Fine Homes

The Apartment Dude asked:


My last apartment was fantastic…beautiful hill country views; a swimming pool that looked more like a resort in the Caribbean than an apartment community’s; awesome monthly parties where I actually made friends…in essence, the perfect apartment community.

Unfortunately, I rented this apartment at the height of a booming apartment market economy…so with a teeny, tiny special. Oh well. I often thought it was worth it when I lounged by that pool.

Times Change

Well, times and markets change. In fact, each market, submarket, city, and neighborhood can yield totally different concessions and specials. So just asking a friend what special he got may not cut it.

An apartment community’s special could be totally different from up north in a suburb to down south in the heart of the city. Pricing and specials depend on surrounding apartment construction, overall occupancy, floor plan occupancy, desirability of the area, and of course, that ever increasing interest rate pushing more and more people to stay in apartments. It can make it all quite confusing.

Where can you find specials?

So where can the average joe go to find out apartment communities’ specials? How about the web?

Websites like Apartment Home Living.com are proud to showcase apartment community’s starting rates on all floor plans offered, as well as their randomly changing specials, to help each renter determine the starting specials at communities. Just look on the left side of each of our ads, underneath the main photo. There are such a variety of specials out there. You’ll find things like $0 deposits, $300 off first months rent, and free application fees.

Sometimes, these specials are on top of already great specials that individual communities offer when you call or walk-in. So you will always want to call each community that you’re most interested in to see if the floor plan you like features an individual special. You might get lucky.

Summer = specials big and small

As summertime arrives, specials will become less frequent. It’s a great idea to hop online, complete an apartment search engine’s personality matching search, then check out your matches. Most sites will list specials, so you’ll know what you are looking at.

Many properties may list “call for specials.” Don’t be aggravated by this. Accept it as up-to-the minute consistency. Many specials do change day to day and week to week, as different floor plans change in availability.

This is your best avenue to begin the discussion process as to what exactly sets this community apart and why you really may want to check it out before deciding completely on price alone. Check out our other article on what to ask when you call.

Then call. You never know—your favorite place may be priced right where you need it—and right when you need it.

For more tips on apartment hunting and living in apartments check out: Apartment Home Living.com

The Apartment Dude asked:


You had some posters and frames hung up on the walls with tacks and nails, but now you’ve decided to redesign your place, take them down, and move a few onto a different wall in your apartment. The problem is: those nasty looking holes are still there…staring at you…laughing in that hole in the wall sort of way.

You’d love to patch them up and forget about them, but aren’t exactly sure how. Learning is worth it though because you’ll have less to worry about when you one day, many years down the line move into a different place.

As always, we’re here to help you! Our apartment hole patching up experts, whom bear the title “Apholepatchperts,” have come up with a “how to” check list to help you get those holes fixed in no time!

It’s Putty Time- Apply a color-matched wood putty to the nail or pin hole. Try to fill in the hole completely then level it with the surrounding area. Allow the putty to completely dry.

A Light Sanding- Sand the putty gently until it’s smooth and level with the surrounding area.

Stop! it’s Painting Time- Once the puttied area seems flush and smooth with the rest of the wall, you’ll want to paint the area the same color as the rest of the wall. In many cases it’s best to go ahead and paint the entire wall to make sure your color matches. Don’t forget to put down plastic paint clothes to protect the carpet as well as tape off the areas of touching other walls and ceiling that you don’t want to get paint on.

Let the paint dry and your holes should be patched up. Depending on the type of paint used and the thickness of the coat put on, you may want to paint over the wall one more time. This sounds more complicated than it really is. Once you have all the supplies, get to working, and it should only take you a few hours! Good luck!

For more tips on apartment living, fun, recipes, decoration, or finding an apartment check out ApartmentHomeLiving.com