7 ms·

The trouble with small spaces is that they cost unproportionally much to rent. I could probably fit my home life in a 80 sqft apartment but when they rent for m

The trouble with small spaces is that they cost unproportionally much to rent. I could probably fit my home life in a 80 sqft apartment but when they rent for much more than 1/10th of a 800 sqft apartment, it's very hard to justify the compromise.

inetknght 9y ago
...unless you don't make the money for that 800sqft apartment
- zxcmx 9y ago
  Being willing to share space almost always ends up cheaper. A bunch of students, for example, can generally outbid a family with 2 workers and 3 kids for a large place. And the students have way lower standards usually. No moral commentary there, just an observation. Fortunately they are generally not after the same spaces. IMHO it actually sucks when property owners try to hoover up what I'd call the "space sharing discount" by renting out rooms on individual leases in a place where most of the space is shared. The culture (or not) is the thing which makes that arrangement work, and I don't feel like they should get to monetise that. I believe there are an increasing number of startups operating on exactly this premise though :/
  - icebraining 9y ago
    IMHO it actually sucks when property owners try to hoover up what I'd call the "space sharing discount" by renting out rooms on individual leases in a place where most of the space is shared. The culture (or not) is the thing which makes that arrangement work, and I don't feel like they should get to monetise that. Culture? Nah, if there's a need people will adapt themselves. We rent individual rooms in a couple of 3-bedroom condos, and it's worked fine even as tenants rotated over the years. Also, while we don't "hoover up" the discount (the total of the rents isn't higher than what we could get renting the whole place), I don't think it'd be wrong to do so, as the arrangement has extra benefits for the tenants: not having to find people to share, not having to worry about an increase on their rent if someone decides to leave or feel guilty about leaving the others with a higher rent, not having to get utility/internet contracts in their name, etc.
ctdonath 9y ago
Axiom of real estate: Longer walls are cheap. More corners is expensive. Hence the disproportionate pricing - it's not just about total floor area.
ghaff 9y ago
Part of it is that you're effectively paying for common infrastructure (corridors, elevators/stairs, etc.) that scale more by the number of units than by the total square footage of living space. The other problem is that the comfort level of an apartment doesn't really scale linearly. At some point, you reach diminishing returns. However, assuming you have dedicated bathrooms and minimal kitchen spots, it means that doubling size from, say, 400 sq ft to 800 sq ft dramatically increases the effective space to live in that isn't a bathroom or a bed.

inetknght 9y ago

...unless you don't make the money for that 800sqft apartment

zxcmx 9y ago
Being willing to share space almost always ends up cheaper. A bunch of students, for example, can generally outbid a family with 2 workers and 3 kids for a large place. And the students have way lower standards usually. No moral commentary there, just an observation. Fortunately they are generally not after the same spaces. IMHO it actually sucks when property owners try to hoover up what I'd call the "space sharing discount" by renting out rooms on individual leases in a place where most of the space is shared. The culture (or not) is the thing which makes that arrangement work, and I don't feel like they should get to monetise that. I believe there are an increasing number of startups operating on exactly this premise though :/
- icebraining 9y ago
  IMHO it actually sucks when property owners try to hoover up what I'd call the "space sharing discount" by renting out rooms on individual leases in a place where most of the space is shared. The culture (or not) is the thing which makes that arrangement work, and I don't feel like they should get to monetise that. Culture? Nah, if there's a need people will adapt themselves. We rent individual rooms in a couple of 3-bedroom condos, and it's worked fine even as tenants rotated over the years. Also, while we don't "hoover up" the discount (the total of the rents isn't higher than what we could get renting the whole place), I don't think it'd be wrong to do so, as the arrangement has extra benefits for the tenants: not having to find people to share, not having to worry about an increase on their rent if someone decides to leave or feel guilty about leaving the others with a higher rent, not having to get utility/internet contracts in their name, etc.

ctdonath 9y ago

Axiom of real estate: Longer walls are cheap. More corners is expensive. Hence the disproportionate pricing - it's not just about total floor area.

ghaff 9y ago

Part of it is that you're effectively paying for common infrastructure (corridors, elevators/stairs, etc.) that scale more by the number of units than by the total square footage of living space. The other problem is that the comfort level of an apartment doesn't really scale linearly. At some point, you reach diminishing returns. However, assuming you have dedicated bathrooms and minimal kitchen spots, it means that doubling size from, say, 400 sq ft to 800 sq ft dramatically increases the effective space to live in that isn't a bathroom or a bed.