Quick decisions
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 20.09.07… are not something I can make. Yet here I am, two days away from moving, and still no final dicision on an apartment. The great news is that I have options, the bad news is that they’re running pretty even in the race.
To set the stage, both apartments include covered parking, both are located in Rochester Hills. They both have full kitchens (refrigerator, stove, dishwasher) and one bedroom / bathroom. Both are more livable than other apartments I’ve visited, neither are rated very high on ApartmentRatings.com (nothing in this area is), and still both have received high commendation from a randomly selected neighbor (I hung around till I could nab someone privately).
Northridge
Floorplan: The Franklin (750 square feet)
Details: Northridge is half a mile off of Rochester Road, about 20-25 minutes from work. Not too bad. The apartment in question is 750 square feet, with a small living room, large bedroom, and full size laundry room in the unit. It’s towards the middle of 8 second floor apartments. While “market value” is way out of my price range, with a 13 month lease it’s just over my “budgeted” amount (a little over is fine, especially if it’s worth it). Residents can break the lease if their job moves, so I’m not as worried as I might be about committing to a longer lease.
Entrance: Not a very nice entrance, you have multiple doors (including one that’s locked), a convoluted stairway, and a bit of hallway between the car and the apartment door. One door I can understand; Detroit is known for its crime, and Northwood has suffered its fair share (according to ApartmentRatings.com). The hallway isn’t in good condition, and seems really hot (it’s 80+ degrees outside right now).
Kitchen: L-shaped layout, everything is new-but-cheap. Cabinets are white pressboard with plastic knobs, everything looks nice and clean. The layout is acceptable, and there might even be room for a very small table and two chairs, but that could be pushing it. I’d probably have to replace all the knobs on the cabinets.
Livingroom / Diningroom: Or in my case, livingroom and office. It’s rather smaller, really, with a small balcony overlooking a small grassy hill ending in pine trees and a retaining wall. Outside the noise from Avon road is rather noticeable. The walls are clearly newer than many apartments, and there is a closet or two for coats and such.
Bathroom: This is where the age starts to show. The floor is linoleum, and the tile around the bath tub is stained in places. The cheapness of the cabinetry, no matter how clean and white, shows as well… one of the doors is sagging and doesn’t shut. I’m not sure if this is what one can expect of the kitchen or not.
Laundryroom: Washer and Dryer are included! Very nice setup, with plenty of space for extra storage or a laundry table. The washer is new, the dryer not so much. I’m assuming they both work fine, though I admit I didn’t try to do a load.
Bedroom: This is fairly large in comparison to the small living room, and includes two shallow closets and a nice setup for my bed, antique trunk, treadle machine, and sewing area.
Woodside
Floorplan: One Bedroom Deluxe (782 square feet)
Details: Woodside is located within a small sub-set of roads just off of Rochester road, about 15-20 minutes from work. A twelve month lease is dirt cheap, and a 6 month lease is still lower than my planned cost. They do not allow breaking the lease, so 6 month is probably the only safe way to go. The apartment is 780+ square feet, and features a giant living room, open kitchen, and a smaller bedroom. Laundry is down the stairs on the first floor, and costs $1.25 for the washer, and $1.00 for the dryer (cheaper than any other place I’ve visited where the laundry was communal). There are only three other apartments rented out in the same complex, so things are very quiet, and since it’s set back from any major roads, there’s no traffic noise at all. It’s also a corner unit (only four apartments upstairs anyway, so it’d have to be), so that’s either good for noise, or bad for heating, I’m not sure which.
Entrance: Very old looking with an odd pinkish print on the wallpaper, but it’s a pretty straight forward setup with one outside door that locks, and a stairway (it does squeak) up to the front door of the apartment. Inside the apartment, there’s a great place for a coat tree right beside the kitchen door and opening into the living room.
Kitchen: Older, but clean. The cabinets are wood, and all seem in very good condition. The setup is parallel, with the refrigerator and stove on one side, and the sink and dishwasher on the other. The sink side opens up with a small raise counter into the livingroom, letting in even more natural light, and keeping things nicely open. The odd part is the cabinets… they are also placed in this opening, so it ends up being about a foot tall, and from the other side you mostly just see the backside of the cabinets!
Livingroom / Diningroom: Very large, with a nice sized balcony as well, overlooking a grassy yard ringed by a few trees, and more grass and more trees in the distance (other apartments flank this area, to the left they take up a fair amount of the view, but not too bad). I suspect the carpet is new, if not very nicely taken care of. There is a row of closets along the back wall, all of which have doors painted a hideous brown. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to paint them, so replacement (keeping the old ones in storage till I move) is the only option.
Bathroom: Same size, I think, as the Northridge apartment, but the floor is actual tile, and the bathtub is moderately cleaner. The cabinets are a good size, and the toilet, while obviously much older, seems in good condition.
Laundryroom: Shared, like many apartments, but it’s not a problem according to the neighbor I talked with. Cheaper than any other shared laundries I’ve seen, but certainly not as convenient (or cheap) as having them in the unit.
Bedroom: Smaller than the bedroom at Northridge, but has a giant closet. Larger, even, than the closet in my current apartment (there also extra storage space just outside the apartment, something that’s common in apartments where the laundry is shared).
Conclusion?
So far, I have no conclusion. I prefer the setting of Woodside, but the laundry setup of Northridge. The size is great at Woodside, but Northridge has newer appliances. I might lean towards Woodside’s almost park like location, but don’t know if I should pass up a “good deal” at Northridge.
I’ve talked with neighbors at both locations, and both of them had been there for awhile. At Northridge, it was a nice elderly woman from Indiana, who’d been at Northridge for 20 years and loved it. At Woodside, it was a middle aged man who’d moved from one Woodside apartment to another in the same building, and urged me to sign a 12 month lease since I’d like it so much I wouldn’t be leaving, and I might as well save the extra $70 a month off. One of the guys from work also lives at Woodside, and highly recommends it as well.
Here’s your chance to let me know! Submit your vote (along with reasons, if you so wish) with the online form, email me directly, or post below. Because of the tight timeline, I have to close the polls at 3:00pm EST, Friday, September 21 (today!). Thanks!
Having lived in places both w/ and w/o in-unit washers and driers, I have to say go with Northridge.
Coin-op laundry is a horror. When you can find a washer that works, all the driers will be occupied. When you finally get a drier, it doesn’t work, or you have to drop $5 into it just to get reasonably dry clothes.
I will never live in a place without hookups again.
Woodside has some nice things, but those low cabinets defeat a lot of the advantage to the kitchen layout. It does have a bigger living room and a walk-in closet in the bedroom, though.
If it were me, I’d go with Northridge. I like the look of it and the floorplan better, and the in-apartment washer and dryer would be a big deal for me.
So I missed the deadline. Which one did you go with? I feel your pain! We’re deciding between two houses. Except our pain is costing us between $200-300,000.
mediaboxAdvanced
Grandma says, “Go where you will feel the safest.”
Grandpa says, “Grandma’s right, again!”
Matthew says, “Go to the first one (North Ridge) because it’s prettier.”
Lisa says, “Pray about it.”
Dad says, “I don’t know. It’s your decision.”
Mom says, “Advantages either way. Try deciding and see if you are disappointed…”
Lydia is still upstairs.
You know our computer, so all we saw were the smaller pictures.
We’ll come visit you either place.