Major Cities with Cheapest Rents!

January 26, 2007 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston are without doubt terrific cities; but you’d be right foolish to believe that they’re the only American cities worth living in. With some rents in major metropolitan cities rising upwards of 10% this year, it might be time to consider certain other roads, or zip codes,…

Money Issues Between Roomies

October 4, 2006 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

While in college it seems everyone is, or everyone acts like they are, broke. Terribly, horribly, mac and cheese, $3 burrito broke. Then, we graduate and some of us get high paying jobs, and some of us get…jobs. However, while this can be a temporary problem when going out to dinner with friends in the…

Keeping cool?

July 23, 2006 | By Kate AuthorMy First Apartment

It’s 98 degrees in the shade. Last night, I dreamt I was Superman, and I kept trying and trying to get to my ice palace, where it had to be cooler, but I couldn’t. I woke up sweating. If you’re lucky, your new apartment will have central air. Mine doesn’t. This means that lately I’ve…

The Budget (a.k.a. All Hail IKEA)

June 5, 2006 | By Jessica AuthorMy First Apartment

Ikea was having a summer sale this weekend, so I spent most of Saturday picking up small items, and testing out couches, beds, and chairs. I’ll be buying the big furniture pieces at a Chicago-area Ikea when I move in, so I went ahead and bought myself some gift cards to save the money for…

Crisis Averted

May 24, 2006 | By Jessica AuthorMy First Apartment

So, the property manager called this morning and said I needed a cosigner. Unfortunately, I don’t have one. I was worried this might happen. The rent is 35% of my income, and my credit score is decent considering my age, so I was hoping I wouldn’t need a cosigner, but apparently, I’m a risk. :)…

Relocating Complicates Everything

May 16, 2006 | By Jessica AuthorMy First Apartment

Hi everyone. Thanks for reading. My apartment hunt officially begins this weekend, though I’ve been planning and researching online for months. I’ll be moving to Chicago on July 1st to begin medical school, but I’m currently living in Maryland (with my parents… joy). I’ve only visited the city twice (once for my interview, once for…

True Story of an Attempted Rip-off

January 23, 2006 | By Jett AuthorMy First Apartment

When my roommate and I began looking for an apartment in college, we really didn’t know where to start or even what neighborhoods to consider. Early on in the search we found a pretty nice place in what appeared to be a good neighborhood (knowing what I know now, it is a great neighborhood and…

$1000 Rent Around the Country

January 4, 2006 | By Jett AuthorMy First Apartment

Living in NYC I have resigned myself to paying high rents on small places, so $1000 doesn’t sound like that much to me. But what could such an amount of money get you all over the US? Let’s find out! In Minneapolis you can get a fancy townhouse (even the two bedroom isn’t much more…

How Much Rent Can I Afford and Other First Decisions?

November 23, 2005 | By MFA Editors AuthorMy First Apartment

You may not know how much rent you can afford, but your government does. The US Housing Department guideline says that your rent should be no more than 25-30% of your gross salary.

Top Five First Apartment Mistakes

November 23, 2005 | By MFA Editors AuthorMy First Apartment

Mistake #1. Paying Too Much. This is the most common beginner’s mistake. It is easy to forget that rent is only part of expenses you’ll have to deal with living on your own – there’s also gas and electric, cable and phone, not to mention commuting to work, food and dry cleaning. You may even…