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Something that has always annoyed me in my local area is that, when renting, the cost of an apartment is relative to its size, not to its quality. So you could

Something that has always annoyed me in my local area is that, when renting, the cost of an apartment is relative to its size, not to its quality. So you could have an apartment that is twice the cost, twice the size, but still has the same crappy washing machine and no dishwasher. I would happily pay double the rent for a similar sized apartment but one with lots of nice touches, such as luxury appliances and such. I've often thought that if I ever rent out a property, I'd fill it with nice things and then charge more - high end coffee machines, in-wall speaker systems, nice furniture, etc. Perhaps there's a reason that landlords don't do that, though.

neokya 11y ago
Actually `furnished` is not really norm. I understand your point though.
Dwolb 11y ago
That doesn't sound right. Size is usually a rule of thumb and typically above or below average amenities either raise or lower the price, respectively. My buddy is working on increasing this transparency though. They're in the Seattle area and looking to provide home buyers market rates for a given feature. e.g. this house should be $X cheaper because the windows are Brand Y
- kaolinite 11y ago
  I'm only talking about renting, not sure what it's like when buying, so I'm talking about quality of appliances, care taken when painting (often places have obvious paint marks where scuffs have been painted over) and the overall decor - not the actual quality of the building, windows, etc. This is all just anecdotal, of course, and just something I've noticed locally - perhaps other places are much better. After my partner started working, we started looking at places roughly double the rent of our previous place, but in the same area - and we found that these places were pretty much the exact same, just a lot bigger.
germanier 11y ago
The averages in Germany (Mietspiegel) are always calculated taking different factors beyond the size into account: location, proximity of public transport, noise level, age, interior quality (windows, floor, etc.), energy consumption, and similar. Oh, and the law doesn't apply to the (rare) furnished flats at all.

neokya 11y ago

Actually `furnished` is not really norm. I understand your point though.

Dwolb 11y ago

That doesn't sound right. Size is usually a rule of thumb and typically above or below average amenities either raise or lower the price, respectively. My buddy is working on increasing this transparency though. They're in the Seattle area and looking to provide home buyers market rates for a given feature. e.g. this house should be $X cheaper because the windows are Brand Y

kaolinite 11y ago
I'm only talking about renting, not sure what it's like when buying, so I'm talking about quality of appliances, care taken when painting (often places have obvious paint marks where scuffs have been painted over) and the overall decor - not the actual quality of the building, windows, etc. This is all just anecdotal, of course, and just something I've noticed locally - perhaps other places are much better. After my partner started working, we started looking at places roughly double the rent of our previous place, but in the same area - and we found that these places were pretty much the exact same, just a lot bigger.

germanier 11y ago

The averages in Germany (Mietspiegel) are always calculated taking different factors beyond the size into account: location, proximity of public transport, noise level, age, interior quality (windows, floor, etc.), energy consumption, and similar. Oh, and the law doesn't apply to the (rare) furnished flats at all.