XP: Renting a house vs Luxury apartment
Stephanie2167
member
DH is Coast Guard. We are slated to transfer next June. Our last two transfers we've rented houses. We currently pay probably too much then we should for the house we have (we wanted a house with a fenced backyard for our dog) Our next move we most likely wont be staying the entire 3-4 years since DH will be moving up in rank while we are there, so we'll probably get moved again early.
I've been thinking about possibly renting a nice luxury apartment next time to take advantage of amenities for DD (pool, playground, etc). The only negative would be having to take the dog out to go to the bathroom frequently. I also think that renting a luxury apartment would be cheaper then a house (and it wouldn't be for a full 4 years most likely).
WWYD?
Re: XP: Renting a house vs Luxury apartment
Our last 2 places we lived in were townhouses without fenced in yards and we hated it. We weren't even supposed to chain the dogs up outside at all, so we were supposed to walk them every time they went out to pee. We probably did a 50/50 split of out back and walking, but our dogs were severely lacking exercise. We constantly had to go to dog parks and long walks to feel better for them. Now that we bought a house at our current station with a large fenced yard, we pretty much refuse to go back to no fenced yard.
If you could get a ground floor apartment or a townhouse you might be willing to tolerate it for the perks. But honestly with a dog I would never want to live in anything where I couldn't just open the door and let him out.
This is what I wanted to hear. Someone with experience. Thanks!
Our last house had a backyard but it wasn't fenced, so we know that feeling as well which is why we wanted a fenced yard this time.
I would start walking your dog now, tons, and see how you feel about it. We lived in housing for 3.5 years that didn't have a fence, and like Beachy, we weren't allowed to tie out. I walked them exclusively 3-5 times a day, with at least one of those being a long walk, and after 3.5 years, it got old! But there were pros too. They ended up being better trained because of all the exercise and attention, I was more in tune to their health and knew when my older dog was sick with stomach cancer right away, and we were all more fit because of it.
This time, I insisted on a fence. And guess what, I still walk the one we still have 3-5 times a day. But it's nice to know the fence is there if I need to be able to just let him out.
Try it out now, and see how it actually works with your lifestyle. It might help you make a better decision.
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We have only lived in houses, but I really considered an apartment or townhouse this time. What swayed me to keep with a house is that I'll have two kids pretty soon, and I want the convenience of walking right out the door and getting in my car. I also didn't want to deal with bringing groceries for a family of four into an apartment while also dealing with 2 kids (and no help from DH when he deploys).
When I arrived here (without DH), DS and I were in the Navy Lodge for a few weeks - I hated having to lug stuff in from the car to our hotel room
So, I'm not speaking from experience of living in an apartment, but those are the reasons I chose NOT to look at apartments.
Once you've had a fenced in backyard for your dog, it's hard to go back!
We had a fenced in yard and a doggie door two houses ago. It was heaven. It was so nice since I was pregnant and then had a newborn while I lived there (DH lived there for about six weeks of the 16 months I lived there due to training and deployment). Our next two places have been townhouses and we have had to walk our dog. (It is literally written into our current lease that our dog is not to use the garden to pee or poop.). DH is deployed again and having to walk the dog all the time sucks.
I can understand wanting amenities for your family, but there will be a big trade off with having to walk the dog.