what is your home / apartment / van like?

[m741]

I live just outside NYC. 3rd floor of a 3 floor building. It's a really old building - above each doorway are windows (painted over) which would have been used for airflow in pre-AC days. Each apartment in the building (700 sq ft) was previously two apartments w/o running water. All the water was added on one side of the building and the bathrooms are also an addition. The stove is on a pad that would have been used for a wood-burning stove. I believe the building was a tenement circa 1900.
That said, it's cheap (1225/month), has nice wood floors, has a lot of space, and has large southern-facing windows, so it can be bright during the day. The downside is some plaster cracks on the walls, far too many layers of paint, and no doors between rooms shut (they all have a hook to keep them closed!) - also, it's a railway apartment (the rooms are simply lined up). The building owner has been reasonable and also recently added a washer/dryer in the basement (I only use it for drying dress shirts). The neighbors were fighting for a while and I could hear it through the walls, but they seem to have calmed down significantly over the past 2-3 months.
The neighborhood is ~20 minutes via public transit to Manhattan, is composed of brownstones and feels very safe. There's a medium-sized park nearby which is popular, with a small playground, tennis/basketball courts, benches/gardens and a lawn to lay on. On the other hand, there are some bad parts of town fairly close and my apartment was robbed at one point.
Inside most of my furniture is from Ikea and their second-cheapest option. The other half of my furniture is stuff my father built - a custom bedframe, desk, and some movable kitchen counters. I've got four useful appliances in the apartment: a tiny personal washing machine (awesome!), my computer, my Vitamix, and a personal dishwasher (the dishwasher and washing machine hook up to the sink). Also, a tiny cat who installs herself in front of any screen I try to use, chair I try to sit on, etc.
I'm lucky to have found this apartment. The drawbacks are all in areas I don't mind (lots of layers of paint? awkward kitchen setup? so what!) and the benefits are where I care (bright roomy layout, cheap, good location). I made some furniture replacements recently and I've got a very comfortable setup going.

[jennypenny]

@JasonR--Congrats! It's nice out that way. I'm jealous of the screened porch. How does DW feel about commuting?
@ffj--I really don't know how you get by living that way

[riparian]

I own/have no monthly expenses in a 320sq foot cabin on a river. About 45 minute walk to the road in the winter, short boat ride in the summer. Two solar panels, thermo couple chips, battery, and the water runs right by in the river.
My bed is a foam pad I paid $20 for 5 years ago on plywood and cinder blocks. I have a silky comforter that's made my whole bed experience so nice. Table/counter thing and shelves all the way around about a food under the ceiling are beautiful hardwood closet doors that were free from the dumpster. Kitchen thing is plywood, I'm gonna add tile counter soon. Awesome Blaze King wood stove. Propane cook stove from the 70's that I should replace someday.
Shed. Sauna. Smokehouse. Trails and rivers and beavers and owls and bears.
It tends towards being a dirty little hovel in paradise, but I've been making some improvements.

[spoonman]

@riparian: "I own/have no monthly expenses in a 320sq foot cabin on a river."
Now THAT's what I call ERE material. How much did you pay for the place/land?

[zarathustra]

I live in the bay area in a 2011 Ford E250 Cargo Van. It looks like a normal work van, providing almost total stealth (no one would guess someone lives in it).
My van serves as my bedroom and closet.
My showering, internet, most meals, etc are from work.
I've been doing this for almost exactly one year.
I made the decision because I wanted to lower my rent and was planning on living in student shared situations (giving up a lot of privacy) and going to a mostly if not all bike-transportation situation. When I started thinking about going the van route, I realized that it would provide me more flexibility of places I could stay/explore and provide me more privacy. I valued the ability to move around far more than living in a "normal" house/apt.
I have hardly ever felt inconvenienced. I felt like "surviving" the coldest part of the winter was pretty painless and made me feel like a badass. I learned a lot about how your body adjusts as needed to your environment.
I've come out of this experience so far being much more patient and with a deeper understanding of what I really need and don't need when it comes to a living situation.
Things that have suffered: eating quality & eating expenses suffered (I miss cooking!!) which I could do more batch cooking at friends' houses to help out with.

[FPMLLC]

I currently live in a 1650 sq ft 3br, 1.5 bath. Detached 260sqft work shop. A 1300 sq ft deck and pool and lots of garden space. Currently own roughly 44% equity.
The house is old, but we got it at a great price. The home itself is small, but we loved the huge yard. We have a daughter and plan on more so we much prefer the outside space vs interior space.
I e replaced all of the mechanical systems but we still have a way to go. The rooms are small, and it needs work but we have time.
Location wise its perfect for us as we'll as proximity to family and friends.
It wasn't cheap and costs us 30%of our current net, but we look st it is a project. I have my own work shop which is my hobby. We have a pool which we use daily. I have a huge garden and will expand it annually.
I am also a builder by trade, and by deciding we are goin to stay here for the long haul it allows me to customize and do projects I wouldn't if we planned on selling. I can build it how we want, have a lot of fun systems in play now.
I was thrilled when me and my wife were talking about me losing my office (currently the third bedroom). And we both agreed that the first instinct is to get a bigger house, but a much better option is get less stuff.
I also like having a smaller living space, it forces everyone to hang out, less to clean, less to heat and cool. And with creativity you can maximize every square inch.
I would love to live in a van or trailer. And truthfully if I were single I would in a heart beat but no chance with family but, that's ok.
As for its contents, my wife loves little things everywhere, which is the opposite of me (i love empty space). But it's a compromise. Most of our furniture is used, or old and I've rehabbed it. We like that look better. The entire house is old pine, and gorgeous wool work. It creaks which I love. I have made all needed upgrades like central air, new electrical. We try to do projects on cheap with creativity, our new kitchen counters cost me $145 and looks great and should hold up 5/6 years before I get chance to redo the entire kitchen, made with framing lumber and now we have rustic wood Counters.
Slow and steady and make the most of every inch.

[riparian]

@spoonman I think it was $27k.
Before this I lived in a minivan for 5 years and travelled.

[EnglishSaver]

Ours is a small 2 bed house in a crappy part of London as that was all we could afford. It's expensive here. It's worth about £160,000 and we have paid off about 55% of it now.

[SimpleLife]

My primary residence is a 3 bedroom, 3 bath house. Not sure of the footage as the house was added on to and remodeled by the previous owner. It has a very large master bedroom, living room, kitchen, and family room.

I'm really not sure why they are so large, it would have made more sense to use the space for bedrooms. My neighbors house is the same size but has 5 bedrooms, so I imagine the extra space could have been used for bedrooms. Most of the house is empty and I'm focusing on getting rid of more stuff. I'm looking forward to renting out the empty rooms. I have considered turning the garage into an apartment rental. Again, it's space I don't use...

It's close enough to public transportation that I could easily walk or bike to it, but still in the suburbs away from traffic noise etc. It's also strategically/centrally located close to all cities where the jobs are so commute is not too big a concern when looking to change jobs (I purposely bought here for that reason). I have a large front and back yard for a garden, chickens, rabbits, etc. as well.

[henrik]

1 bedroom apartment, ca 50 sqm, in a new (2006) house of 10 apartments. It's about a 15 min walk (5 min bike, 10 min bus) from the very centre in a town of about 100k. There is enough room to separate another bedroom from the living room.

I have about 35% of the purchase price (roughly equals current value) in equity and plan to expedite the payments, but not before the adjustable intrest rate rises somewhat above the current 0,8%

I initially thought of this as a "starter home" to be sold after building some equity as a forced savings plan, but I've since then advanced my financial literacy quite a bit and also realised the apartment is actually quite enough and I like it. It's also a university town, so renting out a small apartment near the centre is very easy if I wanted to move.

[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.