Two Cars with an Apartment

"thedevilinside" (thedevilinside) 01/21/2016 at 18:45 • Filed to: None

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Later this year I’ll most likely be moving and will need an apartment. As I have two cars, one of which will need to be stored inside I have to think about what to do. Currently one car stays in a pole barn while the other is in use. I do not know where I will be geographically yet.

Options I have come up with:

Rent apartment that has a garage. One car in it, one in street/drive. Severely limits apartment choices.

Rent any apartment and find a storage place. Not sure on cost but most affordable ones would probably not have any electricity if I needed it.

Sell a car, unlikely.

Rent a house/room in a house. Maybe, but I’d like a place of my own and renting a whole house may be a bit much for me.

Buy a house. Not ready for that.

Who has multicar experience in an apartment, any tips?

Eberle-Hills-Cop > thedevilinside 01/21/2016 at 18:50

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Make sure you ask if its allowed to work on your cars in the parking lot for one. And if you’re in an area that snows be sure to be prepared to move your shit around if it’s a parking lot situation that needs plowing.

deekster_caddy > thedevilinside 01/21/2016 at 18:50

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If you are renting in a rural area you might get lucky, someplace parking isn’t an issue. But if you are near a city you aren’t going to be as lucky. Renting a storage unit out of the city is pretty much the only way I know of. Most self storage units are pretty reasonable once you get away from the city.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > thedevilinside 01/21/2016 at 18:53

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You can make it work. I lived in both Chicago and Milwaukee with two cars, as well as my current place in a small town.

In Chicago I did have to limit my search because I wanted off-street parking with my apartment. So one car was in that spot, the other was on the street. One car was stored over winter, so then the street car got the parking spot.

In Milwaukee I had an apartment with a garage, that also had a large parking lot for additional cars. I still moved the fun car to storage for winter, because that’s how I roll.

I currently again have a garage, and also an assigned spot outdoors. I’ve moved the fun car to storage, but my truck is still sitting outside because this apartment is tiny and I have too many boxes in the garage for storage to fit the truck. The fun car is small enough it fit, by the way.

they-will-know-my-velocity > thedevilinside 01/21/2016 at 18:55

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Rent a house with roommates that has enough parking for all. I have avoided apartments due to my constant vehicle swapping the last few years.

I suppose you could see about renting an apartment “for two” like you have a partner and then use the two parking spaces, as it should come with two. You may not be able to swing that rent though.

You may just ask when you’re renting, I need a small apartment but I need it on my lease that I get two parking spots. And then negotiate on your normal rent for the second space.

Seems reasonable but property managers are asshats usually so...

Future next gen S2000 owner > thedevilinside 01/21/2016 at 18:59

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Check complexes. You may be able to rent another garage through someone on site who isn’t using it.

Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] > thedevilinside 01/21/2016 at 19:04

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I had to choose from this list about a year ago. I picked 5 out of spite. (bad rental experience)

Shane MacGowan's Teeth > thedevilinside 01/21/2016 at 19:12

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Depending on your definition of affordable, a storage unit with power hookups isn’t TOO bad. Probably less than the garage add on for apartment rent, depending on the apts.

thedevilinside > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver 01/21/2016 at 19:47

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This sounds like what I’ll end up with, thanks!

thedevilinside > Eberle-Hills-Cop 01/21/2016 at 19:49

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Had not thought about the snow removal, that’s a good point.

thedevilinside > Shane MacGowan's Teeth 01/21/2016 at 19:50

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I’ll look into them and see when the time comes. I was worried they would be $300 a month or something.

thedevilinside > Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] 01/21/2016 at 19:50

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Since I posted this I checked some rent vs buy calculators and if I find a good place that might work out too. How was the first year?

Shane MacGowan's Teeth > thedevilinside 01/21/2016 at 19:55

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It depends where you are of course, but around here they’re about $150, for a car sized one.

deekster_caddy > thedevilinside 01/21/2016 at 20:20

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When I bought my house we had been looking at apts in the city, rent was about the same as a mortgage payment so we decided it would be better in the long run to get started building equity in something instead of throwing it away with rent. Plus I got a great garage.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > thedevilinside 01/21/2016 at 22:37

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I did the two cars with an apartment thing for a while. Did option 1. It was a bit harder to find a place, but I actually found several after searching a bit. Cost was only about $100 more than similar apartments so it beat renting a storage. After moving out I rented a whole house by myself with a two car garage for only $100 more than the apartment. Depending on the area you might be surprised. I was paying $1050 for a detached 1500 square foot 3 bedroom house.

You might be able to find a good roommate as well. One of my coworkers met a guy at the track with a modified SC300 just like his and they’ve been renting a 3 bedroom house for a few years now. One bedroom for each of them and the other is full of 2Jz motors in various states of assembly.

thedevilinside > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 01/21/2016 at 22:54

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All of these sound like they would work for me. Maybe wherever I end up I’ll find a roommate. Two guys who get along in a house could be better than alone in an apartment.

thedevilinside > deekster_caddy 01/21/2016 at 22:55

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I will certainly look into this, I’ve been looking and I think it will be a bit before I could afford a down payment but I could save and try to do it as fast as possible.

deekster_caddy > thedevilinside 01/22/2016 at 02:25

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It helps to have a 2nd income maker along for the ride, but even solo there are smaller places or condos that have a garage that could make a good bachelor pad...

Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] > thedevilinside 01/22/2016 at 10:33

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Our first year was great. Some takeaway notes

1. I didn’t have a huge budget, so I didn’t get some of the things on my wishlist, but I’m glad that I didn’t go overboard and become house poor. (No garage or basement, but the driveway extends to the back so I can fit 7 small cars on it.)

2. I had to budget an extra 5 grand or so in closing costs on top of my 10% down payment. (Houses in the GTA are stupidly expensive btw!)

3. Renting will often have included utilities. Don’t underestimate the cost of utilities! I am lucky enough to have a room rented to a family member that covers these costs. My utilities can run upwards of $300/mo

4. Having your own house with your own rules is a kind of peace-of-mind that really makes a rental feel inadequate as a “home”.

5. Having a second income really helps. I went in halfsies with my GF of many years.

6. I bought a “flipped” home, so the extra I paid up front in the house cost, allowed me to do virtually no maintenance on the house all year.

7. Did I mention I can fit 7 cars on my cleverly paved driveway? I’ve got 4 on there now :)

thedevilinside > Jarrett - [BRZ Boi] 01/22/2016 at 18:44

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Thanks for all the tips. I think I’ll be splitting it in about 2-3 years, so that would help a lot. Maybe I’ll rent for a couple and save for down payment and when a second income comes into play a house will be an option. But I need a garage for the SS in the meantime, the T-Tops aren’t fully water tight.

thedevilinside > deekster_caddy 01/22/2016 at 18:45

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Second income may only be a couple years away, so that is a good point. I could save hard for a bit and the start looking.

deekster_caddy > thedevilinside 01/22/2016 at 22:20

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My wife and I bought our house together before we got engaged. We knew it was going to happen (getting engaged/married etc), but it’s kind of a risky thing to pull off if you aren’t _really sure_ of the 2nd income bringer. She thought I was a little nuts about the whole finding a garage thing, but went along with it. I’m so glad we did. Not only have we been together for 15 years, but we’re still in the same house and I’m still happy with the garage!

thedevilinside > deekster_caddy 01/22/2016 at 22:33

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I can see myself on this exact path, glad it is working for you!