How we rented the first apartment in the USA: selection criteria, relocation and cost of living
'02.09.2020'
Author of the channel "Notes of an immigrant" on Yandex.Zen talks about renting the first home in the United States, moving, buying furniture and the cost of utilities in America. Further - from the first person.
We moved from my sister to a separate apartment on November 9, 2018, having lived in this way with my sister for just over five weeks. My sister, of course, was looking for an apartment, which helped me a lot.
It is not so easy for newly arrived immigrants to find and rent housing. They (we) do not yet have a credit history, work, guarantee. The number of possible options is sharply reduced, a lot of money is required for a deposit or payment for several months in advance. Many immigrants are forced to rent housing in “ethnic” areas, within the diaspora. A common phenomenon is moving into a house with immigrants already living there, who thus reduce their spending. You can also see advertisements in "Russian" groups on Facebook about renting out housing. “Russians” living in the country for a long time, who have real estate for rent, earn on their former compatriots.
In principle, our apartment in the apartment complex was found at the end of October, but it was necessary to wait until the previous tenants left, after which cosmetic repairs would be done in the apartment. Holes from nails and screws in the walls are closed, the walls are painted, the blinds, plumbing are changed, if necessary, the carpet is cleaned or changed.
We went on an excursion to the complex at the beginning of the month, looked at the territory, and also showed us the apartment. In order not to disturb the tenants, they show one non-residential apartment, beautifully furnished, by the example of which one can get an impression of housing in this complex.
The complex itself is a rather vast territory on the slopes of the hills, on which there are six streets, about twenty three-storey buildings, a "club house", which houses an office, a public hall for events, a XNUMX-hour gym. Nearby are sports and playgrounds, as well as a swimming pool.
In total, there are about 800 "units" on the territory, i.e. apartments. Most of them are "double rooms", that is, with two bedrooms. There are one, as well as separate townhouses with garage and three bedrooms. Most of the houses are built on the slopes, which is very typical of the Pittsburgh area. From the front, such a house looks like two-story, from the back there are three floors. Thus, the residents of the first floor, entering the entrance, go down to the basement, and to get to the third floor, you need to climb just one flight of stairs.
There, in the basement, which is the first floor, there is a laundry room with two washers and dryers. The price of one washing / drying is 1,5 dollars. There are no washing machines in the apartments (except for townhouses) and there is no space for their installation.
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The criteria for choosing housing were simple: a good area with a high-rated school, public transport nearby.
There is a bus stop outside our complex that goes to Pittsburgh city center. Not so close, walking about 10 minutes, but most often there is no public transport in the suburbs.
Our school district has a very high A + rating, with the district being ranked high in the state as a whole. For this reason, rentals in this area are significantly higher than in any other area with the worst schools. My youngest son just went to school in 2019, so, of course, a good school is important to us. I think this is something worth overpaying for. Our friends in another area pay almost a third less for a similar apartment, but this is a young couple without children.
How much do we pay for the apartment? With a base price of $ 940 per month, the first year we paid $ 860 per contract. The fact is that my sister rented an apartment for us, her credit history and rating are all right, she was the main tenant, and we are co-tenants. To attract such clients, companies (not only for renting real estate, but also others, for example, by communication) can give discounts in the first year. The contract was signed for a year, but if you pay immediately for five months, one month was free. In addition, the security deposit, in case of damage to the apartment, was quite small, $ 200.
A year later, we have already reissued the rent of the apartment entirely to ourselves. The price has gone up, now we pay 970 per month.
Each new tenant must, upon arrival, conclude agreements in their own name for the provision of services with utilities. Separately with the electricity company, gas, water supply, Internet provider. These companies have nothing to do with the owners of the apartment complex, these are purely your problems: contracts and regular payments. However, it happens in different ways. Sometimes you only need to conclude a contract with the electricity company, there is no gas in the house, for example, and water is free (included in the rental price). It really depends on each specific complex.
All these contracts can be concluded over the phone and the Internet, there is no need to go anywhere. Of course, it was not very easy for me, who had not yet “got my ear”, to speak on the phone in English, but nothing, I did it. When concluding agreements, they also look at your credit history. I didn’t have it, but it didn’t prevent me from concluding contracts, but the electricians and plumbers demanded to make the same security deposits. Electricians wanted as much as $ 200, which, however, a year later they simply dropped it on my account, so for more than six months we did not pay for the light afterwards. The plumbers took $ 80, which they still have. Should be returned in case of relocation and termination of the contract.
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How much do utilities cost us? The cheapest electricity. Despite the presence of an electric stove and a water heater (hot water in an apartment is heated by electricity), this is usually just over $ 20 per month. In the summer, due to the air conditioner, 35-40.
Gas heating. Once in the winter there was a maximum of $ 64, usually a little less than $ 50. However, in the summer they also charge $ 18 for something. By the way, I recalculated all units of measurement and exchange rates, it turned out that gas in Ukraine is twice as expensive.
We pay 30-40 per month for water. In addition, once every three months, the complex has to pay for sewage directly. The price usually depends on water consumption, in general, the same money as for water.
The Internet is very expensive when compared with Ukrainian prices, but now I'm used to it. $ 73 per month (first year they paid discount 60).
In general, for utilities plus the Internet, you have to pay about $ 200 per month.
The apartment itself has three rooms and two bathrooms: one full plus an additional toilet. The largest room is all-in-one: living room, dining room, kitchen and hallway. It also has the best part of the apartment - a large French window with a balcony.
I, of course, did not measure, but by eye a large room of 35 meters must be. There are two bedrooms, one is small, 10-12 meters, the other 16. There is a small corridor where the doors of the bedrooms and bathrooms open, as well as - a nice bonus - a pantry for food and household appliances.
The apartment has built-in wardrobes in every room, kitchen furniture, electric stove and refrigerator. There are lockers in the bathrooms. The floors are carpeted almost everywhere. All windows have blinds and mosquito nets. All furniture must be your own. Moreover, there are no ceiling lamps in the bedrooms, you need to buy floor lamps or table lamps.
Initially, we bought most of the furniture from Ikea. Three beds, a table, chairs. The lion's share of the spending fell on mattresses. Of course, it was possible to save money and at first live without furniture, on inflatable beds, as fresh immigrants often do. You could also go through the furniture giveaways or buy something at garage sales, but my wife insisted on buying new furniture immediately, and I think she was right. So many years in rented apartments, "grandmothers" with Soviet sofas and creaky beds with mattresses, on which, as in a joke, "grandfather died". It's time to end this, and moving to another country is a good opportunity for this.
Since the move, we have bought a lot of things, but the process is still ongoing.
At the time of the move, the neighbors on the site were: a couple of Americans, she is a nurse, I don’t know his profession, another couple, in their early twenties. The girl always sat at home or walked the dog, the guy worked in some restaurant. In the third apartment there are also immigrants, a family from India with a small child. Since then, neighbors have changed.
Original column published on the blog. "Notes of an immigrant" on Yandex.Zen
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