Yea, stupid title, but none of the previous threads (nor my old threads in Chit Chat) are entirely successful so I need to get some serious advice from a Lounge crowd.

Here's the basic situation: I'm currently in a dorm. By the Fall 2010 semester, hopefully August, I will be living in a house/townhouse/apartment off-campus. I am currently searching for places. I am not asking for you to find me listings, what I am asking is advice and opinions about certain communities and living conditions in the NCSU area.

If you had a pleasant experience somewhere, I want to hear about it.
If there's a place you'd never let anyone you know live at, please tell me.
If you think apartments are viable, tell me why, and maybe recommend some.
If you think houses/townhouses are better, tell my why, give some advice on communities/areas and recommendations.
If there's a company/community/development you think I should avoid altogether, tell me!


Also:
Random housing advice for first-time off-campus living.
Tips or generalizations as to what you need to do when handling a lease, or even looking at one.
Should you sign a lease ahead of time?
What should you look for in a home?



My situation, which is optional but preferred that someone will give me direct advice:
-3 guys looking for 3Bed 2+Bath.
-Proximity to NCSU important, preferably on Wolfline. At least one, if not two, will not be able to have a car, but will have bikes. I have a car and will be using it, but the concern is for them.
-If you think there's a way to do this where I won't need to find a place on the Wolfline, tell me. So far shuttle services from certain communities seem like they would be slow or not covering good schedules (or that was the opinion someone gave me).
-I'm currently looking at communities on Gorman St. mostly--Brent Road, Kaplan, Hunter's Creek, Falcon Ridge, but also some much crappier ones that I'm worried may not be good. I'd like to be on Hillsborough St. for proximity to the Court/Thompkins, but a lot of the areas were questionable.
-General advice. Look, I'm new to this shit and I need everything I can get.

So yea, anyone? I know most of you have lived off campus in Raleigh at some point, and many currently do, so it stands that TWW is going to be my best source of advice.

3/26/2010 3:11:14 PM

dude you're making this way more difficult than it is

3/26/2010 4:09:05 PM

I appreciated that same comment from you in Chit Chat.

Some people prefer a more controlled method than putting their finger down on a dot and saying "here!"

3/26/2010 4:36:55 PM

I put my finger down on a dot that's near fast food, sorority houses and a grocery store and say "here!"

3/26/2010 4:43:17 PM

Fine then, I'll make this even easier.

Impressions on:
Wilson Property Management
Chelsea Realty Group <--- appointments next week
Jansen Properties <--- scheduled appointments this weekend (Brent Road)
Durbin Group <--- scheduled appointments this weekend (Hunters Club & Brent Road)


I mean, this thread is meant to be also about other things housing related... I mean comon', I've never bought utilities or signed a lease or furnished a goddamn house. I just want the TWW Experience Wheel.

3/26/2010 5:44:32 PM

Quote :

"I've never bought utilities or signed a lease or furnished a goddamn house"

utilities: pay the bill

signing a lease: use a pen

furnishing a house: get cheap shit off tww and craigslist

3/26/2010 6:25:06 PM

I live on Hunter's Club Dr. but rent from Rhyne Management (with whom I've had a lot of positive experiences, not least the lovely lady that handled our lease...but I digress).

The neighborhood is solid. There are parties occasionally and it's overwhelmingly younger people, but not so noisy and ridiculous as to be a pain in the neck. Also right near a wolfline stop, which is good, and the places are decent-sized and fairly nice. The main con is the homeowners' association.

I also liked a townhouse at Gorman Crossings, though it was mostly immigrant families, not a lot of other young college people. If that's not a dealbreaker, look into it.

Also -- and I never thought I'd recommend this -- but I sublet in Wolf Creek over the summer and it was actually alright. The apartments were decent, the pool and recreational facilities were great, and the shuttle ran as well if not better than the wolfline. Of course, a large part of the population consisted of sophomores fresh out of the dorms and I was a 24 year old graduate student, so I didn't mesh all that well with the other people. But if that's the type of people you're looking for it's not bad.

----

More general advice:

My best experiences were in houses we rented. It's nice to have your own plot that you kind of have control over.

When you tour a potential place (especially houses and townhouses), be thorough in your inspection. It's not just how nice the place looks, how awesome your pool table would be in that room, whathever. It's also how well the plumbing works, how good the insulation, heating and air work, etc. I had a miserable year in one house because I toured it on a nice weather day and didn't think to ask about the latter. Turns out, the place basically didn't have insulation. We ran up a $600 gas bill the first month of winter, and even then barely managed to keep the place warm enough to live in. We spent the next few months literally chopping up furniture from the basement and throwing it into the fireplace for warmth. It might as well have been fucking Stalingrad.

---

If this is three dudes living together for their first time off campus, I'm going to guess that aesthetics aren't a high priority. If that's right, furnish your house with whatever used shit you can find. Use TWW. Use craigslist. Use friends. Use fucking yard sales. And don't be picky at first. Initially you just need furniture. If you end up with the shittiest furniture in the world, at least it will provide the basics so you can keep looking for better shit. Under no circumstances should you actually pay more than $50 or $75 for anything. Even that's pushing it. Most things can be acquired for free from:

1) People who foolishly bought nice new shit and are throwing out their old shit, or
2) People who are moving and can't bring their shit with them.

Nothing will match. Several items will be ugly. But often it's the ugliest couch that's the most comfortable.

3/26/2010 6:48:36 PM

Another +1 for Rhyne. Ex of mine lived in a 4 bedroom house off Method and they were great.

3/26/2010 7:18:23 PM

Hmm. I, too lived in a 4 bedroom house on method. possibly the same house. I was pretty happy with Rhyne.

I was not happy about the neighbor kid that robbed us. He was like 13 at the time. So he'd be like 20 now. If they still live there, he's probably slinging crack by now, and might be violent.

3/26/2010 7:43:02 PM

i'm with rhyne as well and i've been pretty happy with them

3/26/2010 7:48:34 PM

If you're over 22, look at The Ashborough. $899 a month for 3 bed, 2 bath in a nice complex near crossroads.

3/26/2010 9:36:47 PM

don't rent from Barker Realty.

3/26/2010 9:39:44 PM

^^Would love too, but still too far away.

Okay, so I have a viewing with the Durbin Group (just a guy, Matt Durbin, and his wife, basically) on Sunday. When I talked to him on the phone he was EXTREMELY helpful and informative, and way down to Earth compared to half the people I talked to. I'm viewing a 3BD 2.5BA in Hunter's Club and a 3BD 2BD on Brent Road.

Here's what I want to know:

-What questions should I ask that may not normally get asked?
-What are the essentials I need to look for in terms of quality?
-What should I ask about, information-wise?
-Should I talk to neighbors at all? (probably not going to see any so not a big deal)


Unless I really like one of these properties I'm going to be viewing with Jansen Properties, who I understand owns a large part of Brent Road.

3/27/2010 1:30:46 PM

you are treating getting a one year lease at an apartment like you are looking for a surrogate mother to carry your baby....

3/27/2010 1:54:40 PM

IF you live on Champion Ct. don't get one of the townhouses that backs up to the frat ct. parking lot. Sucks ass when there's a party and you need to sleep or study. The ones I am talking about are all the way at the back. Also expect to be surrounded by Indian students that will smoke outside (can't open your windows) and talk on cell phones all night.

Avery close was ok, but if you live on the 1st floor expect to hear it whenever the upstairs neighbors stay up late playing video games or having a party. Thanks to the curving parking lot a drunk driver is fairly likely to hit your parked car.

3/27/2010 2:05:58 PM

I realize this thread is about some housing noob going way overboard on deciding where to live next year....which I am not. Hear me out, maybe I can offer some insight.

I am in outside sales, which is currently salary+commission, but will move into straight commission starting at the beginning of July 2010. I have been in this position since July 2009. I have competition from several direct manufacturing sales reps, large distributors, and local distributors. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each:

Direct Advantages: Immediate knowledge of new technology, no middle man mark up, one shipping bill (paid by manufacturer or buyer of goods), access to larger range of non-commodity items, control inventory, have access to many distributors that can effectively sell their goods which increases market share, and set prices of commodity they manufacture.

Direct disadvantages: Typically have 1-3 sales reps per region (i.e. southeast, mid-atlantic, northeast, etc.) limiting the number of accounts they can successfully manage/cold-call, lack physical customer service or physical technical service available to or affordable for smaller users or altogether, are sometimes not trustworthy because they will go in behind their distributors that sell their commodity to one account in large quantities (i.e. they missed a big account, and have found out about it through a distributor selling their particular product) which leads to the distributor not selling their product anymore, have too many distributors selling the product ultimately driving the set price down through deviations, possibly rely on distributors to actually sell the product, and competition from other direct sources.

Large distributor advantages: have access to other commodities that go hand in hand with other manufacturers (poor example- grocery stores sell milk as well as cereal), get direct pricing, many locations regionally or nationally easing the shipping burden of buyers with multiple locations, personal service either customer or technical, many sales reps that are able to cover a broader territory, access to multiple manufacturers of the same commodity allowing to keep prices in check, service programs that smaller companies can't offer and direct providers can't match in price or value, and experts of many many commodities as opposed to one or a few.

Large distributor disadvantages: smaller local distributors creating price wars (think Michael Scott Paper Co vs Dunder-Mifflin), direct mfg's going in behind and stealing business, limited access to all of the mfg's (you won't find Harris Teeter name brands in Food Lion and visa versa), can't truly set prices because it's based on both supply and demand, territory management, and tough growth prospects in slower economies (this is true for direct as well really)

Local distributor advantages: Typically a good ol' boy setting where the seller and the buyer know each other for years (this does happen at all levels, but mostly at the local level), local folks are right down the street and can be used in emergencies, if the local guy buys at high enough volumes then there is no shipping charge to the end user, and access to both direct mfg's and large distributors.

Local distributor disadvantages: easily beaten in price, array of commodities, array of technology, lack of trained staff, low cash flow, etc etc etc.

This is what I have noticed in my six months, I am sure there are plenty more that need mentioning. The way I am setting myself apart as a sales person is this: I go after the big accounts right now while I am new. The big accounts, if I land them, will take care of me while I am new and building a customer base. The money made off of those allows me to focus free time on smaller accounts that get me higher margins. I build up big accounts, I would like to have 5-10 of these, then get 20-30 medium accounts. If I lose 1 or 2 big accounts, the 20-30 medium accounts keep me afloat while I go after new big accounts. I don't really waste time on small accounts simply because they basically pay for breakfast or something really small.

I will say this, if you can't get a big account in the first 6-8 months (assuming you have cash flow that you can ride this long) you could be in a world of trouble. If you can get one, it will really make going after the others a lot more enjoyable and less stressful. It's simply just very exhausting wasting any time on anything other than big accounts in the very beginning. You work just as hard on the medium sized accounts and see 1/3 to 1/36 of the money in my situation.

If you have any other questions, you can PM me. I hope this helps in the slightest!

3/27/2010 2:35:08 PM

^^^Maybe you don't realize it but a lot of people don't have the resources (money money money moneeeey) to make mistakes that could easily be avoided by learning from other people's experience. I don't have the money to throw away on a bad housing experience, and I don't have the luxury of just going head-first into things and fixing it later--I have to be careful that I can even stay in the position I'm in. What the hell is this TWW, how is it so hard to understand that money is money.

Also, I thought this was Lounge but it's getting more shitty posts than in Chit Chat.

3/27/2010 3:13:16 PM