Looking for housing 1 bed 1 bath

[sekala.livejournal.com]

I know there are already a couple of posts about housing, but I'm really running out of places to look. I'm in a unique position where I can get out of my lease anytime before August, but I'd prefer to move sooner rather than later. My roommates are getting married and I'm moving on as well. I've been obsessively checking craigslist and padmapper several times a day every day with little to no success. I've seen a few places, but only 1 in every 10 emails or calls I make even get answered let alone with a positive response, so I hope someone here might have some good leads or know of some good resources other than craigslist to look.

What I'm looking for can be found here: http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/hou/2981523422.html The deal breakers are the only absolute musts, the rest are just nice to have.

Any help, leads, or resources are Greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Comments

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

No snark intended here with this comment. I'm just trying to get an idea about what is typically available in the area. How common is an apartment with laundry, parking, dishwasher, heat and hot water included for under $1400 in the Davis Square area? What would be an average rent for all those things in a one-bedroom?

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

"How common is an apartment with laundry, parking, dishwasher, heat and hot water included for under $1400 in the Davis Square area?"

About as common as non-Apple laptop in Diesel Cafe.

"What would be an average rent for all those things in a one-bedroom?"

With heat included, too? $2000, maybe?

[sekala.livejournal.com]

I've seen a lot of places while trawling craigslist that have all of these things for $1400 even for a 2 bed apts. with all that included I've really just had a heck of a time trying to get anyone to respond to me. Keep in mind though, I'm not strictly looking in the Davis area. I realize that to be in Davis proper I'd be paying a lot more than $1400 if I wanted to be close.

[sekala.livejournal.com]

As I said to the above poster, I've seen ads for them. Also to clarify, I did say what was ideal vs. a deal breaker.

[rozasharn.livejournal.com]

Are you absolutely positive those were not the wire-fraud ads? Ads offering wonderful amenities - especially without pictures, and with cats and dogs allowed - for the same rent as other ads charge for much smaller spaces, tend to result in messages about how wonderful the apartment is and the landlord loves it to bits, but he's in Nigeria on a religious mission, so if you just wire him a large sum of money he'll mail you the keys...

To put it another way, try comparing what people-you-know are paying to what these ads claim.

[sekala.livejournal.com]

Quite certain. In my experience the ones you're describing have tended to be in the 900-1100 range and at this point I can pick them out at a glance.

I am not just saying I have seen ads of this description. I have been looking at every single craigslist ad in my location and price range every single day for the past 3 months. I'm pretty keenly aware of what is and is not available. I have been to see some of them. I almost put money down on one. Yes it is rare for something from $1200-1400 to have everything on that list (although my roommate's sister just moved into such a place). But I'm not actually asking for everything on that list. My list of deal breakers is actually pretty reasonable.

On average, unless it is one person for a one bedroom, everyone I know in the area pays around $600 per bedroom. That price doubles for a one bedroom, but people I know have as low as $1000 for a one bedroom in the areas I'm looking, so I really don't think I'm being unrealistic.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the general rental stock. But a friend was just looking, and apparently the market is very very tight right now, with 0.9% vacancy. So whatever might be out there isn't necessarily *available* right now.

Last year I saw 2BRs near Davis for $1400. Not much else other than maybe dishwasher, though pretty big. Don't know what that would mean for 1BR.

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I don't have any leads (at least not right now) which is why you posted this. Unsolicited suggestion I would consider removing the language about heat and hot water being included. As a landlord, everytime I pay for utilities, it is abused in some small or large way, people are cranking up the heat while walking around in shorts and leaving windows open. So someone writing to me saying they want that included (I know it is not in the deal breaker section) relative to all the other emails I get I'm going to be worried they are not prepared to pay that utility bill or there will be some issue there. It simply reminds me of past issues. I've also noted that when I do include it, I often don't get much credit in the search process for that feature. Remember landlords are like elementary school vice principals, their minds are warped by experience with the 10% of their tenants who cause problems. Instead I would look for places and mentally adjust the prices based on whether it is included and also do due diligence on insulation, boiler efficiency etc. If there was higher vacancy rate that would be a different story.

[sekala.livejournal.com]

Ugh, that's a depressing statistic, but I guess at this point it doesn't surprise me.

[sekala.livejournal.com]

That's a good thought. I tailored the ad I put up according to what I was seeing on craigslist at the time. A shocking number of apartments had heat & hot water included which surprised me a lot when I first started looking. I've changed apartments every two years or so since moving to the city, and I never remember there being so very many that included it as there are now. In any case, I'll remove that on the ad later today. Unfortunately I don't have much hope for the ad itself with the vacancy rate etc. and it won't affect the majority of my search. I am already doing the mental calculations with my budget for every ad I see. I guess I just need to keep at it.

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

Oh and the housing wanted section is a tool, though I'm not sure how utilized it is. It is another tool in toolchest.

[808.livejournal.com]

My place will likely become free July 1ish. I'm the owner and am relocating to another city (just got the offer this morning!). It's in Watertown, but literally next door to a 71 bus stop that takes you direct to harvard square and runs every 7 minutes at rush hour. I used it often while I was a student at Tufts. It's a large 1BR w/living room, office, bathroom and the biggest kitchen you've ever seen in a 1BR rental (my wife is a pastry chef and took down a wall to enlarge it!). It has a washing machine in unit, but no dryer. We've never needed one by just drying on the radiators and the balcony. Nice yard w/lots of gardening options and quiet/friendly neighbors. It'll be around $1300 incl heat/hot water. Two off-street parking spots. It's also next door to a park and within walking distance to the Charles River. Tons of storage in unit and in basement. Brand new windows too. Pets OK.

[sekala.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! And that sounds very much like what I'm looking for. I've been keeping my on on watertown postings because I knew that a lot of buses go straight to Harvard. I'll send you a private message to follow up!

[enveri.livejournal.com]

We pay a smidge over $1600 for a 2 bd/1 bath, washer and dryer in the basement (non coin-op), pet friendly, dishwasher incl place with 2 off street parking spots. It's 2 blocks out of Davis Square.

We have no intentions of moving, we adore our place and will fight tooth and nail to keep it. I'm just mentioning it to say that such things DO exist (I am imagining a 1 bedroom with the same amenities as ours would probably fall in your price range) and to keep looking. <3

[sekala.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your confidence! I'm sure persistence will pay off in the end. :)

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I don't have any leads (at least not right now) which is why you posted this. Unsolicited suggestion I would consider removing the language about heat and hot water being included. As a landlord, everytime I pay for utilities, it is abused in some small or large way, people are cranking up the heat while walking around in shorts and leaving windows open. So someone writing to me saying they want that included (I know it is not in the deal breaker section) relative to all the other emails I get I'm going to be worried they are not prepared to pay that utility bill or there will be some issue there. It simply reminds me of past issues. I've also noted that when I do include it, I often don't get much credit in the search process for that feature. Remember landlords are like elementary school vice principals, their minds are warped by experience with the 10% of their tenants who cause problems. Instead I would look for places and mentally adjust the prices based on whether it is included and also do due diligence on insulation, boiler efficiency etc. If there was higher vacancy rate that would be a different story.

[dahdahdahdancer.livejournal.com]

Just an encouragement to keep at it. When I listed my rental unit recently on CL, I was immediately barraged with inquiries. I could only look at the first dozen or so emails, then took the ad down before more could pile up. I felt bad for the dozens of people I couldn't even respond to. So the advice to anyone looking - be obsessed with checking CL multiple times throughout the day and respond right away to new ads. And fyi - I rented out my really nice one bedrm apt for $1400, with off-street pkg, dishwasher, free laundry. Utilities are now separate and extra because, as noted by someone earlier, I found that a few tenants abused this amenity.