Finding An Apartment

Finding an Apartment Project
For this project, you will need to decide what features are important to you for finding your first apartment. Imagine
yourself ready to move out of your parents house or away at college and needing a place to live. Where would you want
to be? What things do you need and want in an apartment? How much can you afford?

Background Answer these questions in complete sentences. Change your answers to bold or another color
1. Where do you want to live and why? (City/country, what state/area?)
I want to rent an apartment in Massachusetts since that state has one of the highest salaries for a journalist.
2. Will you be living with a roommate, multiple roommates, or alone? Why?
Ill be living with a roommate, since I know I couldnt pay for the rent by myself.
What are the 5 most important features or amenities of an apartment for you? Use the PDF Apartment
Checklist for ideas and write 1 sentence for each to explain why it is important.
1. Bathrooms- I would not want to share a bathroom with everyone else in the building.
2. Electricity- It would be required since lighting and all of the electronics require electricity
3. Gas- Gas is needed for heating and cooking, if it is appropriate.

3. Find TWO apartments that meet many (or all) of your qualifications and fill out the information you can on this
table.
apartments.com, forrent.com
zillow.com or trulia.com just set filters to RENT
NOT rent.com (you need to make an account)
Search your college newspapers classifieds section too!

Qualification Apartment #1 Hancock Village Apartment #2 Alta at the Estate
Location Brookline, Massachusetts 100 Woodview Way, Watertown, MA 02472
Number of
Bedrooms
1 1
Number of
Bathrooms
1 1
Square Footage 784-827 square feet 827 square feet
Rent amount $1645-$3300 $1348
Length of lease
(month/year)
Per month Per month
List apartment
features
Air Conditioning
Balcony
Hardwood Flooring
Some Paid Utilities
View
Patio
Refrigerator

Balcony
Cable Ready
Dishwasher
Elevator
Garden Tub
Hardwood Flooring
Microwave
New/Renovated Interior
Oversized Closets
Smoke Free
Some Paid Utilities
Stainless Steel Appliances
Washer & Dryer In Unit
Deck
Garbage Disposal
Patio
Refrigerator
Security deposit Please Call $0
Layout of the
apartment
Two floor building Testament
Pictures

Utilities included
(water, garbage,
electric, heat, etc.)
(Information not provided) Cable
Dishwasher
Disposal
Dryer
Efficient Appliances
Extra storage
Gas
Microwave
Refrigerator
Washer
Climate control
Parking None Yes
Pet policies Cats or dogs, under 40 pounds Cats or dogs
Other costs (Other information was not provided) In-building entertainment maintenance
Other interesting
information
There are no colleges within 1 mile from this
apartment.
It looks like the stereotypical apartment of the
60s
Roommate(s) or
Alone
2-3 2-4
4. Now compare your two options. Which one would you prefer to live in? Why did you decide on this apartment?
- I would prefer to go to the Alta at the State apartment due to the provided information. I chose these two due to
their low price, which other, similar priced apartments sometimes dont have a bed.

5. Will you be able to afford this apartment?
a) Assume you earn the median salary for high school graduates working full time - $29,950 per year.
i. First, find your net income by multiplying your salary by 0.75 = 22462.5
ii. Then, find how much you will take home per month by dividing that number by 12 = 1871.875
iii. Next, find what you should spend for rent by multiplying that number by 0.30 = 561.5625
iv. Is the rent for the apartment less than what you calculated in the line above? The price of the
apartment was more than double than what I should spend.
v. If yes is this a good idea? Why?
vi. If no could you afford the apartment with a roommate? Probably, depending if the guy decides to
pay rent or not.
b) Assume you have the average income of a full-time college student, which is $14,400 according to the
National Center for Educational Statistics.
i. First, find your net income by multiplying your income by 0.75 = 10800
ii. Then, find how much you will take home per month by dividing that number by 12 = 900
iii. Next, find what you should spend for rent by multiplying that number by 0.30 = 270
iv. Is the rent for the apartment less than what you calculated in the line above? I dont think even I
could afford paying for rent here if I am only allowed to use $270.
vi. If no could you afford the apartment with a roommate? I do not think even with 4 people with
this kind of spending money could afford this.
c) Assume you make the median salary of a person in the career field youre interested in. Look up the salary
on https://www.bls.gov/ooh $55,940 (Median from all states)
i. First, find your net income by multiplying your salary by 0.75 = 41955
ii. Then, find how much you will take home per month by dividing that number by 12 = 3496.25
iii. Next, find what you should spend for rent by multiplying that number by 0.30 = 1048.875
iv. Is the rent for the apartment less than what you calculated in the line above? The rent of the
apartment is a few hundred dollars more than what I should be paying.
vi. If no could you afford the apartment with a roommate? I think I can pay for it with a single
roommate.

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