renting an apt?

Question

when renting an appartment, what percent of your monthly wage should be spent?
max?
min?

what other factors should be taken into concideration when going to rent an apt?

this will be my first apt, i rented a house, and off of ppl i knew,

Answer 1

your rent should be 20% of your monthly wages...if you make $2000 a month, it should be $400.

Answer 2

Make out a list of what you are spending on a monthly basis now, like food, clothing, transportation, all necessities. When renting the apt. will your utilities be included. Take that in to consideration, and depending on your climate, how is the heat and air set up. Upstairs apts are sometimes too hot in the summer and I've known people who were charged utilities that were also on a shared hook-up so the landlord was ripping tenants off, not telling them about it. Get ahold of the utility co and they can give you ave rates for the past 12 months on that address. Make sure you document and take photos of the apt before you move in so if there is any existing damage, you aren't at fault and look in to apt rental insurance (this is important) to protect your property if stolen or damaged for some unforeseen reason. Once you have done all this, see how much money you have left and go from there. Make sure you have enough to set aside monthly for possible emergencies too. I speak from experience. Good luck and have fun.

Answer 3

Actually the Government says that housing shouldn't be more than 28% of youe gross monthly income.