Which apartment to rent?

Fred Tracy · Post by **Fred Tracy** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:09 am

Hey all, I've got a little decision-making to do. I'm going back to school to get my degree, so instead of buying a house I'm just going to rent an apartment.
I've narrowed down the choice to two different options.
One apartment costs $570 a month (plus electricity, gas, and trash service) whereas the other one costs $419 a month (plus only electricity).
The one that is much cheaper, is much cheaper for a reason - i.e. it's kind of crappy, loud, bad crowd etc., but would probably do just fine.
The thing is, the cheaper apartment is four miles from work, whereas the more expensive apartment is within quick walking distance. I know I could easily walk or bike four miles, but I just.. don't want to, haha. So for the sake of argument, I would have to commute with the cheaper apartment.
My question is, how much would you add to the price tag of the cheapest ($419/month) apartment due to a 4 (not 5) time a week commute of 8 miles round trip?
I get about 30 MPG, and I'm thinking I could get away with about 20 cents a mile. And when you add the time spent commuting those 8 miles each day (~20 minutes) and multiply that by my hourly rate (~$20/hour) it seems like adding a $125 price tag on top of the $419 is appropriate.
Would you guys calculate this in the same way? Would you charge yourself for driving to work and factor that into the picture?
I'm asking because the final picture is looking basically like I may pay just $100 more for the more expensive apartment, thereby living really close to work and not having to worry much about break-ins, noise, and so on.
But I wanted to check the wisdom of the ERE community, because I've been shown the error of my ways here before. Any errors you see in my judgment, aside from $100 perhaps not being worth the slight convenience?
Thanks!

secretwealth · Post by **secretwealth** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:39 am

If you're within walking distance of work at the pricier place, are you also within walking distance of a supermarket and any amenities you regularly use? If so, the more expensive place would wind up much cheaper because you could get rid of your car entirely.

Christopherjart · Post by **Christopherjart** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:48 am

I'd imagine that in the end it would be the same cost.
How much is a typical water bill up there? How much would you spend getting to shopping?
Would you be able to share either place with a roommate? If so what kind of roommate would you be able to find for either place?
Would you be able to tolerate the noise at the cheaper place?

Fred Tracy · Post by **Fred Tracy** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:28 am

secretwealth, if I could get rid of my car that would make the decision a whole lot easier, but I need it for my job (mail carrier, deliver mail out of car) - so I have to pay the stupid insurance/gas etc. no matter what.
I would be farther away from the supermarket and so on with the pricier place, but I'm planning on riding my bike that distance. I'm willing to bike 4 miles to get food once a week, but not every morning at 5am, if that makes sense.
Typical water bill may be $20.. not much.. I'm thinking trash is perhaps $30 - so add $50 to the pricier place.
I suppose the noise is the least of my concerns. I'm pretty good about that sort of stuff, and I could just wear ear plugs if I needed to. I'm slightly more worried about vandalism, although it's not too bad over there.
A HUGE selling point is the fact that I could just walk to work with the other place. I grew up in the country and had to drive 45 minutes to get anywhere my entire life, so you could say I'm fed up.
Still, I wonder if the math is just stronger for the cheapo place. I'd deal with more BS, but that's OK. When you factor in paying for trash/water at the pricier place, and if I stop "paying" myself imaginary dollars to drive 20 minutes every day, then I should easily save $200/month by living at the cheap spot.
That's pretty significant. I think it's just a taste thing.
Can anyone give any more input? What would you do if you were me?

Fred Tracy · Post by **Fred Tracy** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:33 am

The specific estimates would actually be:
504$/month for cheap place

675$/month for expensive place
Would waste a small amount of time driving each day if I pick the cheaper option, but I'd save an extra 2k/year (plus interest). But is a measley 2k worth it when a lot of the reviews talk about bed bugs and constantly changing management, etc., whereas the other expensive apt's worst complaint is about noisy kids playing in the complex?
I hate decisions that are not cut-and-dry.

Christopherjart · Post by **Christopherjart** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:07 am

Is there an option C? It sounds like you aren't convinced by either option.
If it were here, I wouldn't take either place they are both too expensive for my income.
Could you rent a room nearby instead?

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:33 am

Maybe a strange question, but is trash service required? With reusable food containers, and recycling everything (including paperboard packaging), I only generate maybe one trash bag per month.
Second, is the electricity in both places comparable? Does the cheaper place use electric heat? The other use gas for cooking?

Fred Tracy · Post by **Fred Tracy** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 6:33 am

Chris.. good questions. I had wondered about the trash service myself. I figure I'll be in a similar situation where I don't actually produce enough trash to need a "trash service". As for your other questions, I will write them down and find out when I call the apartment complexes, thanks for the input.
Well, Christopher.. option C is living with my parents for free. Only prob is they live about 45 minutes away from work/anything, but even after again charging myself for driving and everything, I'd still stand to save a few hundred bucks over even the cheap option.
But that option is really the same scenario is just renting a room.. as in, it isn't desirable for me. I really would like the freedom that goes along with living by myself. I *might* get a roomate to live with me unofficially at some point, but I'd like to remain solitary.
Although, realistically, we're looking at saving like ~$500 a month if I just live at home. Parents would be glad to have me too. And it would mesh well with online classes...
They wouldn't charge me rent, and so the only extra expense I'd have is the cost of travel. At .20 cents/mile that'd be 160/month. I wouldn't even have to buy food. I have no moral problem with staying there, except that I don't really want to lol.
To put it in a broader perspective though, is saving ~$500/month for the next 2 years (moving for degree most likely) worth it? I mean, it's awesome, but how would that affect my retirement date?
Running the numbers, I think it would shave ~3 months off of my working career. Is that worth two years of sub-optimal living? Not really, at least to me. And using the same method, saving ~$100/month but living in a crappier apartment may not be worth the measley less-than-one-month it might save me.
Maybe I've found my answer then.
Thinking in terms of money is a lot different than thinking in terms of time spent earning the money. A more intelligent way to go about this is probably the "x about of life force for Y reward" paradigm. 4 months of cushy (big assumption) work for 2 years of freedom and peace of mind seems like a good trade.
What a long and drawn out way to rationalize what is essentially a wasteful purchase, lol. I would make a good consumer after all I think.
Thanks guys.. any more input is always welcome.

dragoncar · Post by **dragoncar** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 7:53 am

Between the two, I'd pick the more expensive one. However, what percentage of your income does that represent? It might be a bit high. I agree, you should avoid bedbugs, etc... the downsides to the cheap place seem like they could adversely impact your job, health, and ability to earn extra income.
Although the best choice may be to keep looking, if I had to pick right now between only those two, I think I'd get the one that brings peace of mind.

Christopherjart · Post by **Christopherjart** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 12:02 pm

only 45 minutes to get to school and save 500 a month? I have to travel at least 40 minutes to get anywhere other than the supermarket and at least an hour to get to my closest classes.

Stay at home and invest that money It will be a lot by the time you finish studying and you just might have enough $ to buy land or a tiny condo to live alone.

Scott 2 · Post by **Scott 2** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:48 pm

Assuming you are in your late teens / early 20's - pick the option that maximizes the time you have to invest in yourself and your social network. Don't burden some of your most care free years driving 90 minutes round trip to do everything.
Be sure to negotiate with whoever is renting the apartment. First month's rent free was common when I was a renter.
The return on your personal growth can easily outpace a few grand a year, especially as a young adult.

OTCW · Post by **OTCW** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:58 pm

Would be an easy decision for me, so I won't be of much help. I hate commuting, so I would go with the more expensive option.

Fred Tracy · Post by **Fred Tracy** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:15 am

Great comments guys.
Dragoncar, both apartments are probably going to take roughly 1/4 of my after-tax income, so $100 isn't much of a big deal. That's a good incentive for the more expensive place.
Although, the cheaper one is actually in a better location for everything but work, hah. Because there are so many good reasons to choose either place, I think I'll just get a tour of both apartments and decide based on my gut feeling. Peace of mind is very important!
Christopher/scott - both great points. It's hard because every option is appealing, which is a good sort of predicament to be in. I'm leaning towards moving out for sure though, because I'm just so ready for it. That's a good point about the social circle thing too.
OTCW - amen. It's a choice between cheap location close to everything in the center of town, or nicer more expensive place right next to work.
I think I will (for once?!?!) just let my emotions decide this one for me when I see the apartments.
I'm actually quite glad to see so many different ERE people have different opinions on the matter. You'd think we'd all just run the numbers and choose the cheap option, but clearly that isn't the case. Personal preference matters mucho.

jzt83 · Post by **jzt83** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:54 am

Use this car buying calculator to calculate the true cost of ownership of your car. On average, it costs around 50 cents per mile to drive. Commuting 8 miles a day would equal around $20 a week or a little over $80 a month.

http://www.free-online-calculator-use.c ... lator.html

Fred Tracy · Post by **Fred Tracy** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 9:46 pm

Lol.. slight update. Expensive apartment is on a 6 month waiting list. Now it's an easy choice... didn't know apartments were in such demand here.

Maus · Post by **Maus** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 9:55 pm

@Fred Tracy

I'm late to weigh in but let me argue for the pricier place. I chose a cheaper apartment when I first moved to my present city. Initially, it was well managed and populated by older blue-collar folks and a few retirees. But the landlord sold the building (16 units) to an out-of-town landlord. With each succession of management company (5 in one year), the quality of tenants devolved. Soon, we had young unemployed people living in units, leading to loud parties at night and hand-to-hand narcotics sales in the parking area by day. It wasn't the neighborhood, it was the tenants bringing this blight. Finally, when I was physically threatened for asking a young lady to turn her car stereo down at 11:30 on a work night; I came to my senses. Now I live in a rental house that costs much more than the low-rent apartment. And the peace and quiet of the thug-free zone has left me with very little regret about the cost. Tranquility and safety are worth more than a few hundred dollars a month. Good luck on your choice.

Chad · Post by **Chad** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:39 pm

I would live with your parents or take the more expensive place. Either really save or really enjoy your place. In between always sucks.

Chad · Post by **Chad** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:40 pm

Or, a 4th option is live with your parents and save enough to offset the cost of the expensive apartment in 6 months.

Fred Tracy · Post by **Fred Tracy** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 12:10 am

Maus, thanks for the input. At the moment the choice is probably between the cheap place and just living at home, though I am looking at a few other options. Having had a friend who lived in the cheap place before, I know there are some late night parties and at least one guy that sells pot there.
I think Chad had a good point, in that I should either save a bunch of money, or really enjoy myself.
There may be some more options though, as I found some more apartments near my work that I didn't know existed. Hopefully without wait lists!