month (all inclusive) during that period. My apartment location was close to many services and amenities and restaurants, walking paths, grocery stores etc.

Since then, HG have moved in together (for about 1.5 years), we rent our 800 sq ft 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment for $760 per month all inclusive. Going up to $774 next month. (We each pay $380) Our apartment location is 50 meters from my old apartment. My work site has moved about 500 meters from its previous location, so my walk to work is now 6 minutes.

HG can also walk to work from our apartment, her work site is about a 1.5km walk or bike ride. I often walk with her to work on my days off.

I used to sleep on mattress pads on the floor at the bachelor apartment, now we sleep on HG's queen size bed up and off the floor. We have a basic blue sofa (HG's) and love seat we bought when we moved in together. My standing computer table and dining table were gifts from my Dad and Uncle. We have simple folding chairs for the dining area HG got from the local big box. Coffee table is from IKEA. We have a lot of open space in our apartment..

We are enjoying the low maintenance of our lifestyle so we can enjoy more hobby time. HG loves cooking and the arts and we both like to run.

[thebbqguy]

I live in a 2,300 square foot home in an area that is considered "working class" or "blue collar". It's not the neighborhood most aspire to, but it was developed 12 years ago and has maturing trees, hedges, landscaping, etc. We like it.

We purchased here because we got a good deal. We could have bought in the "desireable" areas, but we'd have a larger mortgage balance. Based on our purchase price, we now have more than 50% equity. Based on current appraisals on neighboring homes of similar size our equity is closer to 60-65%.

My friends crinkle their nose at our neighborhood, but when I ask them whether the lower mortgage balance would sway them they smile and agree.

[bam]

Second marriage for myself and my husband, so we combined. We each sold our homes and purchased our current residence and paid it off in 1 year. We have about 1800 feet, 3 bed, 3.5 bath home in a subdivision. It is located about 12 miles from my work, 20 from my husbands. We selected this home because the neighborhood is nice and the house backs to common ground, that backs to a no build flood plain, that backs to a state park. So even though our lot is about 1/2 an acre, our back yard is around 200 acres. So due to the park, flood plain we are assured that we will never have neighbors back their. We enjoy our home, I love the pool as I can spend all day floating/swimming in it, and the honey loves the privacy. The other criteria for the purchase were, must have true high speed internet available, must have public water/sewer (no septic tanks), must have natural gas, and home should be less than 20 years old so the up keep will be easy. We live in the St. Louis region, in the fist county south of St. Louis, on the north edge, so if we want we can get downtown in about 30 miles, but we are free of the many issues facing our urban area, and have seen a steady appreciation in our homes value since our purchase 3 years ago.

[21stCenturyKid]

I love my current living situation. I went back to work as a telemarketer and got into a one bedroom apartment a few months ago. I have about 680 sq ft for $695/mo. Water, garbage and sewage is included in my rent (not so common in Sacramento I'm learning). I keep my monthly expenses under $940/mo. sometimes a bit lower but I am very comfortable. My family shares a Netflix account, I listen to lots of NPR on my radio and use my Metro PCS 4G phone for Wi-Fi when I need it. No cable or internet service for me! I live near the river so I can go jog on the trail for exercise. Groceries, work and entertainment are all about a 15min walk from home. And my college provides free bus and light rail service to students during the fall and spring semesters. I live lean compared to everyone I know but I don't feel deprived.

[SimpleLife]

I just bought and moved into my third house, a nearly new 2,410 square foot house, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2 car garage, open kitchen, living room and family room as well as a loft. I specifically wanted something more expensive with an HOA so I have a higher class of neighbor as well as some protection from neighbors painting their houses weird colors, starting mechanic shops out of their yards, etc.

I really like it so far, the house is huge, and it has AC. Rooms rent for about $600 a month here. I have three spares to rent out if I decide to do so, and likely will if I decide to retire in this house. Corner lot in a culdesac, only one neighbor directly next to me. The neighborhood is walkable to stores and public transportation and very safe.

[Ryannis]

Sold my home a few months back, it was 1098 sqft 2 bed 1 1/2 bath for 1 person. Not fond of the the upkeep and didn't need all that space. Wasn't there much anyways. Current situation is living with bf in a 2500+sqft on near 6 acres just outside of our city. He won't allow me to pay for any housing as he was already paying for it (his words) before I got here, now he just get's Netflix free off me, lol. I don't argue with rich old fart. This allows me to save about 90% of my small income, I buy our food, my gas, and little else. (Before I get haters.. just know this is mutually compatible and he still thinks he's gotten the better end of the deal ).

My goal for now, which bf knows, is to buy either some land to go off grid or buy older home in cash, for later in life. In the mean time, I do own a paid for motorhome that is my 'house' should current situation not work out. It's 246.5 sqft of fully self contained awesomeness. Worse case, I park it at an extended full hookups rv park (plenty around here reasonably priced) and live simply.

I do see how much time and upkeep a house this large takes, add in expense for utilities, time for yard maintenance and the like, so much work. Ultimately, for ER, will want something much smaller, paid for, hopefully off grid or working towards that, or become nomadic in the rv with no property taxes and someone always takes care of the lawn and chase the better weather. who knows. The old fart is coming round on my way of thinking, as well.

[Tom Young]

Villa (individual home in our retirement community)

http://www.libertyvillageofperu.com/villa.htm



1550 sf, 2BR, 2BA, 2car garage... all senior/handicap options. More pics on the LibertyVillage site.
Totally comfortable and convenient... plus access to next step on CCRC if and when needed.

Our onetime van... 1972 VW Westphalia... Loved it!!! Name was Victoria Von Volkswagen

Our camp on the lake in IL (in winter)

Our Florida Mobile home


All for a lot less than you'd imagine... Never even came close to being a millionaire.