Apartment Hunting General Discussion

[mister.shoes]

Or regular Field! Just a short walk to 48th/Chicago!

[trkaiser]

I'm hoping the incentives get really sweet in Sept/Oct, when my current lease is up. I'm ready to move beyond the $650-750/mo soiled carpet & smelly hallways life. It's a shame there's so little available in that medium range $800-$950 level in the Whittier area. Citywide even, there's not much mid-range in existence. I guess that's what happens when you basically don't build any apartment units between 1971 and 2004.

I'm in the apartment market for the first time in 8 years, and am also surprised how little is available in the middle. I was originally hoping for something in the $1,200-$1,400 range somewhat near downtown for a 2BR (ideally not Uptown, given commute to Plymouth) and it's not going so well. Another NE duplex may be in my future...

[mattaudio]

.

[blobs]

Unfortunately there really is pretty much no midrange apartment market. It's either low or high end. You might look at a house in the mid range, and there's some great houses for rent just about anywhere in the metro.

[TommyT]

1st month free $750 off 2nd month at 36 Park.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/a ... 84891.html

[bubzki2]

Unfortunately there really is pretty much no midrange apartment market. It's either low or high end. You might look at a house in the mid range, and there's some great houses for rent just about anywhere in the metro.

Are you sure? While limited in numbers, it seems like some of the older buildings that have been recently renovated are priced somewhat between old and new construction... e.g., the Fremont, across from Flux seems reasonable if you can take a dull looking building...

[gpete]

The 60s and 70s-era apartments in the Uptown area are usually mid-range. I lived in a couple of those types of buildings in the Wedge. One was a 2br for $800 (w/ parking and heat included), and the other was a 1br for $635 (w/ parking and heat included). I think that counts as mid-range.

[TommyT]

I live in an updated (light fixtures, paint and appliances) 1 bedroom built in 1923 on Ridgewood currently and it's $725.00 + $50.00 for parking (which I waited a year to get). If I had to guess it's about 550 sq ft and I thought that was mid range! $800.00 for a two bedroom seems low to me.

[gpete]

The $800 place was in 2010 and 2011, so the rent is probably higher now. And it was at the very north end of the Wedge (Franklin and Bryant); away from the real high-demand stuff.

[LakeCharles]

Does anyone have any good apartment hunting websites, or other resources? Looking all over the two cities, plus maybe SLP or Robbinsdale. I know of padmapper.com and obviously craigslist. Any other thoughts?

[mulad]

I recommend trying the WalkScore.com apartment search, which lets you filter based on commute time/distance (though take the transit filter with a grain of salt, since it doesn't take service frequency into account).

[clf]

Check apartmentratings.com a good resource for reviews

[Tyler]

I don't think so. Its just a bunch of complainers.

[clf]

Perhaps, but I found it helpful to see what the complaints were. I hate thin walled apartments personally, where you can hear what your neighbor is watching on tv, so for me it was useful to see which places had complaints of that kind. Some don't mind that sort of thing and might see it as whining, but it helped me weed out places that might not be a good fit.

[EOst]

Does anyone here have any experience with the various management companies in Stevens Square/the north part of Whittier? I've been looking into them and hearing mixed things, but it's hard to tell how much of that is real and how much of that is just people who are afraid of cities and "urban" people.

[blobs]

What do you consider price ranges of rents? I tend to think <$1000 basic, $1000 to $1600 as mid range, $1600 to $2200 luxury, above $2200 extra luxury

[twincitizen]

If you're looking at non-downtown apartments, there is significant differentiation in the sub-$1000 market.
I assume we're talking about 1BRs in the average 550-700 sf range, yes?

$650 is about the bottom of the market these days for a non-firetrap. You could pay up to $800 for a similarly bottom-end apartment in a better neighborhood. I've paid $600, $650, and now $750 all around Whittier, though some of that increase due to gentri-inflation.

$850-$1050 is what I'd consider middle-range for 1BRs. This is the range that my next apartment will fall into. I'd expect apartments in this range to have somewhat recent appliances, newer carpets or decent hardwood floors, dishwashers, well-kept laundry rooms and common areas, and an on-site caretaker if the building is large enough. Getting into this range might mean the availability of a garage or underground parking, though that will usually cost $50-100/month extra. In most cases no pool, sometimes a small excercise facility. Look in the inner suburbs if you want a pool and other amenities at this price, I've seen plenty in SLP & Bloomington.

$1100-$1250 is sub-luxury, just under the cost of new construction. Last generation's luxury. Pools and other serious amenities become more common.

$1300+ is the going rate for new construction, well over $2/sf at this point. The Fluxes, Blues, and Limes of the world are over $2.25/sf.

[twincitizen]

I'm on the market again (for October 1) in the lower-middle range ($800ish for a 1BR) and there are zero incentives being offered in Uptown/Whittier/Southwest. Not that I really expect there to be, but thought it worth mentioning. I'm in the price range now (maybe two steps above rock bottom for the area) where I could probably find a pretty nice (older) apartment in the inner 'burbs with a full range of amenities (pool, fitness, etc.), but it just ain't gonna happen. That said, I may very well wind up in southern CARAG, which is kind of like the suburbs of Whittier

[Chava]

When we moved here, we were continually being sold on the $800 Minneapolis 1bd apartment. Elusive little bugger. Not an easy find for someone out of town. Even harder to find in the middle of winter.

Have you seen a drastic uptick in rental prices in the last year or two?

[ECtransplant]

I've lived in the same unit in uptown since 2010. Rent has gone from $830 to $840 to $870 to $895 to $910