The lease on my apartment expires in August and I intend to spend a portion of the time between now and then looking for a superior option. For the most part, this place has been quite good. Located near LeBreton, it is very close to work. It also has a very good landlord, a large basement with laundry equipment, and a tolerable though flawed layout.
Important characteristics I am looking for:
- Location: either close to work (Gatineau) and reasonably close to somewhere interesting (Elgin Street, Bank Street, etc) or very close to somewhere interesting and close to the transitway.
- Relatively quiet, especially in terms of traffic noise.
- Offers somewhere secure, covered, and convenient to store a bike.
- Well laid out, particularly in terms of offering a good space for parties, as well as space for a few guests to stay over.
- Large enough that two people could conceivably live there indefinitely, without driving one another crazy.
- Good water pressure.
- Ideally, includes one bedroom and one room that will serve as a study (see #5 above).
- Ideally, well insulated and otherwise energy efficient.
- Ideally, compatible with all of my existing furniture.
- Hardwood floors and laundry gear are an advantage.
The price range being considered is about $700-800 a month, though more would be possible for a really excellent place. There was an amazing $850 option I found while searching last summer; unfortunately, it got snapped up by the one couple who saw it before I did.
Can’t really offer any advice on the hunting front, though I will be doing the same at I suppose the same time for a September occupancy, so if I find anything that fits above I will let you know (I’d be looking around Byward so no competition there)
Though I did find this, and while its old, I thought of you and wondered if you had any thoughts…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_anaVcCXg
Are you considering having roommates, or living in a co-op?
I would be happy to live in some kind of arrangement of dwellings with some common areas, but I would definitely prefer to have my own kitchen.
CCOC’s worth checking out: http://www.ccochousing.org.
I have created a wiki page to coordinate the search.
Finding Your First Apartment
THE dream: finding a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment in an elevator building with a doorman in Greenwich Village for $2,000 a month.
The reality: nearly impossible.
How to choose an apartment
The standard results from the happiness literature are that people grow accustomed to lots of living space but that we undervalue the hassle of a lengthy or stressful commute. Kahneman’s work also suggests you should spend more time with your friends, so maybe that means living near them as well. I don’t know if these results are true at all margins. Moving from a mid-sized mansion to a large mansion probably doesn’t make you happier, but the switch from a one- to two-bedroom apartment might.