Do you rent or own?

[kingcrazylegs]

Yea, so I am wondering what people's living situation is from a financial perspective. In your reply you can also mention if you have roommates that share the expenses and such.

We rent a duplex, its the upstairs of a house, and we share the yard and the garage with the tenant downstairs.

[Brookers13]

i rent a 1/2 a house...its $720/month ...supposed to be like $860...but they think its only 2 people and one cat but in reality theres 3 of us (me, my sister whos 24, and my friend Shelley-21 who I've known since I was 4) and 3 cats

We split everything 3 ways...which works out well..usually...except when the gas company fucks ya over and "estimates" your gas bill at $210!!!! (i'm slightly bitter about the gas company)

In June, I'm moving all my stuff to storage because our lease is up in July and I'm going to Europe before that....

My sister is going into her final year of Veterinary Medicine and said she feels like my "mother", so she is getting her own apartment with her 2 cats and Shelley and I are moving to a building closer to campus. I'm excited to be within walking distance of things finally

So ya...theres the long story of my living arrangements.

[Elizabeth]

I'm living with my mom. She says she doesn't care if I stay free as long as I'm going to school or have a job.

[Diorama]

I live in a two bed/two bath apartment (though you already know that anthon !) with a roomate. Though she's definately waaay more my friend then roomate. I pay$675 incl Heat and hotwater. More money than I at first wanted to pay. My friend and I were looking for a place around the $1000 range but we fell in love with this place instead. The view is fantastic, cool landlord, outdoor swimming pool/bbq area, ensuite washroom, two balconies, across the bridge from downtown...yup so i'm happy. It really helps having a roomate. Don't think i could afford to live alone at this present time. It's nice to split hydro, internet, phone and tv with her.

[Joker]

I have my own 2BR apartment. $670/month, water incl, plus electric (all electric) and cable bills.

Its pretty big, about 1000 sq ft and I have the whole thing to myself. Though I could really use a roommate to split the bills. Its getting a bit out of hand and I'm having a hard time saving any cash at all because all of my paychecks go to my rent/utils

But the nice thing- quiet neighborhood, my own driveway to park in (three apt. house), and I'm close to the city and a major highway interchange (i-95/i-695). Also, I'm 5 minutes from the airport, but amazingly not in a flight path! :D

[ScarlotteDorian]

as anthon has kind of mentioned. we live in the upstairs of a century old house in seattle. it's a one bedroom for $675 a month. we're in reach of absolutely everything..cool restuarants, bars, 24 hour eateries, movie store, bus stops, i-5, UW and lake union. we agree that it's probably one of the coolest places we've ever lived.

[space virgin]

^ Much better than Everett, no?

I live in something somewhat similar, an apartment on the back of a house in a nice, quiet neighborhood within a couple hundred yards of Lake Washington. I pay $650 and that includes all utilities except phone and cable. The layout of my place is kinda funky but it's home and I love it. It's also played host to several couch surfing tpunks too!

[omisan]

Currently, I'm in a 4bdr flat in a 3-unit Victorian in the Alamo Square neighborhood of San Francisco. It's actually a 3bdr and I live in the enormous living room (with its own doors and stuff, like a huge bedroom) with 12' ceiling and windows overlooking a park... $667 a month. I have to share the place with 3 roomies, where we share one nice but disgustingly dirty bathroom. Utilities are cheap - since I'm rarely around, my roomie only charges me about $20/mo for gas/electricity, and I don't use the landline and get wireless DSL from my friends downstairs.

Things change financially soon. My upcoming place is a 2bdr 1 bath in Hayes Valley - a bit less space but with a huge outdoor area, free laundry, and a MUCH cleaner kitchen and bathroom, and only one roomie. $862/mo (owch!) but it should be a lot nicer, and 2bdrs aren't as economical as a 4 anyway. The other unfortunate part is I'll have more utilities to pay (electric/gas, DSL, satellite TV, garbage, landline) but this place is also going to be much more of a "home."

[d_fresh]

I own a 3brdm house...mortgage is just over 800 a month.

[MolsonGirl]

Live with the fam, have to give em $100 every couple of months

[bluepea]

Jake and I have a three bedroom/1 bath unit in a three flat with full dining room, all h/w floors, tile bathroom and 12' ceilings and pay $850 with no untilities included (which is why I'm the light nazi!). No great views or anything (unless you consider the wall of the building on either side of us a "nice view") and we only have a small backyard, but we are within walking distance of a lot. We're in an Eastern European area, but like a block down it becomes very middle Eastern (Little Bombay ), so we have a variety of restaurants, delis, bakeries and shopping. There is a branch of the Chicago river down the street a few blocks with a great trail along it, and there are a lot of great shopping amenities around. I absolutely love our location and think we were quite lucky to find this place.

[tumblezweedz]

We're doing a little of both at the mo. Just bought a 100 yr old farm on Whidbey Island (I haven't seen it, so don't ask for details!) that we're renting out 'til hubby retires from the AF (5 yrs) and then move into. 3 bdrms, 2 baths for us and 5 kids. Yikes! Good thing they're used to sharing rooms!

But we're currently living in a rented B&B in Germany - 4 bdrms, 6 baths (!) and lots of other space both inside and out. There's a trout fishing river at the bottom of our garden and pastures for sheep and horses on either side. The view from our computer desk is the river, train track (the train stops in our village, very handy) and a small mountain covered in deciduous and coniferous trees. Oh, and it's snowing at the moment. And the balcony is one of those "swiss" style, slanted up and then flat, with carved wood railing and (when it isn't snowing) flower boxes tumbling over the rail. The whole house doesn't look like that, just some of the balconies. We have a guest room, incidentally... It's quite luxurious after our 1100 sq ft 2 bed/1 bath flat (3rd floor, walk up) in Vilnius. But that was an awesome location and absolutely a stunning apartment, with 3 1/2 m ceilings, parquet floors, double doors with transoms inside and a great view of the city. Something to love everywhere.

Nothing much to do in the village - there's a hotel with a nice restaurant and pizza and bar, but that's about it. But we're an hour by train from Trier, and 2 from Koln, so that's handy.

[MeTurk]

Jaysus! That reminds me I have to pay the electricity bill today.

I live in a four bedroom house with a housemate (who's really beginning to get on my tits in a big way) It's one of those shity estates that they just flung up quick and never finished the landscaping so the middle of it is a tip! The guy who built it did a legger and is wanted for tax fraud or someit' like that. My rooms ok it has a bog and electric shower but their's no sound proffing atall in the house so I can hear music clearer in my room than they can dowstairs where it's being played and I'm not just saying that I sware to God there's some sort of acuostic voodoo going on in the house. It's €550 a month the heatings done by oil so that's another €250 (2-3months) and then another €100 a quarter for electricity.

I'll have the opertunity to buy an apartment over the next year or two, might even buy two and get renters to pay for both.. Muhahahahaha.. I'm in with the builder so I can get a good deal. A morgage though?

[MissChick]

Well my dad owns three houses: I live in one (with my best friend), my brother lives in the one next to me (with his g/f and baby), and then my parents live out in the country....My brother and I just have to pay all the bills that go with the house....my dads just waiting on the property to sell within the next year or so.....so for now my bills are minimal we pay roughly $450 at the most each for me and my roommate...that covers oil, utilities, cable, internet, phone so pretty good living

[TERI]

I rent the basement of the house i live in. and my stepdad rents the upstairs along with 3 other boarders. I pay $550 a month, while he pays absolutly nothing I don't really like living here, but as soon as I have enough money to travel with, i'm outta here!!!

[NitemareHippieGirl]

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[NitemareHippieGirl]

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[mark-0]

I made the choice of staying with my parents while I went through uni and I might stick around for (hopefully only) a year once I graduate (in a few short months) because my fiance still has a couple years left and so there probably won't be enough money coming in from her to pay for much. I plan on working full-time but don't have any ideas about jobs or anything yet, so I could still end up with no money. But it doesn't matter. I'll move out when I can.

[futboller]

I live in a dorm at the university, for now, though moving into an apartment next fall. The upside is I don't actually have to pay rent every month. The downside is that I don't have any money with which to pay rent, anyway.

[The Monsignor]

I own a pretty large house (2400SF/223m2) across the street from a small lake, leaving me with a bit of a view...

It's in the suburbs (near Olympia Washington, the state capital) and I got in at (I guess) the right time, so I pay about 1100/month including earthquake insurance and taxes and all..

I have a roommate (my ex-sister-in-law) that doesn't pay rent, but helps out greatly with my kids, the chores etc, as well as contributing to food and utilities. It's not bad, but it's an awful lot of commitment when you want to travel.

With my kids, however, it's simply not possible to get anything big enough for them any other way...