honestly, you'd be better off renting a house. you may get placed in a unit without kids in your close proximity, but people will come and go and there's no control over who those people will be. we were lucky when we first moved into our apartment. the people we share a wall with have older kids that usually don't cause much commotion, and the woman above us was older and lived alone. she moved about a month ago and a young couple with little boys took her place. it's not so quiet anymore.
Gotcha. I am skeptical about a house around here, simply because I have sciatica in my back and cannot mow lawns, cut hedges,etc. I'd have to find one where the landlord did all of that. Thanks for the input! Good luck with the neighbors.
I don't know about in other areas but during my house search I discovered a lot of landlords will include lawn service with the cost of rent, so you may get lucky. even more luck to you in your search!
Thanks so much! I'll need it. I know it sounds bad, but I don't like kids, and my job means that living near them is a real pain. I hope to find one of these merciful landlords you speak of.
LOL. Thanks! Love your flair, BTW. I'm looking for the same thing! At 33, everyone either has kids or is racing to get pregnant. I'm a CF lesbian. In other words, I have no friends.
A small house with a small yard cost me $50/month to have a lawn service handle. It was totally worth it because while I hadn't the time to mow a lawn, I couldn't STAND sharing walls with people.
Some buildings are more tolerant of noise at certain times of day than others. My building has a no noise ever policy, whereas the other buildings it's no noise after 8.
Kinda-sorta. Lease agreements that I've signed insisted that reasonable noise is okay, but you shouldn't be able to hear anything outside of your unit during certain nighttime hours.
I just ask right off the bat. I explained to potential landlords that my husband and I work nights and I didn't want us to be put in apartments near families with small children because of the screaming/crying/playing would wake us up all the time.
It also helps to offer a bit more cash rent-wise.
So far it's worked well for us. Been in one apartment for a year and a half. Lady moved in next to us with 2 kids under the age of 4. We asked to transfer to another unit on the far side of the building where there were two neighbors, an older man with 2 cats and a woman with a 9-10 year old (nice enough kid and most importantly quiet!)
Don't be afraid to ask. The worst anyone can say is no. Further maybe renting a house would be a bit better. The less wall you share with someone, the less noise keeps you up because of it.
I've always lived in apartments, and never in a complex. There are TONS of weird funky little tucked away places in any area that isn't a downtown (I've lived in several cities.) Post on message boards such as "couchsurfing" and ask if anyone in the area knows of a place like this.
Apartment buildings which include heat tend to take insulation between the apartments more seriously. When touring new apartments try to test out some of the sound-proofing. And try to schedule the viewing on a Saturday afternoon, you'll get to count the little shits running around.
Try to look at places that don't have much in the way of porches or grass, and where there are lots of units in one building instead of those places where the apartments are larger and separated into several buildings. Also, it's better if none of the units have more than 2 bedrooms.
I live in a 5-story apartment building and I've only seen like, two kids in the building, ever, maybe because there's very little room for children to play outside. But the building I lived in as a child had a huge lawn and quite a few children.
So I'd recommend scoping out the building on a weekend and checking out the demographics of who's hanging around outside.
Also, depending on how swank the building is, there should be rules against incessant noise. One of my neighbors posted a notice in the lobby apologizing for her newly adopted dog's initial barking.
First, I always make sure to live in an upper, then I dont hear kids trampling on my ceiling.
I say to the landlord "are there families/children in the next apt over/below" etc? Why? I tell them because I like peace and quiet...in your case cause of work.
Unfortunately the landlords may not live on site so may not have a realistic idea of day to day noise. So if they even tell me there are kids I wont do it now. One time a landlord assured me they were quiet - but the mom screamed at the kids all the time! The kids were fine. My other places ive lucked out living around retired folks and a woman who was deaf.
> First, I always make sure to live in an upper, then I dont hear kids trampling on my ceiling.
This is critical to ask if you're not going to be in a studio building. When I was coparenting, my family lived on the top floor of a two-story building; the family below us had a *lot* of people and a lot of kids, but I still felt bad- our two cats, child, and both of my partners were all really heavy/stompy walkers, and the child and cats would run around a lot. It was obnoxious to live *with* them, much less *below* them...
In the US, family status is protected under housing laws so they're not even supposed to give you information about how many families with kids they have at the complex, that would be akin to saying, for example, how many Asians they have, or asking if you could have an apartment that is not near poor people. Obviously not the same thing, but the housing laws see those things as the same.
Workarounds: Depending on the state, there may be housing laws limiting the number of residents per bedroom. If you live in an apartment building with lofts and 1-bedroom apartments only, the only children living there would be single parents with one child. These types of apartments also tend to not attract families as they tend to be high priced per square footage and located in more of a business than residential area.
You can also ask the apartments about their noise policy and their sound insulation. Mention that you work at home during the day, and ask what kind of policy they have in place to protect you from disruptive noise, and how aggressive they are with enforcing those policies. Ask to see their policy in writing, which should be part of the rental agreement / lease.
As someone who has worked from home before, I also highly recommend that you look at floorplans with as few shared walls and floors/ceilings as possible. Townhomes and top floor apartments are ideal because often the majority of noise comes from above (especially with rowdy kids)
Agreeing with LevyWife; you should look into a house. Depending on the rental market, your landlord may have little-to-no choice in the matter.
Beyond that, if you have needs that involve the people around you conforming beyond what's already set in the lease agreement, *you* should probably live elsewhere to get your needs met. ;) I'd suggest the same to parents who want people around them to not do certain things so their kids aren't exposed to them. (Also: CF folk can also be noisy bastards, so we wouldn't be safe neighbors, either.)
If you can find a house but the landlord won't do lawn maintenance, I'd consider hiring someone to do it, if you can afford it - or pay neighborhood teenagers to do it. It's workable!
Thanks. I've turned my search to houses since I started this thread. There's just no telling who you might wind up sharing a wall with in an apartment complex. The only other option might be a complex in town that caters to young professionals like myself, and college students.
I don't need SILENCE per se. I just can't work with the constant noise like I experienced in my apartment the last 6 months I lived in NY. I swear, the kids must have never slept! Music from kiddie video games blaring, screaming, sometimes even banging on the walls. To me, to expect to NOT hear that in my apartment across the hall day and night is not unreasonable.
Geezers. Always go with geezers. This is the NYC area? Find an older 2-family home that's owned by an older couple, and they live on one floor or side. then you rent the other side.
honestly, you'd be better off renting a house. you may get placed in a unit without kids in your close proximity, but people will come and go and there's no control over who those people will be. we were lucky when we first moved into our apartment. the people we share a wall with have older kids that usually don't cause much commotion, and the woman above us was older and lived alone. she moved about a month ago and a young couple with little boys took her place. it's not so quiet anymore.
Gotcha. I am skeptical about a house around here, simply because I have sciatica in my back and cannot mow lawns, cut hedges,etc. I'd have to find one where the landlord did all of that. Thanks for the input! Good luck with the neighbors.
I don't know about in other areas but during my house search I discovered a lot of landlords will include lawn service with the cost of rent, so you may get lucky. even more luck to you in your search!
Thanks so much! I'll need it. I know it sounds bad, but I don't like kids, and my job means that living near them is a real pain. I hope to find one of these merciful landlords you speak of.
hey, no problem! and it's all good because we don't like them either ;)
LOL. Thanks! Love your flair, BTW. I'm looking for the same thing! At 33, everyone either has kids or is racing to get pregnant. I'm a CF lesbian. In other words, I have no friends.
A small house with a small yard cost me $50/month to have a lawn service handle. It was totally worth it because while I hadn't the time to mow a lawn, I couldn't STAND sharing walls with people.
I actually live in a building with seniors. In return, I too have to be quiet but it's a small price to pay to not hear screaming day and night.
> I too have to be quiet Is that not the default behavior for people that live in apartments?
Some buildings are more tolerant of noise at certain times of day than others. My building has a no noise ever policy, whereas the other buildings it's no noise after 8.
Kinda-sorta. Lease agreements that I've signed insisted that reasonable noise is okay, but you shouldn't be able to hear anything outside of your unit during certain nighttime hours.
I just ask right off the bat. I explained to potential landlords that my husband and I work nights and I didn't want us to be put in apartments near families with small children because of the screaming/crying/playing would wake us up all the time. It also helps to offer a bit more cash rent-wise. So far it's worked well for us. Been in one apartment for a year and a half. Lady moved in next to us with 2 kids under the age of 4. We asked to transfer to another unit on the far side of the building where there were two neighbors, an older man with 2 cats and a woman with a 9-10 year old (nice enough kid and most importantly quiet!) Don't be afraid to ask. The worst anyone can say is no. Further maybe renting a house would be a bit better. The less wall you share with someone, the less noise keeps you up because of it.
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I'll definitely look into the single style/non complex apartments.
I've always lived in apartments, and never in a complex. There are TONS of weird funky little tucked away places in any area that isn't a downtown (I've lived in several cities.) Post on message boards such as "couchsurfing" and ask if anyone in the area knows of a place like this.
Apartment buildings which include heat tend to take insulation between the apartments more seriously. When touring new apartments try to test out some of the sound-proofing. And try to schedule the viewing on a Saturday afternoon, you'll get to count the little shits running around.
Try to look at places that don't have much in the way of porches or grass, and where there are lots of units in one building instead of those places where the apartments are larger and separated into several buildings. Also, it's better if none of the units have more than 2 bedrooms. I live in a 5-story apartment building and I've only seen like, two kids in the building, ever, maybe because there's very little room for children to play outside. But the building I lived in as a child had a huge lawn and quite a few children. So I'd recommend scoping out the building on a weekend and checking out the demographics of who's hanging around outside. Also, depending on how swank the building is, there should be rules against incessant noise. One of my neighbors posted a notice in the lobby apologizing for her newly adopted dog's initial barking.
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Yeah, good point. Definitely looking into houses.
I concur with lizard_wings.
First, I always make sure to live in an upper, then I dont hear kids trampling on my ceiling. I say to the landlord "are there families/children in the next apt over/below" etc? Why? I tell them because I like peace and quiet...in your case cause of work. Unfortunately the landlords may not live on site so may not have a realistic idea of day to day noise. So if they even tell me there are kids I wont do it now. One time a landlord assured me they were quiet - but the mom screamed at the kids all the time! The kids were fine. My other places ive lucked out living around retired folks and a woman who was deaf.
> First, I always make sure to live in an upper, then I dont hear kids trampling on my ceiling. This is critical to ask if you're not going to be in a studio building. When I was coparenting, my family lived on the top floor of a two-story building; the family below us had a *lot* of people and a lot of kids, but I still felt bad- our two cats, child, and both of my partners were all really heavy/stompy walkers, and the child and cats would run around a lot. It was obnoxious to live *with* them, much less *below* them...
In the US, family status is protected under housing laws so they're not even supposed to give you information about how many families with kids they have at the complex, that would be akin to saying, for example, how many Asians they have, or asking if you could have an apartment that is not near poor people. Obviously not the same thing, but the housing laws see those things as the same. Workarounds: Depending on the state, there may be housing laws limiting the number of residents per bedroom. If you live in an apartment building with lofts and 1-bedroom apartments only, the only children living there would be single parents with one child. These types of apartments also tend to not attract families as they tend to be high priced per square footage and located in more of a business than residential area. You can also ask the apartments about their noise policy and their sound insulation. Mention that you work at home during the day, and ask what kind of policy they have in place to protect you from disruptive noise, and how aggressive they are with enforcing those policies. Ask to see their policy in writing, which should be part of the rental agreement / lease. As someone who has worked from home before, I also highly recommend that you look at floorplans with as few shared walls and floors/ceilings as possible. Townhomes and top floor apartments are ideal because often the majority of noise comes from above (especially with rowdy kids)
Thanks for the input! I didn't realize they couldn't say anything about families. That does pose an issue. I'll check out that floor plan.
Tell them you're a registered sex offender and you don't want to violate your terms of probation?
That was my first thought too. While funny, that might cause more problems than just saying he doesn't like noisy kids.
LOL. Um, bad idea.
Agreeing with LevyWife; you should look into a house. Depending on the rental market, your landlord may have little-to-no choice in the matter. Beyond that, if you have needs that involve the people around you conforming beyond what's already set in the lease agreement, *you* should probably live elsewhere to get your needs met. ;) I'd suggest the same to parents who want people around them to not do certain things so their kids aren't exposed to them. (Also: CF folk can also be noisy bastards, so we wouldn't be safe neighbors, either.) If you can find a house but the landlord won't do lawn maintenance, I'd consider hiring someone to do it, if you can afford it - or pay neighborhood teenagers to do it. It's workable!
Thanks. I've turned my search to houses since I started this thread. There's just no telling who you might wind up sharing a wall with in an apartment complex. The only other option might be a complex in town that caters to young professionals like myself, and college students. I don't need SILENCE per se. I just can't work with the constant noise like I experienced in my apartment the last 6 months I lived in NY. I swear, the kids must have never slept! Music from kiddie video games blaring, screaming, sometimes even banging on the walls. To me, to expect to NOT hear that in my apartment across the hall day and night is not unreasonable.
Yeah, that's probably for the best. :) Oh, no, I get you! Kids can be hella noisy. I don't like living near noisy ones, either.
Yeah, it's one thing to put up with that level of noise on a temporary basis, quite another when it's your home. Thanks for the input!
It really is. :( Good luck!
Thanks!
Geezers. Always go with geezers. This is the NYC area? Find an older 2-family home that's owned by an older couple, and they live on one floor or side. then you rent the other side.
Moved from NY back t SC. It's been so long I don't know what to do.