Apartment hunting

[fumblerette1.livejournal.com]

Like many people...I'm looking for an apartment. I live in Chestnut Hill (newton) right now, and while my apartment is great, I'm sick of not being even remotely close to the T or the bus. I want to move to Somerville (specifically Davis or Central areas). I would like to avoid using a broker if at all possible. I've been scouring craigslist daily but there's just not much there right now. If you know of anyone looking to rent their place, I'd love to hear about it! (And if you happen to know of a broker you'd actually recommend, that'd be great too, but as someone else posted here or in b0st0n today, those just don't seem to exist.)



I'm looking for:
June 1st move in. (Any time in June actually would be fine, all the way up to July 1. But I'd prefer June 1.)
1 bedroom
must allow cats
heat included
max rent 1200/month
10 min or less walk to a T stop (I'm not giving up my giant apartment out here in the burbs to be just as far from the T in a smaller apartment for the same amount of money)

Nice to have:
laundry on site
dishwasher
hardwood floors
windows, sunlight, closet space, the usual things.

(I am not opposed to living with others, but I've been living by myself for a few years, and I have a lot of stuff. I'm not interested in trying to cram my entire apartment in an already fully furnished house or putting half of my things in storage.)

Help? You can comment here or email me at: nichole (dot) burton (at) gmail (dot) com.

Comments

[cutieperson]

you are perhaps a few years behind the market in what you are being charged.

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Can you point me to an objective source for determining these things? I have a well maintained, clean, quiet apartment with modern appliances and a garaged spot; if there is the ability to move to a similarly outfitted place for significantly less, I might be interested, but I'm dubious.

[cutieperson]

i'm not a realtor. what i have is personal experience. i have those same things minus the garage spot (which you can get for under $150 a month generally, though not always right next to your house), and my house total pays under $1700; it's a three bedroom, five minute walk to the T, with a large back yard.

my last place was $1400 for a two bed about an eight minute walk to the T.

i've seen many places *with* the garage parking included listed on craigslist for well under $2000.

[ellf.livejournal.com]

I've always paid the same amount for 2 and 3 bedroom places. I think there's a point at which a very nice 1 bedroom and a nice 2-3 bedroom start to coincide in price.

Technically, I think my apartment is a "two bedroom", if the living room were a bedroom.

[cutieperson]

er, i agree, i just think that point is lower. YMMV of course.

if it's a choice between a living room and a bedroom, it's not "technically" one. and if the living room looks like a dining room (built-in china hutch, anyone?) and one of the bedrooms attached to that has bay windows and a wardrobe instead of a closet? it just means the landlord is cheap and wants to get college students in, not that you've found a great 4-bedroom or whatever.