Looking for advice/information on people's RENT!

[Shinigami Unity]

Heyy I'm from Fargo, ND and I am looking into finding a super cheap 2 bedroom apartment. I need a 2 bedroom because my kids come over for visitation. I need it dirt cheap because I pay child support up the wazoo (please no flames - I've been on the other side too) and am a starving college student (sometimes literally).

I'm having a heck of a time finding things that I can afford! So I was wondering:

2 bedroom, 1 bath - what do you pay? Do you have any roommates?

I'm hoping this information encourages me. I need a positive attitude to make it through this. biggrin  

[ThisEmptySoul]

my spouse and I live in a 2 bedroom apartment on the east coast. We pay $880 plus electricity {which can get up to $130} and internet {$33}. We manage to get by with a small amount of savings, but we don't have any children so it's easier. Also, only my spouse is working so we're living off of one income.  

[lady leko-chan]

my hubby and i live in a 2 bedroom 1 bath - all bills paid including internet and basic cable as well as a provided parking space also centeral heat and air - I think we are a $920.00 a month? it may have jumped this year though to $960.00  

[Shinigami Unity]

Wow. Average price in Fargo is around $500-ish. And at $8/hour that's about half my income.

I've found 2 apartments under $450 - which is amazing. Even when I had a huge 3 bedroom I only paid $700!

Wow!  

[ThisEmptySoul]

Sure, rub it in why don't you mad

Average price for apartments in this area is about $1000/month I think, might be as high as $1200. It was hard to find one at this price that wasn't crappy. Most apartments in this same complex are actually a lot more than what we pay.  

[KittyRyu]

Get a trailer!!

Two bedroom, two bath, two parking spaces, water included comes out to $286. My electricity runs about $50 a month (amazing with a husband who almost lived on the PS2), and my gas is about $12 a month with a gas stove and furnace. All in all, about $350 a month. Trust me, the initial purchase will make the rest of it worthwhile! I only paid $1500 for my trailer. Plus, if you want to move after your lease is up, get some land, have it rigged for water et. al. and move your trailer there. Now, it's a home!  

[Shinigami Unity]

That's not too bad.

I managed to find a 2 bedroom apartment for $390/month with free internet and phone in the north most part of town. It's actually a lot nicer than I thought it was going to be. However, it's definately strange that in North Dakota there would be such a difference in price versus where you're living at.

I will give the trailer some thought, though. heart  

[ThisEmptySoul]

demand makes a difference. Higher the demand, higher the price. The demand for places to live on the east coast is higher because of the kinds of jobs available, and the closer you get to a big city, the higher the prices go.  

[Shinigami Unity]

Demand in Fargo is pretty screwed up. The highest demand areas are actually farther away from the city. Also, we get paid less in ND than most places in the country.  

[Wixandrettas]

ThisEmptySoul

demand makes a difference. Higher the demand, higher the price. The demand for places to live on the east coast is higher because of the kinds of jobs available, and the closer you get to a big city, the higher the prices go.

Yup!!! I live in Manchester, New Hampshire.. the state's largest city. We managed to find a hell of a deal here.
2BD Apartment
heat/Hot water/electricity included
2 garages
2 car off street parking
fenced yard

$1045/month. With a two year lease, we were able to move in with first month rent free, just had to come up with security. The thing is.. Im in a very nice area...

Ive seen slums here looking for 1400.00/month NOTHING included for a 2BD in the worst building possible....

Definitely look around where ever you are... you might find a great deal in a desirable area that you might not even think of!  

[Shinigami Unity]

I managed to find a very nice apartment in the part of town I wanted to live in (near my first job and school). Unfortunately, it's about $40 more than I can afford ($440 with no utilities paid).

Luckily enough my boyfriend offered to get on the lease with me and pay the extra $40 - so that I could rent a 2BD (I have visitation with my kids and they need a place to stay). I think I ended up looking at 12 different apartments - with 3 different applications.

The less expensive apartments relied heavily on credit score and the amount of time I'd spent at an employer. Since I was laid off in January (and since then I have two part time jobs instead of one full time), this disqualified me. I am also filing for bankruptcy due to a whole lot of other crap.

Now I have another question: how the heck do you people make enough money to pay for that much rent?!

The most I've ever made is $12/hour. $1000 rent would be more than 50% of my monthly income (rent is supposed to be 30%). You people must be awesome or something. biggrin  

[ThisEmptySoul]

my spouse works at a computer help desk... so when people have problems with their computer, they call there and my spouse helps them through it. I forget how much per hour that pays, but things in the IT field generally pay decently because there's a lot of demand for workers. A job like my spouse's only requires {at a minimum} a high school diploma {or equivalent} and preferably some experience with customer service.  

[Shinigami Unity]

I'm going to college for an IS degree. Most jobs around here like your wife's would require a 2 year degree or equivalent experience... and pay about $10-12 an hour. Which I think is a rip-off.  

[Shinigami Unity]

I just wanted to update - in case someday, somewhere, someone reads this thread. 3nodding

I'm moving on 4/4 to my new apartment. HOWEVER~

By Thursday the Red River is going to crest at somewhere between 39-43 feet. This means that all of Fargo is going to be underwater. All of my belongings are in a garage. Since I don't have flood insurance I am totally screwed. I've been helping with the round-the-clock sandbagging in order to build up some good karma... or something....

If anyone reads this - please feel sympathetic for me. crying