So, I’m moving once again. This will be my third major move, and fourth time looking for an apartment. I’m not completely inexperienced when it comes to looking for an apartment.
I’m moving a moderately far distance - about 500 miles. It’s just far enough that I can’t pop over at will to look at places. As a result, I’ve been gathering a list of apartments off Craigslist to investigate on my upcoming trip out.
I’ve been noticing over and over again that potential landlords are mentioning the presence of a refrigerator and stove as a perk of the apartment. I don’t get it - I expect all apartments to come with a fridge and stove. I’ve never noticed this trend in my previous rental experiences. Now, a private washer/dryer, dishwasher…those I would expect to be optional and perks of a property.
It’s not the majority of places that advertise like this, but enough of them do that it has caught my attention. Although, I would say that the majority will say something like “Appliances included” Is this normal? Are stoves and fridges something that would be considered a perk by most people looking for a rental property?
Maybe I’m just starting to get frustrated with this entire process - it still amazes me how many people just list the city as the location, rather than giving me a hint as to where in the city the property is. Honestly people, it’s a free ad, no one is charging you for the length of the listing - just throw an intersection or neighborhood in there to give me a ballpark idea of where this place is…sheesh…
Of course, that being said, I have no idea what I’d be doing without Craigslist. I have no idea how people used to move in pre-internet days.
Be very careful with Craigslist. A lot of scammers hang out there.
That said, I didn’t think it was normal for apartments to include a fridge. The most common standard appliance I’ve seen: A stove/oven. Second most common: A dishwasher. Where I’m currently living, we had the option of renting a fridge and/or a washer & dryer, for an additional ridiculous monthly price. We brought our own appliances.
It probably depends on where you’re moving and how nice the apartments are. Fridges might be common in more expensive apartments; but that’s just my guess.
I have lived in three apartments - two were what I would consider mid-range, and one was a scary, tiny dump - all included these appliances, even though the ones in the dump were the mini-versions (under-sink fridge & two-burner stove). Is this regional? I’ve been renting in Northern California and in Nevada.
My best friend is a renter who has lived in NY-NJ for a long time - mostly in Brooklyn & Hoboken - and all four of those apartments also included a refrigerator and stove. I would be shocked at any place that didn’t.
I think it depends on the neighborhood. When we lived in South Carolina, we had to buy our own refrigerator when we bought our house and when we sold it we took it with us. Here in Florida, all appliances except the washer/dryer are usually included.
I’ve always considered a fridge, stove, and dishwasher to be standard in an apartment. A private washer/dryer is a bonus feature (though I’ve always avoided renting in places that didn’t offer it).
Slightly off-topic, but very much worth noting: there is a rash of scams plaguing Craigslist right now targeting people precisely like yourself (looking to rent, but not able to view the potential home beforehand). Listings will be posted at excellent prices, you’ll call/email, get all set up, and fork over a month’s rent plus another month as a deposit. You’ll get a fake set of keys and then when you’re ready to move in realize that you’ve been had.
Also, a similar one is running right now in which people are posting ads for “Homes for Rent” - except the rental home is actually a foreclosure. You get everything in order, move in, and then a month later find out that you’ve accidentally become a squatter.
Both of these scams are exceptionally bad in the Atlanta area, where my fiancee and I are currently trying to find a home to rent. Do everything, everything in your power to verify absolutely everything related to your potential listing before making a move. SoulMate and I were nearly taken in by this one, and she’s a residential real-estate agent. They’re slick.
Wow, this is really interesting. A dishwasher is standard? Really? I haven’t had a dishwasher since I moved out of my parents’ home. I’ve been looking rather longingly at places that advertise with them. I really want my own washer and dryer too - although I’ll cave on that one if I have to.
I had no idea about the fridge situation though - I’m currently in Pennsylvania, but I used to live in Missouri. My sister is in Delaware and I helped her look for places out there. I’m pretty sure the places we looked at all had fridges/stoves included. I’ll be moving to Wisconsin though, which is where I’m seeing all the “appliances included” ads.
Regarding scammers - I hadn’t heard about the newest scams, but I’m actually going to take a trip to Wisconsin on Monday to look at places in person and sign a lease. So, I should be able to meet my potential landlord and see the property first hand. It’s my only chance to do so though, so I’m furiously watching Craigslist to get as many potential places as possible. Hense my frustration over people being vague with the location.
Against all odds, I’ve always had luck with www.rent.com whenever I’m looking for apartments. I don’t take the site as the be-all-end-all of my search, and once I find a place I likes the looks of I make a lot of phone calls to the place, look up the reviews of the complex on google, etc.
As far as a fridge goes, I would be very angry indeed if I rented an apartment only to find it did not include one. Under what circumstances would it even be an option to live without a refrigerator?
It seems that refrigerators are standard in apartments in the midwest and surrounding areas (for the most part) and are not in the west (again, for the most part). We learned that the hard way when we moved from Ohio to California. The landlord didn’t mention no fridge until we were moving in and seemed somewhat suprised that we were suprised that there wasn’t one.
Both a fridge and stove (cooker)/oven have been standard in most every place I have rented:
Northern Nevada, Tbilisi, Dubai, Prague, Mauritius, Wellington (N.Z.), Malta and others.
I’ve lived in three states (FL, LA, and now GA, and all the rental places I’ve seen or visited have fridges and stoves. Fridges and stoves are amongst the most expensive and hard to move around pieces of furniture that are needed if one is going to cook in the house (or heck, a fridge is needed for medications). I wouldn’t understand how someone wouldn’t provide one with the rental unit. Washers and dryers are usually included (if it is a house), or in an in-site laundrymat (if an apartment complex).
Dishwashers vary by place, and that doesn’t bother me as I grew up without one (and prefer it that way).
My current duplex lacks dishwasher, washer, and dryer (older style house), but the laundrymat is 2 mins driving/10 mins walking. Again, I don’t care for dishwasher. It seems, though, many people think they NEED those appliances, as my current place was vacant FOR MONTHS before I snatched it, and the apartment next to mine has been vacant for 2 months after my neighbor moved away in Feb.
Tiblisi :eek: Wow when were you in Georgia? Me 98/99. When I was there I stayed in Chiatura for a while and apart from the lack of appliances I only ever had electricity for one hour per day and water for one hour a day… never simultaneously!!!
The only time you had hot water was when you accidently peed down your leg trying to find the toilet in the dark
IME (mostly in the South), apartments always come with fridges and stoves, and ones built after 1980 or so always come with dishwashers.
On rental houses/trailers, however, anything goes. I’ve seen old houses rented without any appliances at all (including stoves), and many rented without a fridge. These were inevitably little-tiny 50 year old houses that rented for almost nothing. Presumably some past occupant had stolen the stove and the landlord wasn’t having that happen again.
Gwuh? I’ve lived in California for six years, and never heard of a single apartment without a fridge. Oregon before that, and the same. This is in Berkeley/San Francisco, so it might be regional, but I’d be shocked if an apartment didn’t have a stove or fridge. Dishwasher and washer/dryer I consider desirable, but in SF, hardly ubiquitous.
I don’t believe I’ve ever looked at an apartment that did not include a refrigerator and a range. I don’t remember ever looking at one that didn’t include a dishwasher, though I might have. I remember only a few that included a washer and dryer, though most of the ones I’ve seen did include hook ups for same. For the record, I’ve lived in eight different states and I’ve been looking at apartments for a long, long time.
I don’t mind washing my own dishes. I do mind having to devote a few hours on a weekend to sitting at a public laundromat. If I had kids I imagine the laundry could take all day. Don’t even get me started on bringing home clean laundry in bad weather. I need laundry in the building.
I’ve also never seen a rental without a fridge. In fact, around here you often see houses for sale with all appliances included (even the w/d), which was not common back east at all.
I think it may be different, but I don’t see the downside of the laundrymat (except perhaps what you mentioned, if the weather is really bad). Granted, I live by myself, and I’m a student, so usually I take something to read to the laundrymat. I’m lucky in that my nearest laundrymat is close to many places to eat and a nice area to just walk around, so sometimes I do that too. In fact, I’m happy that I have to go to the laundrymat because it puts me away from home and other distractions. Shrugs Even if I do 3 loads at a time (not the case, usually one or two), I’m there no more than 2 hours.
And as to kids… for a while when I was a kid (10-ish), the washer broke in my house… Until it was fixed/parents got a new one, we went to the laundromat. I don’t remember it being bad. It was an adventure, out of the house! My mom would bring newspapers to read, buy some snacks, and buy me a comic book. And I’d help her with the loads… And again, it was not “all day” thing… maybe 2-3 hours.
Similarly, my next door neighbor had a tot and she didn’t have washer/dryer either. She was luckier and did her laundry at her boyfriend’s house.
Another thing is location. I live in a collegetown… Lots of single young people that are out renting apartments. No kids, probably little laundry to do. But hey, they pass up the chance to live in the nicest neighborhood cheaply because of lack of w/d, better for me. FTR, washer and dryer adds up about $200 per month to the rent in my neighborhood (I looked around).