It's so damn hard finding places that do not charge double for couples. Mathematically it doesn't make sense.
For instance this woman had an ad up for a room in her house. It was advertised for $600 and she said she'd allow couples. So my boyfriend called after I spent a few hours texting with her. In the end she said she was going to charge us $900 for the room because we're a couple. The other day we went and looked at another room in another house. It was advertised for $550. Again, said he'd accept couples. We showed up to the viewing and he said it'd be $825 for the two of us. We are renting out a room. There are full apartments for rent in this area for as low as $900 a month!
The one lady said she'd think about it (we spoke to her last night) but I don't think we're going to hear from her. We have another viewing tomorrow in a place I'd rather not live in but beggars can't be choosers (neither of us have a car and this house is up on a massive half a mile long hill - so we will have to walk it every day...).
Realistically we'd like to pay the normal rate + compensation for my utility usage which shouldn't be more than $100 a month.
I'm really worried about how this will affect how my boyfriend and those around us view me. He and I talked this over many times before I moved up here - he'd cover rent and I'd just worry about myself when it comes to food and my own expenses. I'd also keep the place clean and do household chores. And then when I can arrange work study I will help out. But today I overheard him talking to his mom on the phone and a good chunk of it was about me. Sounded like she was asking how things are going for school - like had I started classes yet, when do classes start, what are my plans, was I helping find a place, what was I doing to contribute financially, etc. I'm just afraid of yet again looking like some mooch who is just sitting around. I honestly can't do anything but search for places right now.
If it comes down to it, I will just forego classes, or at least see about doing part time, and get a job so that we can afford a place. I understand I came here to go to college, but having a place to live is kind of important and I don't want to screw my boyfriend over because of this. I think I might talk to him again about my concerns. I just don't want to come off like I'm oblivious to the situation. My best friend has already gotten on my case over it already. We were looking at places on Craigslist and there was a listing I recall seeing back in April - it was still up for grabs. Plus it just didn't sit right with me. The vibes the photos of the place were giving me said 'hippie cult' perhaps? Their room had been up on the market for 4 months in a college town... something was up. Thankfully my boyfriend agreed with me and feels we are not yet at that point of desperation.
-
Kapwned started a blog post The Search Begins...The Search Begins...
You must be logged in to post a comment.
And rent here is very high, even for studio apartments. Our max amount we can afford is $600 a month. And studios start at $900 here. It's a college town with over 30,000 college students. Housing is in high demand. But as an update:
The lady ended up contacting us and said she'd do it for $600 which we can do, but we would have to budget ourselves tightly. We've since mentally given up because she poorly planned this out. She made the listing and then immediately went out of town and won't be back until the end of the month. She said if we skyped with her she'd allow us to view it and the people renting out her place via airbnb could just let us in. We did a video chat with her, and she still wasn't comfortable with it so she said she would rather wait until she's back and she will be back on the 28th the soonest. My boyfriend is now hesitant because he has a feeling she is just looking for someone to watch over the house and keep it clean while she travels (judging by the fact that she likes to rent the place out on airbnb). And he doesn't want to be a housesitter. I think she's also afraid we're the party type of 20somethings, which we very much so are not.
Last night we went and looked at another place. The building was VERY sketchy looking. The front door to the apartment building didn't have a lock, the hallway was dirty and the stairs had a jimmy rigged railing, but the apartment itself was actually pretty nice and decent. Very small. The girl living there offered to take the smaller room so that we could have the larger room. And she even thought it'd be ridiculous to double rent on the two of us, but instead we'd split the monthly rent two ways, and then split the utilities 3 ways (oh my god, someone who is interested in doing the math!). She said she'd like us to move in but it's a matter of when her current roomie is moving out (she apparently just broke it to her that she is planning on staying another month). And if/when we can sign a lease before the 1st.