which one should i do?

[mwallace056]

 rent a house or move in a apartment? which one would be better?

 

[Norachan]

Wow, so many things you need to take into account here.

Are you renting or buying? Living alone or sharing? Going to live there long term or just a year or so? Taking all your cats with you?

You also need to think about location, is it a good neighbourhood, close to work or school, affordable etc etc.

Before you make any decisions go and look around lots of houses and apartments so you get an idea of what is available and at what price. The more you see the clearer idea you'll have of what will suit you.

 

[mwallace056]

thinking of living alone and becoming a crazy cat person just kidding, for now i am going to rent, yes i am planning on taking my 5 cats with me, i know i need to find a place that allow 5 cats. probably few years

 

[tara g]

I think it depends on how much space you need, places that allow pets and how many (one apartment I lived in allowed 2, another allowed 3... I had 3 pets in both apartments ... 2 black cats that look alike to a stranger, 1 being scared of people he doesn't know, is easy to pass off as the same cat :lol3: Though they'd both lay in the 1st floor window and the apartment manager would walk by everyday, and knew we had a dog, but she never said anything about it), price range, pet fees (one apartment was $300 per cat... I smuggled in a cat!!) etc.

I'd rather have a house, because of a yard. But only having cats you probably don't really need one. Utility bills on the space would be something to consider - a house is probably bigger than a 2 bedroom apartment (1 bedroom for cats! ). There are a lot of places to look online and compare prices of apartments and homes in your area for rent. Good luck with your search!

 

[swampwitch]

With 5 cats, you might have better luck getting a house than an apartment.

My advise: don't rely on just Craigslist or other on-line ads; check property management companies in your area, too. They have websites with up-to-date rental listings. Property managers might not always be great, but they do tend to follow the law more than landlords.

Prepare a tenant's resume to hand out - the internet has a lot of advice on how to make one. But don't put how many cats you have on the resume, don't even mention it. Prepare an additional few pages with photos of your cats with their names and a brief veterinary history underneath. If your cats get immunizations, put that on there with the dates. List their medical checkups history. The point is to show you have the funds to pay the rent and take care of your cats.

Make appointments to see places to rent, and try to get to know the people doing the showings. (He or she very likely could be your future property manager, and often the person doing the showings has a lot of say about who gets the place.) If you are interested in the rental, ask for an application and give them your resume. If no application, give them the resume without the cat portion.

Fill out the application (if there is one) asap, and return it along with (another) resume. If they ask how many cats on the application, then include the photos and medical history at that time. If the application does not ask how many cats, wait until you have a face-to-face interview to bring up the cats, talk about them and show the photos then. Mention how well-behaved and well-taken care of they are.

If you have provisions for your cats in your Will, or if you have a friend or family who would take your cats if something happened to you, then by all means mention that. Landlords / property managers don't want to deal with a tenant taking off and they have to deal with 5 cats.

(We all know here that you wouldn't do that, but it happens.)

Lastly, offer to pay a pet deposit for each cat. Some places have laws against that, but it's nice to offer.

Bottom line: don't bring up the number of cats until you have to. When it does come up, be prepared with the kitty head shots and vet visit list. And try to get the landlord / property management to like you. We have successfully rented houses that initially advertised "no pets" using this method. Good luck!

 

[swampwitch]

p.s. Five cats cat be pretty off-putting to property managers and landlords. You might want to mention (if it's true) that you will not be getting any more pets of any sort while living there. When we moved with 3 cats, I was very blunt that 3 is our limit, and that we were not going to get more animals. I said that we have the number of animals we can properly care for, something like that, which was true.

p.p.s. Make sure the medical history shows dates of spays and neuters. This shows it's less likely your cats will spray the place.

 

[kittymomma1122]

House vs Apartment.  I have never lived in an apartment. My daughter has lived in both as rentals. They both were leary of her two cats. With the apartment garbage and water bills were included and she did not have to shovel or do any lawn maintenance. With house she had to pay electric, water, and garbage. In a city there are laws about shoveling walkway/sidewalk before 700am and it was her responsibility. She also had to mow the law and if not done the city does it and gives you a bill. When she is going to college full time and working these were things she could not handle and still get to sleep. I think it depends on how much money and time you have.

 

[denice]

There are pros and cons with both.  With an apartment no lawn care or shoveling, also usually have dumpsters which makes dealing with large amounts like moving boxes easier, rent is usually cheaper.  Down side to an apartment, more likely to have to deal with noise from neighbors and parking is often an issue in complexes.

 

[Willowy]

It's very difficult to find a rental that will allow 5 cats :/. Apartment buildings are almost always run by large management companies, and they aren't flexible at all. A private landlord is more likely to allow pets, but it's still not something landlords are thrilled about.

I assume this wil be in a few years, not soon, right? Honestly, if the housing market in MN is anything like the market here in SD, I'd recommend that you save up a down payment and buy a place. You can get a small house cheap enough that the mortgage payment will be less than rent, and you won't have to worry about the pet issue. There are a lot of first-time buyer incentives you can use.

Work on your credit while you're young; if your parents are willing (and good at paying their bills!), have them add you as a user on one of their credit cards so you can start building credit. If you buy a car with payments, have your parents put you down on the loan. You can't do it yourself until you're 18 but they can add you before that. If you are over 18, get whatever credit card that will accept you, and use it frequently for small expenses, just make sure to pay it off every month. Try to get some utilities in your name, and be sure to make the payment promptly. That helps build credit too.

 

[mwallace056]

i am planning moving out in a year. thanks for the advice

 

[swampwitch]

I assume this wil be in a few years, not soon, right? Honestly, if the housing market in MN is anything like the market here in SD, I'd recommend that you save up a down payment and buy a place. You can get a small house cheap enough that the mortgage payment will be less than rent, and you won't have to worry about the pet issue. There are a lot of first-time buyer incentives you can use.
 

This is a very common misconception. Home ownership is generally much more expensive than renting, even if the monthly payment is the same or more. I recently wrote about this so I'm just going to link it here.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/292859/house-options-advice-needed#post_3698076

I agree that it's going to be difficult to rent with 5 cats, though.

 

[Willowy]

Eh. . .I think I'm paying a lot less than I would pay for a similar house for rent. After all, the rent has to cover the landlord's payments!

I bought my house in town for $83,500. I put 10% down but there are programs that can reduce that. The current monthly PITI (principal, interest, tax, insurance) payment is $667.67. The inspection costs were less than $1000 and the closing costs were rolled into the mortgage. I can deduct my interest and property taxes from my federal taxes.

I doubt I could rent a place this size for less than $800-$1000 a month, in fact, that's what I'll have to charge if I choose to rent the place out rather than sell when I move out. The renters will have to mow the lawn and remove the snow.

Yes, repairs are a thing (my garage door just collapsed :/), yes, you are stuck in one place, yes, the bank owns the house until it's paid off. I don't know how to get 7% returns on any investments; my bank pays less than 1% . Yes, you might not sell at a profit, but at least you got to live there for the same as/less than rent without having to put up with a lot of silly landlord's rules .

There are a lot of reasons to rent (flexibility in moving, not wanting to deal with maintenance, etc.), but in this area, buying generally costs less than renting. My mother is in the process of buying a house for my brother to live in. It should save money in the long run, by all the ways we've figured it.

I don't think the housing market is like this everywhere, of course. But I think the OP lives in a rural area of Minnesota that is very similar to where I live. So it could be the better option if he is planning to live in the house for at least a few years. And, of course, possibly the only option if pets are desired. Most landlords in my area don't allow any pets, much less 5.

ETA: also (and this has happened to friends of mine several times), when you rent the landlord can make you move out anytime after the lease is up. If his kids want to move in? If he wants to remodel it and rent it out to higher-income people? If he sells it to another investor who wants you out? You're outta there. That kind of lack of stability would drive me crazy.

 

[mwallace056]

thanks for the excellent advice everyone