Davis Apartments

[mrchiariello.livejournal.com]

Hi DSLJ,
I am a 5 year resident and long time lurker of the Davis Square Live Journal Community.  I have finally outgrown my original Davis Square home as my future wife and I need an upgrade.  We are not ready to fade off into the vanilla landscape of the suburbs and were hoping to continue are stay in Somerville.  I have found craigslist to be cumbersome and have a hard time justifying a broker fee for turning a key and printing out a contract, so I was hoping the the DSLJ community may be able to help me out.  If this is an inappropriate request for the community I apologize and will take down the post.

About us:
We are in are early 30s and are getting married in November.  We are both professionals whose idea of a house party is a multi course dinner party with a few friends.

We are looking for a 1-2 bedroom apartment that is in walking distance to the Red Line.  We would prefer it be updated.  Our budget max is $2,000.  We also have 2 cats which is also limiting our search.

Thanks to all, and to all a good night.

Comments

[wneleh.livejournal.com]

My husband and I lived in the brick monolith at 270 Highland Ave. for years in the 90s, and found it perfectly acceptable, though not exactly charming - reasonably updated, responsive management, quiet enough, cat-friendly. Since it has a number of units, you might be able to land something the size you want, precisely when you want.

Back in the 90s, at least, it was managed by Dee Development.

[anyee.livejournal.com]

Opposing perspective: I dislike fee apartments. However, by broadening my search to include them, I've found two amazing places. Let's say you pay an up-front fee of $2,000 and then stay for two years. You're effectively paying less than 10 dollars more per month for some place you love. Good luck regardless!

[smoterh.livejournal.com]

I think you mean an extra 100 a month

[anyee.livejournal.com]

Technically an extra $83 a month, but that's what I get for doing math with less than 1/10th of an awake brain.

[smoterh.livejournal.com]

It seems that this is a second post this week regarding Apt hunting (2 bed for under 2000) a month. Is it really that had to find a 2 bedroom within 15 minutes of Davis with no fee for lass than 2000 a month? That seems crazy especially since the population of Somerville dropped between 2000 and 2010.

[anyee.livejournal.com]

It depends a lot on where you want to live. Some people are turned off by Winter Hill or Sullivan Square. Plus, many things in that range can be dives run by slumlords; I'm looking at you, Fineberg. It's better to get a recommendation from someone who knows the landlord and the area than to dive in blindly.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Development is down, nobody's buying, and demand for rentals is up, so supply is down and prices are up. So, yeah, it's going to be hard to find stuff.

I recommend scouring Craigslist obsessively for people who are moving and want to let you finish out their leases which you can then renew in September. It will take time but there are some good spots.

If you do decide to pay an agent, I've heard good things about Apartment Rental Experts.

[lizss.livejournal.com]

My husband and I are moving out of the area this summer and are looking for someone to finish our lease and start a new one on September 1st. We're moving sometime in July, exact date TBD. At some point I'll get around to posting it on CL, or giving this its own Davis-LJ post, but in the meantime, here it is -

Our place is on Broadway about 10min from the Davis redline, on the top of a 3-level house. It has a large master bedroom with a smaller room off of the kitchen that has served us well as a study. Huge kitchen with lots of storage, dishwasher & disposal, W/D in unit, attic storage, yard, and a parking space. Everything is fairly new and in great condition, cats are fine and the neighbors are nice. We currently pay $2000; whether it changes in September is up to the landlord.

If you're interested in coming by to take a look, shoot me a message!