Need to make quick decision! Worth fixing up?

amother

Wed, Nov 14 2012, 1:40 am

First question here, scroll down for backstory if desired:
1) Can someone help me come up with an estimate of how much I should expect to have to pay for:
a) a refrigerator/freezer and stove/oven, nothing fancy but something solid that will work for a small but growing family
b) minor repairs such as loose floor tiles, fixing cabinets
c) paint job, should it be necessary

This is a spinoff of an earlier thread I started about what to look for when apartment-hunting. DH wants to jump in feet-first but I don't want to end up losing a lot of money on this... We're looking for an apartment in an expensive neighborhood that is hard to find apartments in - people don't move around that much. We are not rich people at all, in fact our income is rather low, but IF we can find something of a deal the expensive neighborhood is worth it to us for various reasons (family nearby, nice community, close to work - saves commuting expense and time for both of us) so money is very much a factor here. Time is also somewhat of a factor as we are quickly outgrowing our current apartment and would ideally move within a few months.

We heard of an apartment available at what is considered a very good price for this area, about as good as it gets price-wise. However, that's the monthly rent that's as good as it gets. It comes with a big string attached, which is that the owner wants to rent it cheap because he does not want to be bothered with it at all - he wants someone to take it off his hands. The terms of the rental are basically "I don't charge you much, now don't ask me for ANYTHING." On an ongoing basis, that seems very reasonable to me. However, he means even to start with. And to start with, the apartment comes with no working appliances (standard around here is to provide at least a stove and fridge), plus some loose floor tiles and other minor repairs. It is also badly in need of a paint job but supposedly as long as we're willing to make the arrangements, the cost for a basic paint job will be covered by the building's co-op maintenance fund or something. And the floors are ughy old and dirty and ugly, but I guess we could live with it in ugliness - someone looking for more rent would have to do better but it seems in this case you get what you pay for.

2) Help! How are we supposed to figure out whether it's worth going to this effort and expense for this rental apartment or if we should gamble and hope for something better that may or may not ever materialize?! Not being able to find something else in this neighborhood would be a huge loss for us, especially since once we go through the hassle and expense of moving, we aren't going to want to do it again for a good long time no matter what comes up.

amother

Wed, Nov 14 2012, 2:07 am

Oh, and the owner wants an answer yesterday and says he has other offers and can we please confirm whether we're willing to accept the terms (I.e. that the apartment comes as-is and we don't bother him for anything). Obviously if anyone else offered terms like that I'd run far and fast but this is an ehrlich frum person my family knows and trusts for years and I am confident that he's not being fishy, he genuinely is looking to be nice by offering the apartment at cost and just doesn't want to lose anything on the deal by having to pay to fix it up. BUT I HATE PRESSURE!!! Of course the reason he has so many offers is precisely because this kind of deal is hard to come by in this neighborhood.

underthestars

Wed, Nov 14 2012, 3:27 am

Boy, you are definitely under pressure here! Let me start by saying, prices for some of these "handyman" specials will depend on the area you are living in. I see that repairs in NY are more expensive than repairs in Baltimore, etc. So, it is hard to give you an estimate. Also, for painting, you don't mention how many rooms, and how big the apartment is, and that will also influence the price. A question I ask you though, is, are the repairs just "superficial" or something more significant? If it is painting, etc, you can either do it yourselves on the weekends (especially now that shabbos is early, you can use motzei shabbos as well), and search for a reasonably priced handyman to make repairs if they aren't dangerous for the family, and can wait a few weeks until after you move in. As for the purchase of stove/fridge, you usually can find bargains at a sears outlet (there is also scratch & dent)--but, you need to ask yourselves will this move be long term and the cost of buying these items still offset the other goals we are trying to achieve? If not, what will you do with these appliances if you have to move again in a few years, etc? It sounds to me like if all else is good, and you really want this area, it may not be a bad "risk", especially if you already know the landlord. But, otoh, what kind of future repairs could you be at risk for? Maybe you should suggest that you will be responsible for the day to day repairs (leaky sink, toilet breaks down, etc), but serious stuff maybe he should still be responsible for (ie-burst waterpipe, heating-a/c breaks down, etc).

Good luck with your decision and I hope this helped a little bit.

33055

Wed, Nov 14 2012, 6:11 am

You can use peel and press tiles to cover ugly flooring. It is not the prettiest but it is cheap and easy to install.

How long a lease will you be given?

Call a few places to price appliances. The jewish stores frequently run deals and are often cheaper. Depending on where you are located it may even be worth your while to go out of town a bit to the Jewish stores and have them delivered. My dh recently proved to me it was cheaper to order appliances from Monsey and have them delivered an hour and a half away than to buy them locally. Make sure they are delivered into the apartment.