What do you people think about apartments?

**Axion004** · 08-12-2012, 08:59 PM

I am 24 and am living in my fourth apartment:

Apartment #1: Rent was overpriced($700/month) and one month after I moved in the apartment became infested with ants and so I left to live elsewhere.

Apartment #2: I lived in for six months while living abroad in New Zealand. This one was okay.

Apartment #3: Was better than apartment #1 however unfortunately all my neighbors had families with screaming children. Many of the residents were from India and have four or five people jam packed into a single apartment.

Apartment #4: I have lived here two weeks now and every single person in the unit is quiet (!) except the neighbors above me who may be married. They come home at night and have stupid arguments in which the male usually yells at the female. About thirty minutes later the male goes and watches television for three to four hours. These people have a strange habit of running the sink for about six hours a day(no, I am not exaggerating). They run the bathroom faucet every 40 minutes.

Apartment living =

Loud(Noise of water running, screaming children, hum of televisions, arguing)
Cheap

Overall, it is probably not very good for an INTJ or INTP.

**venuspop** · 08-12-2012, 09:56 PM

I always thought that an apartment is confining. Haven't lived in one before but I hear that it comes with all sorts of privacy issues. There's that common area over which one have no control and you can't breakfast in the garden. Also, there's hardly any running space for your pets.

I don't know if its any good for an INTJ or INTP but I do know it isn't good for me.
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**eagleseven** · 08-13-2012, 01:07 AM

I live in the first floor of a small, ancient duplex. Rent is cheap for the neighborhood, neighbors are damn near silent, and I've got a small city yard. Bugs are a continual issue, and having my neighbor use all the cold water is annoying, but living in this neighborhood close to work would require a $200k loan and down payment.

The walls are lathe and plaster, so block sound and WiFi very well.

What other options are there that doesn't require buying property?

**hopeandpray** · 08-13-2012, 06:36 AM

I have lived the past two years in an apartment and have much preferred living in a house. The thing about an apartment though is the ability to live alone. I could not afford to live in a house without housemates.

**Rationality** · 08-13-2012, 07:38 AM

I've had a somewhat nomadic lifestyle so I've lived in lots of different apartments. Apartment rating sites are useful.

Quite a few of the large apartment complexes I've lived in were very nice: quiet, well-maintained, reasonably priced, and friendly management. The worst place I lived had screaming kids, barking dogs, and a sleazy manager (I actually got into a yelling match with the guy). There was one that wasn't unbearable but had serious issues, like the neighbor's bathtub water literally leaked down into mine from the ceiling and maintenance couldn't figure out how to properly fix it so they kept having to return, and there wasn't any assigned parking so if it was late you couldn't get a space. Price doesn't seem to determine quality either, some of the best places were around $600 and some of the worst were around $1400. If anything it seems to be determined by the culture of the region.

**Warrior** · 08-13-2012, 11:41 AM

I lived in a total of two apartments in college and for about a year after that. I also moved into another apartment when I moved to a different city for work. The last time I lived in one was about 12 years ago. I didn't have any trouble with noise. My biggest issue was that all the covered garage space was taken, so I had to move my car somewhere when a hail storm came through.

**Merle** · 08-13-2012, 10:08 PM

I absolutely love living in apartments. I have my own little space, with no-one to bother me, but I can hear people living around me and I feel safe and like I'm sort of in a little community (with little to no interaction required!).

I have always thought apartment living to be kind of perfect for an INTP...living alone in a house has too much potential for total isolation - I would never even leave or talk to anyone, which in turn would mean I'd have no reason to maintain normal organization etc. I'd pretty quickly become one of those people that live in the spaces between ceiling high piles of magazines. In an apartment building I still feel connected to the world and society but, at the same time, I can have my solitude.

stasis · 08-13-2012, 10:32 PM

It's kind of irritating. Worrying about keeping noise down after a certain hour, having to deal with landlords' minions wanting to enter at random, paying monthly toward nothing rather than toward ownership.

Hell is other people.

**Apex** · 08-13-2012, 10:37 PM

This depends on your general area, were I live in Virginia, our apartments are usually very hush especially by the beach were all the old retired people are. I don't really care about were I live as long as I have the essentials, but i do like a certain amount of quiet, especially at night.

**Selene** · 08-13-2012, 10:41 PM

This may seem a little old fashioned but a reasonably good apartment will contain some basic elements of fengshui IMO.

Interior: Higher floor, good ventilation, uncluttered, clean, and organized
Exterior: Combination of ecology and amenities, reasonably peaceful and away from busy energy

**Bullwinkle** · 08-14-2012, 02:24 AM

---------- Post added 08-14-2012 at 07:28 PM ----------

I currently live on 6 quiet beautiful acres with the bush behind us on a dead street. I was trnasferred toanother city for 4 months for work for 4 months and had to live in a small apartment with a 4 m square balcony near the intersection of 2 main roads.
AAAARRGH!

**Ricardo Diaz** · 08-14-2012, 11:31 AM

Fuck living in apartments. I hate them, having lived in them for most of my life. I'm living in one right now. They are uniformly always like hotel rooms without the room service and hookers. And it doesn't matter how good the walls are, unless you have special soundproofing done- there will be no privacy. Especially if you stay awake all night as I prefer doing- sound travels farther and easier. I can't even use the phone without putting the AC on full blast because I'm pretty sure the nosy neighbours could hear me, just as I can hear them.

I wouldn't even want to live in a "house" with other houses too close to it. I want one with total privacy and a heightened vantage point, yet not more than an hour's drive from a big city.

**themuzicman** · 08-14-2012, 11:38 AM

	Originally Posted by Axion004 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Apartment living = Loud(Noise of water running, screaming children, hum of televisions, arguing) Cheap Overall, it is probably not very good for an INTJ or INTP.

I lived (with wife and kids) in a 3 bedroom apartment in a building that had 6 over 3 floors. It was fairly quiet.

What I LOVED about apartment living was no home maintenance, no lawn maintenance, no messing with leaky basements or things that break.

**JYFly** · 08-16-2012, 01:04 AM

It's great, not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I've been living in my first apartment for a year now, and I've had no problems. My neighbors are quiet and don't bother me at all. I chose this one based on the scores at apartmentratings.com; I had a feeling that paying a lower rent for a lower rated apartment wouldn't be worth it.

As long as I don't have loud neighbors, I could see myself living in apartments for a while. Luck is still probably a big factor though, and I'm anticipating the first experience that will make me want to rent a house instead.

**mieu** · 08-17-2012, 05:18 AM

	Originally Posted by Axion004 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I am 24 and am living in my fourth apartment: Apartment #1: Rent was overpriced($700/month) and one month after I moved in the apartment became infested with ants and so I left to live elsewhere.

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I like living in an apartment for the same reasons muzicman laid out, but I'm so ready for a condo about now. I really want a garage where I can have a workshop, somewhere to barbecue, and a garden.

**CrudeHypothesis** · 08-17-2012, 06:26 AM

So, I have my own apartment, and it's awesome. My own bed, desk, balcony, kitchen, bathroom and shower which I don't have to share. I'm so good with my money that I don't even have to have a job either. As a matter of fact, I make a profit.

**SarcasticVlad** · 08-18-2012, 12:32 PM

I've been living in apartments my whole life. The higher the floor, the better. I enjoy watching the city from the balcony. I'd like to own a big penthouse some day.

**frontaLobotomy** · 08-18-2012, 02:11 PM

I like having a garden, and neighbours that are usually seperate by a brick wall, or better yet live in a semi/detatched property. I've lived in apartments before, I can't say I enjoyed the experience all that much, I'm not a fan of low ceilings. That being said, I did have a place in a lovely converted townhouse before, but the rent was very high.

**ppu6502** · 08-18-2012, 02:20 PM

They can be great if there is good noise isolation.

I don't really like taking the elevator, though - because then I have to interact with a human being.

**Undead Bonzi** · 08-21-2012, 05:28 PM

Bonzi's Rules for Apartment Living After Years of College Experience:

#1. Apartments suck in general. Don't expect amazing.

#2. Never live on the ground or 'garden' level. The roaches and mice never pay their share of the rent and your shit is the easiest to jack. Also, peeping toms suck. 2nd floor or better always. This means you can maybe leave windows open when you are gone.

#3. Never live in an apartment that does not have a solid deadbolt separate from the door latch. A security chain is great as well.

#4. Get two dowel rods cut to put in the track of your sliding patio door. One needs to be long enough that the door can't slide open while the rod is in the track. The other needs to be about 4" shorter, this lets you have the patio door open a crack at night but it can't be forced open far enough for a person to enter.

#5. Sniff the air in any prospective apartment hallway. If it reeks of ethnic food it means hordes of children will run rampant all day and all night. It also means loud arguments and loud music. The smell of pot will also indicate the arguments and music.

#6. Look for older apartments in decent parts of town. They will have older residents and better neighbors. Too close to a college campus and its parties and cops all night long. Too far out in suburbia and its a cracker-box made of spit and cardboard with a thin layer of nice finishes so they can charge you more. Too far into the ghetto and you have to worry about theft/fire constantly.

#7. Do apartment visits/walk-through at the end of the business day or after school when people are getting home. Best time to gauge noise levels.

There are a bunch more but I'm bored now.

**Fujimoto** · 08-22-2012, 10:19 AM

	Originally Posted by Merle To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I absolutely love living in apartments. I have my own little space, with no-one to bother me... I have always thought apartment living to be kind of perfect for an INTP... In an apartment building I still feel connected to the world and society but, at the same time, I can have my solitude.

Pretty much this!! Possible downsides to living in apartments... it's a tossup between screaming kids, thumping bass, and
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. Your mileage may vary.
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Pro tip: if the apartment complex has children's toys and bicycles scattered around the grounds, don't even bother with the walkthrough.

**fearofchange** · 08-22-2012, 11:24 AM

I'm very sensitive to noise, I'm currently living in the city hearing airplanes pass-by all day and all night and they are quite the annoyance; for this simple reason I have decided to look for another place of rent.

Also, apartment living is much more ideal for me then living with a roommate if I had to choose.

08-13-2012, 10:32 PM	#8
stasis Administrator MBTI: INTP Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 11,540	It's kind of irritating. Worrying about keeping noise down after a certain hour, having to deal with landlords' minions wanting to enter at random, paying monthly toward nothing rather than toward ownership. Hell is other people.
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08-13-2012, 10:37 PM	#9
Apex Member [15%] MBTI: INTP Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 633	This depends on your general area, were I live in Virginia, our apartments are usually very hush especially by the beach were all the old retired people are. I don't really care about were I live as long as I have the essentials, but i do like a certain amount of quiet, especially at night.
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08-13-2012, 10:41 PM	#10
Selene Veteran Member [84%] MBTI: XXXX Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 3,383	This may seem a little old fashioned but a reasonably good apartment will contain some basic elements of fengshui IMO. Interior: Higher floor, good ventilation, uncluttered, clean, and organized Exterior: Combination of ecology and amenities, reasonably peaceful and away from busy energy
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08-14-2012, 02:24 AM	#11
Bullwinkle Member [02%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 95	---------- Post added 08-14-2012 at 07:28 PM ---------- I currently live on 6 quiet beautiful acres with the bush behind us on a dead street. I was trnasferred toanother city for 4 months for work for 4 months and had to live in a small apartment with a 4 m square balcony near the intersection of 2 main roads. AAAARRGH!
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08-14-2012, 11:31 AM	#12
Ricardo Diaz Member [20%] MBTI: INTP Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 803	Fuck living in apartments. I hate them, having lived in them for most of my life. I'm living in one right now. They are uniformly always like hotel rooms without the room service and hookers. And it doesn't matter how good the walls are, unless you have special soundproofing done- there will be no privacy. Especially if you stay awake all night as I prefer doing- sound travels farther and easier. I can't even use the phone without putting the AC on full blast because I'm pretty sure the nosy neighbours could hear me, just as I can hear them. I wouldn't even want to live in a "house" with other houses too close to it. I want one with total privacy and a heightened vantage point, yet not more than an hour's drive from a big city.
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08-12-2012, 08:59 PM	#1
Axion004 Member [24%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 986	I am 24 and am living in my fourth apartment: Apartment #1: Rent was overpriced($700/month) and one month after I moved in the apartment became infested with ants and so I left to live elsewhere. Apartment #2: I lived in for six months while living abroad in New Zealand. This one was okay. Apartment #3: Was better than apartment #1 however unfortunately all my neighbors had families with screaming children. Many of the residents were from India and have four or five people jam packed into a single apartment. Apartment #4: I have lived here two weeks now and every single person in the unit is quiet (!) except the neighbors above me who may be married. They come home at night and have stupid arguments in which the male usually yells at the female. About thirty minutes later the male goes and watches television for three to four hours. These people have a strange habit of running the sink for about six hours a day(no, I am not exaggerating). They run the bathroom faucet every 40 minutes. Apartment living = Loud(Noise of water running, screaming children, hum of televisions, arguing) Cheap Overall, it is probably not very good for an INTJ or INTP.
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08-12-2012, 09:56 PM	#2
venuspop Core Member [912%] MBTI: ISTJ Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 36,505	I always thought that an apartment is confining. Haven't lived in one before but I hear that it comes with all sorts of privacy issues. There's that common area over which one have no control and you can't breakfast in the garden. Also, there's hardly any running space for your pets. I don't know if its any good for an INTJ or INTP but I do know it isn't good for me. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
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08-13-2012, 01:07 AM	#3
eagleseven Core Member [155%] MBTI: XNTJ Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 6,201	I live in the first floor of a small, ancient duplex. Rent is cheap for the neighborhood, neighbors are damn near silent, and I've got a small city yard. Bugs are a continual issue, and having my neighbor use all the cold water is annoying, but living in this neighborhood close to work would require a $200k loan and down payment. The walls are lathe and plaster, so block sound and WiFi very well. What other options are there that doesn't require buying property?
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08-13-2012, 06:36 AM	#4
hopeandpray New Member [01%] MBTI: INTP Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 17	I have lived the past two years in an apartment and have much preferred living in a house. The thing about an apartment though is the ability to live alone. I could not afford to live in a house without housemates.
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08-13-2012, 07:38 AM	#5
Rationality Member [30%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 1,238	I've had a somewhat nomadic lifestyle so I've lived in lots of different apartments. Apartment rating sites are useful. Quite a few of the large apartment complexes I've lived in were very nice: quiet, well-maintained, reasonably priced, and friendly management. The worst place I lived had screaming kids, barking dogs, and a sleazy manager (I actually got into a yelling match with the guy). There was one that wasn't unbearable but had serious issues, like the neighbor's bathtub water literally leaked down into mine from the ceiling and maintenance couldn't figure out how to properly fix it so they kept having to return, and there wasn't any assigned parking so if it was late you couldn't get a space. Price doesn't seem to determine quality either, some of the best places were around $600 and some of the worst were around $1400. If anything it seems to be determined by the culture of the region.
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08-13-2012, 11:41 AM	#6
Warrior Core Member [228%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 9,140	I lived in a total of two apartments in college and for about a year after that. I also moved into another apartment when I moved to a different city for work. The last time I lived in one was about 12 years ago. I didn't have any trouble with noise. My biggest issue was that all the covered garage space was taken, so I had to move my car somewhere when a hail storm came through.
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08-13-2012, 10:08 PM	#7
Merle Veteran Member [55%] MBTI: INTP Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 2,217	I absolutely love living in apartments. I have my own little space, with no-one to bother me, but I can hear people living around me and I feel safe and like I'm sort of in a little community (with little to no interaction required!). I have always thought apartment living to be kind of perfect for an INTP...living alone in a house has too much potential for total isolation - I would never even leave or talk to anyone, which in turn would mean I'd have no reason to maintain normal organization etc. I'd pretty quickly become one of those people that live in the spaces between ceiling high piles of magazines. In an apartment building I still feel connected to the world and society but, at the same time, I can have my solitude.
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08-16-2012, 01:04 AM	#14
JYFly Member [28%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,128	It's great, not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I've been living in my first apartment for a year now, and I've had no problems. My neighbors are quiet and don't bother me at all. I chose this one based on the scores at apartmentratings.com; I had a feeling that paying a lower rent for a lower rated apartment wouldn't be worth it. As long as I don't have loud neighbors, I could see myself living in apartments for a while. Luck is still probably a big factor though, and I'm anticipating the first experience that will make me want to rent a house instead.
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08-17-2012, 06:26 AM	#16
CrudeHypothesis Veteran Member [74%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 2,999	So, I have my own apartment, and it's awesome. My own bed, desk, balcony, kitchen, bathroom and shower which I don't have to share. I'm so good with my money that I don't even have to have a job either. As a matter of fact, I make a profit.
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08-18-2012, 12:32 PM	#17
SarcasticVlad Veteran Member [63%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 2,527	I've been living in apartments my whole life. The higher the floor, the better. I enjoy watching the city from the balcony. I'd like to own a big penthouse some day.
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08-18-2012, 02:11 PM	#18
frontaLobotomy Member [11%] MBTI: INTj Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 454	I like having a garden, and neighbours that are usually seperate by a brick wall, or better yet live in a semi/detatched property. I've lived in apartments before, I can't say I enjoyed the experience all that much, I'm not a fan of low ceilings. That being said, I did have a place in a lovely converted townhouse before, but the rent was very high.
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08-18-2012, 02:20 PM	#19
ppu6502 Special Snowflake MBTI: INTj Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 11,531	They can be great if there is good noise isolation. I don't really like taking the elevator, though - because then I have to interact with a human being.
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08-21-2012, 05:28 PM	#20
Undead Bonzi Member [44%] MBTI: ESFP Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,765	Bonzi's Rules for Apartment Living After Years of College Experience: #1. Apartments suck in general. Don't expect amazing. #2. Never live on the ground or 'garden' level. The roaches and mice never pay their share of the rent and your shit is the easiest to jack. Also, peeping toms suck. 2nd floor or better always. This means you can maybe leave windows open when you are gone. #3. Never live in an apartment that does not have a solid deadbolt separate from the door latch. A security chain is great as well. #4. Get two dowel rods cut to put in the track of your sliding patio door. One needs to be long enough that the door can't slide open while the rod is in the track. The other needs to be about 4" shorter, this lets you have the patio door open a crack at night but it can't be forced open far enough for a person to enter. #5. Sniff the air in any prospective apartment hallway. If it reeks of ethnic food it means hordes of children will run rampant all day and all night. It also means loud arguments and loud music. The smell of pot will also indicate the arguments and music. #6. Look for older apartments in decent parts of town. They will have older residents and better neighbors. Too close to a college campus and its parties and cops all night long. Too far out in suburbia and its a cracker-box made of spit and cardboard with a thin layer of nice finishes so they can charge you more. Too far into the ghetto and you have to worry about theft/fire constantly. #7. Do apartment visits/walk-through at the end of the business day or after school when people are getting home. Best time to gauge noise levels. There are a bunch more but I'm bored now.
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08-22-2012, 11:24 AM	#22
fearofchange New Member [01%] MBTI: InTx Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 9	I'm very sensitive to noise, I'm currently living in the city hearing airplanes pass-by all day and all night and they are quite the annoyance; for this simple reason I have decided to look for another place of rent. Also, apartment living is much more ideal for me then living with a roommate if I had to choose.
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