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I was curious about the average rent since my Fiance will be graduating in the next year and most of his job prospects are consolidated in HCOL areas (San Francisco, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Seattle, etc) . We're hoping to start out with a 2 Bedroom apartment/townhome but we have 3 cats and all of the online rentals have a 2 pet maximum. Unfortunately we'll be a single income for a while until I can find a job since I'm moving with him and we'll be married at that point. So I'm trying to gauge what average rents are.
Above is a poll, indicate your rent if you don't want to specifcy in thread. Also indicate where you live and what your average commute is to your workplace if you could in the actual thread.
East Coast contains everything in the East Coast, including FLORIDA.
West Coast contains everything on the West Coast.
Southwest contains specifically Arizona and Texas (sorry New Mexico).
Sorry Chicago, Minneapolis, Madison people, I live close enough that I can guess.
I will keep bumping this thread like a fool for the next several days. I want to know info people! I know a lot of you live in HCOL areas!
We pay $1700 a month for a small 1 bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, NY. No pets allowed. We are close to the subway, and we each have about a 30 minute commute to work, door to door.
We live in a suburb of LA that has a mid/high COL. We are in a 1 bedroom apt for $1250 (and only because we got a deal on rent when we signed our initial lease). It's one bedroom, third floor walk-up, but we do have washer/dryer in the unit. There are cheaper apartments around, but nothing as nice for the price. Location also has a lot to do. We lived about 15 miles farther east and had an apartment for $1100 that was 2 bedrooms w/washer-dryer. However, the increase in rent more than made up for the gas/wear on the car we saved by moving closer.
@BrooklynBride10:@melisandescott: Excellent, do you know approximately how much more per bedroom you'd pay if you went w/ a 2 br?
@melisandescott: Thanks for your response!
Hm..it must be a lot of HCOL brides aren't on here. I'll end up bumping later probably during the week when more people are on. Thank you ladies for responding to the poll!
If we wanted a two bedroom, in our complex they run from about $1500-$1800 (there are two sizes)
We live in a one bedroom garden flat (basement apartment) in DC for 1200/mo plus electric (another few hundred in the winter). I can tell you that this is a STEAL for DC! We have one cat and don't pay extra for her, but its in our lease that we're liable for any damages she causes. We're super close to the Metro.
In terms of two bedroom DC rowhouses for rent...eesh. A lot of them are owned outright, but if you find one (in the city) I'm sure you'll be looking at $3000 and up.
@SutSip: My fiance has it in him that he thinks we'll find a townhouse. I really don't think we will and I'll be happy/content/joyous with an apartment that allowed us to keep my furbabies. Thank you for your response! From what I've read $1200 is a steal!
We're in Somerville, right outside of Boston. I have no idea what our sq footage is, but it's 2 br, 1 bath, no dining room, decent sized kitchen. We pay $1450. It's in a great general location - 10 minute walk to the T, 10-20 minute walk to five different "squares" (areas that have tons of restaurants, bars, boutiques, grocery stores, farmer's markets, etc.). However, our immediate location isn't so great - we're on a really busy, high-traffic road, across the street from a car wash and train tracks, and a block away from a fire station. So that brings the rent down. Our landlord also hasn't raised the rent since we moved in almost 6 years ago, so we pay less than market price.
ETA: this does not include gas/electricity.
@mightywombat: Noise isn't really an issue for me, I hear sirens often (live in a questionable area + lots of nursing homes). I think it'll be a bit of a culture shock for my Fiance though to go from Midwest to Huge City/Suburbs. Thanks!
We are just moving from NJ where we are in a one bedroom nice apartment with a W/D in the unit paying $1160....we are moving in a month to Northern VA (expensive)!! and we got a three bedroom 1.5 bath townhome to rent for $1850 in Fairfax...DH will take metro. It might also make a difference where you live, DH gets paid much more because of the cost of living around the DC, Arlington area. I thought since we were moving "down South" it'd be cheaper...unfortuntaely no! Good Luck!
@MacFaniam24: Yeah, I was surprised to read that D.C. area is expensive to live. Here's to hoping my Fiance doesn't get a gov't/contract job (we'll take it if that's what we get) but there isn't a big difference in salary versus away from D.C. Thank you!
within dc, in multiple apartments in the dupont/logan circle/woodley park/cleveland park/tenleytown neighborhoods, hubs and i paid between 1200 and 2150 for various one bedrooms. he lived in a 2 bedroom with a roommate near logan circle for 2400 i think...in nyc we've paid between $2300-2500 for a 2 bedroom, but that's in a cheaper area of manhattan
This is a misleading poll because what you get for $1500 may be different with location. I pay about $1400 a month in rent....but it's a tiny one bedroom apartment. In the other threads relating to this, a ton of bees had houses for that amount. I'm not really sure that a general rental price range really gives any useful information without the context of what that money buys.
@crayfish: Unfortunately, I didn't have the ability to add more options. I wish I could have added certain areas that are about the same COL. I'm just getting a feel, I've noticed that most of the responses have been for 1 BR rentals. Thanks for your reply!
DC area- $2100/month, house, does not include any utilities. With utilities $2550 a month.
I live in Houston, Texas and we pay $750 for a 1bed apartment in a gated community in a pretty nice area. The 2bed apartments are between $850-$1200 in our area.
@sdrury89: Now I'm leaning towards Houston...but a bit warm for my taste. My fiance actually wants to move down there, great food and culture :) Thank you!
@beekiss: Honestly, I'm totally jaded so take this with a grain of salt. I hate Houston, but I'm from Orlando. I'm used to theme parks and crazy tourists all over. Everyone else who isn't from Crazy-Tourist-Capital USA loves it. Weather is crazy, but there are some decent beaches (again, jaded because of Florida) that aren't too far away. lol
ETA: Houston also has a ton of townhouses for lease/rent with very few restrictions when it comes to pets. Also, it's #4 in job creation in the US, so you might be able to find a job quicker than you think.
In NYC, a 2 bedroom can run you anywhere from 2500 and up, depending on where you want to live, whether it's a walk up, whether the building is renovated...I would say for a nice apartment, in a nice area you would probably be paying over $3500, at least in our area (upper west side).
Makes me a bit thankful that I am only have to pay a $1200 mortgage. I do not live in a HCOL and pay $500 rent now for a 2 bedroom house!
@sdrury89: I would love to live in a warmer climate but the whole desertous climate turns me off. Houston has a lot of job growth that is very interesting to me! Thank you!
@hilsy85: Yikes, probably going to try to steer clear of NYC. Thank you for the info!
@bluespurrs: Lets just say my rent right now is like nothing compared to most of these. It's definitely nice to be living in a LCOL area but the job prospects are pretty limited too :( Thanks for the reply!
@beekiss: No problem. Dallas/Ft. Worth and either San Antonio or Austin (I don't remember which one) were also in the top 5 and they have a somewhat milder climate.
We live in Dallas and pay $1250 a month on a 1100 sq ft, 1 bed, 2 bath apartment in one of the most expensive rent ares of Dallas. We're in a "luxery" complex with 2 pools, game room, dog park, gym, etc. There are two bedroom units in our complex with lower rents than our 1 bedroom (although most are a little higher).
I don't think TX is a HCOL area at all compared to the other HCOL areas of the country.
Plus, as a PP mentioned, TX as a whole has one of the highest job creation rates in the country right now so you'd probably have more job options here than other places.
$1300 for a 1br in Boston. Small, but we have nice extras like a pool and dishwasher.
I voted under $1500 east coast for the apartment I lived in when I lived in DC, BUT it wasn't what you are looking for because I was splitting it. I paid $900/month to share a 2 bedroom apartment in Trinidad (NE DC in a not-terrible but kinda scary neighborhood) that was not walking distance to the metro. Our apartment was pretty tiny, no pets allowed, and it had cockroaches. Yea... lol. I had a friend who lived in Adams Morgan (a nicer area of dc that is mostly grad students it seems) and she paid $1200/mo for a tiny studio... also had cockroaches. If you want to live in a nice place in dc with 2 bedrooms that allows pets i'd think you're probably looking at around $2500ish IN dc (nicer area) or 1500-2000 if you live in MD or VA and are willing to metro in every day.
Why don't you head to Craigslist and look up a few 2 bedroom apartments in the cities your considering to get a feel for what the range would be?
I pay $2,000 for a 1 bedroom in NYC, a 2 bedroom in a good neighborhood would start around $2,500 in Manhattan. You can get more for your money in Queens, Brooklyn, or New Jersey.
Also take into account the different salaries in each area, and the potential salary you could make. Maybe start looking on Monster.com to see what opportunities would be available for you.
BTW - for a townhome you'll probably have to head to the suburbs of a major city, as opposed to living IN the city. you'll get more for your money and have room for the cats, but you won't be in the heart of the city. something to think about.
We lived in a suburb of Boston (about 15 minutes away and close to the train stattion). We paid $1300 for a 2 bedroom/1 bath. It was in a 2 family home and the owner/landlord lived on the top floor. To get our apartment right in the heart of Boston probably would have been $2K-$3K.
Our rent did not include utlities and in the winter months we spent several hundred a month on oil.
@FutureKMM: @windswept: @CorgiTales: @JrzyGurl: @Bostongrl25: Thank you ladies so much! I got a lot of great feedback, now to pass it onto my Fiance!
We own our home in Central Texas (think Austin area) and we pay $1000/month on our mortgage. We have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom single family home. I wouldn't go back to renting, but I know sometimes you don't have a choice. I just really LOVE owning our home, I can paint and make whatever changes I want without asking someone else if it's ok.
@Miss Lily: Thank you for your feedback! Ideally we'd be homeowner's but we want to save for a substantial downpayment first, plus we never know when the winds change and we want to move elsewhere in the country. We're still young, but yeah, my Dad and his parents are like "renting is a waste of money, you're throwing your money away!" But I think for what our life plans are it suits us for now.
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