Curiousity killed the landord?

[junesrose.livejournal.com]

Hello all,

I have a question, an informal poll of sorts.

I'm at the beginning stages of remodeling my mother's house (she's not living there anymore). It's a two family home. The downstairs apt right now is a one bedroom.

Here's where your sage wisdom/expertise comes in:

I have the ability of making this space a nice, big, one bedroom apartment with a huge eat-in kitchen, large living room and bedroom; or I can take that "extra" room (the kitchen, believe it or not) and turn it into a second bedroom, and make a smaller galley-like kitchen, open to a common room/living room area, which, overall, would not be that big.

I know that it's difficult to visualize, and ultimately, it's my decision, but I"m just looking for what YOU ALL would be looking for in an apartment as a single renter, or with one other roommate.

As a single renter, is the kitchen important to you? The bigger the better? I know that kitchens in homes are massive these days, but do you all look for that in apartments too? Do you young'uns spend time in the kitchen like us old folk?

And, if you were to move in with someone else (have a roomate), how important is a larger kitchen for you? Do you consider the size of the living room/common space or are the bedrooms more important when sharing an apartment (these two bedrooms would be a good size).

Ok, I'm being redundant on both questions, just humor me.....


Also, in general, how important are laundry facilities on-site (ok, I think I know the answer to this one, but I'm throwing it out there as well...)??

Thanks in advance!

:D

~@~@~@~

ADDENDUM-DUM

Er... I know I should be asking a realtor this question, and I have fair idea, but what's the going rate these days for a large one bedroom apt close (VERY CLOSE) to Davis sq?????

Comments

Re: Laundry

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

*Must* is an awfully strong word. A nearby laudromat can be sufficient.

I admit I'm feeling a bit alien at the moment, with everyone emphasizing how important on-site laundry is, because it's not at all important to me. I don't have a car, so I do want a laundromat with evening/weekend hours within easy walking distance. For myself having laundry on-site would be only a tiny bit more convenient (and that's theoretically. 24-hour access for example seems like a plus, but I can't say I've ever personally been in a situation where that would have been all that useful) and has potential for inconvenience. One place I lived with a washer in the apartment, well when it started malfunctioning, I was distinctly unhappy with having to deal with all that water all over my floor, and then having to figure out how to get exceedingly soppy clothes to a laundromat for a proper clean and spin.

Re: Laundry

[ron_newman]

The problem with depending on a nearby laundromat is that the laundromat may close (as happened to Scrubby Bubbles on Mass. Ave. and Royal White on Cedar Street).

Also, walking even two blocks with laundry in rain, snow, or sleet can be a problem, especially if it's too icy to use a granny cart.

Re: Laundry

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

THIS. I gave up in-house laundry on my last apartment, on the condition that it was directly across the street from a laundromat... which closed one week before I moved in. :/

Re: Laundry

[geekchik.livejournal.com]

Yes--when the weather is nice it's not bad taking your laundry outside--but in the winter, when the parking lots are iced over and you have to walk it some place? No thanks. Unless the laundromat was 24-hours and literally right next door, I'd consider the lack of on-site laundry a deal-breaker.