VMRCVM Housing Budget?

[Pandacinny]

This past weekend, VMRCVM had their annual open house. Part of this was a discussion on housing for prospective students. I enjoyed the panel and thought it was informative, but am still a little worried about finding a place.

Where I live currently, I'd be hard-pressed to find a decent 2-BR apartment that allows me to have both my dog (60-ish lb shepherd mix) and my cat in an okay area for under $1000/month. And that's really, really pushing it - probably more like $1200 - $1500/month.

Looking at Craigslist and a couple other sites, I'm thinking I can find an okay 2-BR place for between $500 and $800/month near VMRCVM. When I talked to some people who were in the area for undergrad, though, they were really surprised at how MUCH I'm willing to spend. Is my price range ridiculously high? Is it possible to pay that much in rent alone if your only income is student loans, or am I going to be deciding between rent and food? I just want to make sure I'm not spending WAAAY too much, since I don't have a good feel for the area.

Thanks so much for any replies!

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[fargeese]

Things are cheap here. I don't even pay that much for my mortgage for my house. If you are looking for a 2 bedroom and don't want to share, you should be able to find something in the 800 or under range, depending on where you live. And there are no "bad" areas, just some that are full of undergrads. I live in C'burg so I don't know those neighborhoods well. I charge my roommate $400 a month plus half utilities and that is about average. This area was a pleasant surprise after renting in Richmond price wise. I would recommend though that you try to keep your rent + utilities below 600 in order to live happily on student loans, but it is really up to you. I do fine, but I have a roommate bringing in $$ each month too to offset my mortgage and utilities, so you might consider doing it, even if (like me) you'd rather live alone.

 

[Pandacinny]

I should have included this in my initial post, but didn't think about it. The only reason I'm looking at 2-BR places is that my SO is planning to move with me. We're hoping he'll find a job right away and that we can split rent. Since job markets nationwide are pretty tough right now, though, I'd like to find someplace that I can cover for a few months by myself just in case he doesn't find anything quickly. Otherwise, I'd be looking for 1-BR places/studio apartments/roommates, too!

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Yep, a 2 br runs anywhere from 575 to 800/mo (the swanky ones!) not counting utilities (which are generally on the cheap side in an apartment). Small houses and trailers run about 600 to 1000/mo (total). I've lived modestly on rent ranging from 550 to 625 plus utilities (budgeting 900 to 1000 per month total for all living expenses), it's definitely doable. Paying upwards for 800'mo ALONE on rent per month rent on student loans is not doable unless you bike everywhere and eat ramen all day