I recently decided to move to a new apartment rather than stay in my current apartment or buy a house. It’s a bit of an upgrade for me, and it’s been a long time coming. I haven’t written much about the financial effects of this decision other than to say it will be less expensive than buying a similar condominium.
My new apartment, where I’ll be moving during the last week of June, looks great. The construction is five years old and doesn’t seem as cheap as other new construction I’ve seen. The appliances, no more than five years old, are energy efficient. This is a great improvement over my current appliances, which are most likely from the 1980s.
One great benefit is the existence of a washer and dryer, the biggest inconvenience of my current home. It will be nice to be able to do my laundry at my leisure rather than having to drag my dirty clothes down the street. This hassle has to be one of the biggest demotivators in my life right now, so I’ll be happy to be able to just throw my clothes in the washer.
My current apartment is 650 square feet, a one bedroom apartment with one bathroom and a small kitchen. The new place is also one bedroom but it also includes a loft—a perfect spot for my “home office.” The square footage is practically doubling, from 650 sq. ft. to 1,200. I’m not quite sure how that figure is calculated, because it doesn’t seem to be so large.
Next week I will sign the lease. Including a 1.5 month security deposit, the July’s rent, rent for the last week of June, the fee for my keys, minus my earlier deposit used to hold the apartment during the application process, I will be handing over a cashier’s check for almost $4,000. At least I should be getting some form of a security deposit back from my current apartment in a couple of months.
My monthly rent will be jumping from $901 to $1,425. That has been my biggest concern, as I’ll be relying a lot more on alternative income. The price increase as a percentage is much smaller than my increase in space, so if I look at it that way it doesn’t look like a bad deal. This new rent includes cable television and internet, on which I am spending $16 for television and $50 for internet.
I expect that my electricity bill will rise as I will have more space to cool or heat. It’s my understanding that since heat rises, it will be more difficult to cool down the loft during the summer. I will make use of fans to keep that cost down a bit.
In order to join the pool, clubhouse, and gym, I would have to pay $300 a year. The pool looks nice, but I haven’t decided if this is worth it yet. I may wait a year and see where I am, or beg my way into a discount for joining for just the remainder of the summer.
I’ll also have to pay for movers. I think when it comes to friends helping move, I believe we’re all past that point in our lives. I think I can get by without renting a van for moving boxes back and forth, but it looks like I’ll be hiring professionals to move the furniture. I’m not looking forward to this part of the move, considering Consumerist’s latest stories of moving company rip-offs.
Considering my increased expenses, I’ll have to come up with some creative ways to cut back in other spending categories. More cooking (which will be nice in the new, bigger kitchen with modern appliances) and less restaurants, to start. I’ll probably hold off on some vacations I’d normally take, and I’ll probably skip the Mets games for the rest of the season… unless they make the post-season.
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8:07 am (reply)
Flexo, where are you from? Could you find a house with a mortgage payment of around $1400/mo?
8:23 am (reply)
Upgrading to a space with your own washer/dryer?! You will never go back to living without them again :) In fact, now you will be spoiled having them on the same level as your bedroom – makes life just that much easier.
A 58% jump in housing costs will take a bit of budget adjusting, but as you have learned, as you get a bit older and start to acquire a bit more upgrading your living situation starts to become more of a priority.
Good Luck with your move and enjoy all that new space (and the larger home office deduction for that alternate income!)
8:41 am (reply)
Yeah – nothing wrong with treating yourself to nicer place as long as it’s in budget. And, I’m completely with you on the movers. Last year was the first year I hired people rather then getting a crew of my friends to help. After a certain age, it’s hard to ask friends who’s bodies are breaking down to help with a move….
10:13 am (reply)
$1MJ: I live neat Princeton, NJ. The best I could do around here for a $1,400/mo mortgage payment is a condo (in an outlying area), and then still have at least $600/mo in added fees (taxes, insurance, maintenance/association), plus a rate that low would require a 20% downpayment, which I don’t quite have.
Boston Gal: Thanks… yes, I’m getting older, thanks for reminding me. :>
Dong: It’s in the budget as long as my alternative stream of income keeps coming. Otherwise I could end up in trouble. :-/
12:10 pm (reply)
Flexo, that is one expensive place to live! I’m building a 2 story with garage for the same price that it would cost to have a condo in your area!
2:33 pm (reply)
You can always go to home depot and hire some help. There are always people outside home depot looking for temp work like this.
Of course, you need to be comfortable with this.
They’re mainly grunt work to help you carry your heavy stuff. You would still need to get a moving truck (U-Haul).
3:32 pm (reply)
Sounds like a nice place! Personally, I would shell out the money for the pool and gym.
Also, there’s nothing wrong with getting a U-haul and DIY the moving… unless you are under a serious time constraint. I’m one of those that moves 4-5 boxes at a time.
6:57 pm (reply)
$1425, is not the same as a mortgage. As you said HOA fees, taxes and fees you are really paying maybe $200 more a month.
As long as your rent is comfortable enough for you to handle and still pay everyday expenses, kudos to you!
10:48 am (reply)
11:14 am (reply)
You’re going to love this move! Having yout own washer and dryer is such a great convenience that you will never want to go without again. Same for the extra space!
Your energy bills will go up – more space equals more room to heat/cool. You will also have to pay for the energy for washing/drying clothes.
But your quality of life goes up, and isn’t that what it’s all about? :)
11:54 pm (reply)
11:49 am (reply)
congratulations flexo! sounds like a really good decision.
a couple years ago i moved into a more expensive but much nicer apt and even my health improved (the crappy place before the nicer one was incredibly drafty for one thing…). no regrets.
12:03 am (reply)