Canadian, early 30s female professional moving to Dallas - would love tips!!! (Greenville: apartments)

[sunset_orange]

I am a single female, early 30s moving to Dallas from Canada later this month. I have never been, but am starting a 1-year contract at UTSW.

I have spent a great deal of time browsing through old posts to try to get ideas on where to live, etc when I move to Dallas in late July. I will try my best not to duplicate things from past posts!!

I am hoping to get some specific questions answered:

1. In Uptown region - would love to know the *best* places to live that aren't inhabited by frat parties, etc -- would like building with good community of 30-40 year olds in nice neighbourhood (ie, shops, restaurants, safe). Was considering places like "The Belmont" or "The Monterey" -- thoughts appreciated. Would prefer <$1500/mo. From what I gather in old posts, the Knox/Henderson or State/Thomas areas seem most desirable (?).

2. Arrange to see apartments by myself vs. get a leasing agent/realtor???? I am nervous about a realtor taking me to places that they get the best commissions from, not keeping my interests in mind!

3. Can I negotiate offered lease rates??

4. What is generally included in rent? What extra fees can I expect to pay (water? electricity? other?)

5. Best insurance company for basic car/tenants package?

6. Best phone plan for (hopefully) new iphone? AT&T?

I'm really looking forward to my new life adventure in Dallas, and experiencing southern hospitality (and no more snow)!! Thanks in advance for any answers to the above

[Willsson]

sunset_orange, congrats on your opportunity and you've made a good decision to focus on the State/Thomas-Uptown-Knox area.

I'd consider the State/Thomas area to be the more sedate of the communities with more options for rentals. Uptown is probably the more active with more walking, shopping and meeting. However, I think the Knox area to be the more cool of the three, based on Knox Street alone. The converted fire station at the west side and a block back helps. Hang out in the area for a couple of days, you'll gather the ambiance of the three.

You may do as well to make your own arrangements to visit various apartments. Just contact the places of choice to ensure their availability to show apartments. In many cases it wouldn't be a realtor arranging a showing for you, just an apartment locator who'll give you a list of places to go < unless someone tells you otherwise. You'd still be on your own and they'll get their commission.

As far as rents and leases, the price of an apartment is generally set and is typically not negotiable. You may be able to choose a six month or year long lease. Your rent will go up at the end of that lease period. But feel free to pursue a negotiating aspect. The worst they can do is say no and who knows, you may get a bottle of champagne out of it.

Different apartment/townhome constructions will vary on amenities. You will pay your own electricity. Most units are all electric, no gas amenities. You typically will have to pay your own cable. Parking should be included in your rent.

I wouldn't comment on best insurance but I use Geico for tenant and auto. It's an easy online process, keep yourself open to other recommendations.

There is no real best phone plan though most will tell you some are better than others. AT&T and other phones that use a SIM card travel on GSM service. Sprint and others that do NOT use a SIM card travel on CDMA. The two do not meet technically, only in conversation and texting. Both are quite suitable, look for your best deal. I've recently acquired an HTC Droid FREE with a new two year contract thru Verizon. Includes 400 anytime minutes and unlimited data. Really, it becomes a personal preference.

Watch for other responses to your inquiry. Good luck with your career.

Welcome to Texas

[sunset_orange]

Thanks so much -- I really appreciate the answers!!! I will try my negotiating skills for the lease, and try to get that bottle of champagne It's just nice to know what I'm walking into, as I don't want to be 'taken' by a leasing agent/rental company!! I'm very excited, all the same.

thanks again.

[Brookside]

You've received soem great advice from Tofurkey. I second her comments about the Knox /Henderson area. I don't live there, but I work in the area, and my college age DD loves it there -- we spend a lot of time there shopping, etc. She is already planning to move the neighborhood when she graduates, and like you, she is not interested in frat house atmorsphere, etc.

Realtors and apt locators are good if you can't get down here and look yourself. But if you can make an apt search trip -- and I highly recommend that you do! -- you will find some older, very charming apts and even a few townhouses on Travis and Cole Sts. (just south of Knox St) that are adjacent to the Katy Trail. They are affordable and charming -- no pools, but many have hardwoods and are spacious.

FYI -- the "Henderson" part of Knox Henderson is east of Central Expressway (the "Knox" part is west. It took us several visits to realize this, lol!) A lot of great restaurants and pubs (like The Old Monk) are on this side; there also are a lot of consignment and cool vintage art resale shops. There are a couple of brand-new apt complexes, too.

Personally I prefer the area around the Katy Trail for walking, etc. Lots of lovely trees, too, and good retail and restaurants within walking distance.

FYI on negotiating on your lease -- we moved here last fall, and we were ALWAYS offered some kind of discount from the leasing companies managing big apt complexes. However, we were looking in suburban areas. really popular places like Knox-Henderson may be more rigid about prices. Also, individual landlords can be tricky -- it just depends. Some were very flexible; some wanted the lease signed in our blood! We ended up in a townhouse and while they did not lower the price, the did agree to shorten the lease term (we knew we were buying a house and didn't want to be stuck for an entire year).

I hope this info helps - best of luck!

[Willsson]

Thanx for the backup, Brookside. But... ahem... this old turkey is more gobbler than hen..

I'll second the Travis and Cole streets. I actually prefer those to the others. And that Knox/Henderson things took me a couple of years to realize although it never really mattered as I rarely venture across 75 unless headed to Whole Foods on Greenville. That is, I never bothered to learn directions anywhere, making each venture an ADventure. All roads lead in some direction, just takes a little longer to get there.

[Lakewooder]

Whole Foods is now in Lakewood Shopping Center (Gaston at Abrams). Elliot's Hardware may move from Maple to the former WF location.

There's a Newflower Market on Henderson near Ross http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2009...on-avenue-dal/ http://www.yelp.com/biz/newflower-farmers-market-dallas (and Fiesta is just down from that - go a bit farther and you have Jimmy's Food Store- Dallas, Texas !

Central Market is up at Lover's Lane and Greenville.

[BigCanada]

From previous renting experience here, find out if the property leasing company uses their own lease or a TAA Lease. If they use the TAA, find out what the addendum's are before moving in as this can be a big factor should you need to break your lease for any reason and it will allow you to be prepared. Every property that I have been to was more than happy to supply me either on the spot or in an email, a copy of the lease contract and it will also add a little credibility to you when asking about things. It will also clue you into property and municipal bylaws such as not having a grill within 10 feet of the building, etc.

Here is the TAA (Texas Apartment Association) website: www.taa.org
and here is a sample TAA lease agreement: http://taa.org/images/assets/PDF/ren...ase_forweb.pdf

Good luck and let us know how it goes!
BigCanada

[TXRunner]

Usually new renters get the best rates, lower than people who have been renting. The rate increase at the end of the lease is always negotiable, but I doubt the initial rent will be if they are already offering you some kind of new deal or discount. At the end of the lease we usually asked for the increase to be half of what they were asking. Before you can move in usually it is your responsibility to call the utility company and have them start services the day you move in. The apartment will give you a list of companies that service them. In some cases it is just the city.

I used an apartment locator when I first moved here and I thought it was definitely more beneficial than me looking. They did skip over a few apartments that I later saw when living here, but they covered about 75% of them. When you get down here, or if you visit, they have more apartments for you to see with the qualities you give them than you could ever find on your own. It's usually all done on the phone.

Geico is usually going to offer you the best rate. I used them for about 10 years. There are other companies, one of which I use now, that work with 7 different companies to find you the lowest rate. Every year my agent runs the numbers again and we go with the lowest company. They beat out Geico because of the homeowners insurance discount. Renter's insurance is only about $100 per year if you go with the basic plan.

AT&T is pretty good, I've had them for about 10 years. It seems like all the companies pretty much offer the same deals nowadays. What you need to ask them is if you get a discount for your job. A lot of people don't know that there is a large list of companies that have discounts on service. As a teacher, I've always gotten a discount.

[sunset_orange]

Thanks for the replies so far!! I feel better moving down knowing the good areas, and the approach to take when leasing, etc

I've arranged for a leasing agent to show me places the day after I arrive, and I gave her a good picture of what I'm looking for. Hopefully it all works out!

The next step will be to get furniture, but I've found some pretty good forums describing reasonable places for that!

For phone plans -- I'm not sure if anyone has experience with T-mobile? I was just given a Google Nexus One phone, and it will apparently work best with T-mobile, so I'll look into that!

And finally, I'm really looking forward to exploring Dallas & surrounding areas, so will read a bunch about that too!