In the Roanoke area the average rent for a one bedroom apartment is about $650 a month, not including utilities. In contrast, you can purchase a 3-4 bedroom house for around $150K, which has an approximate mortgage of $550, not including utilities, insurance, etc. SO you are getting more room for about the same price as a one bedroom apartment, which looks like a good deal.
However, as always there a different strokes for different folks.
Apartments are great if you don't want to pay for maintenance or have the skills to do it yourself. There's no lawn to mow and anything that needs fixing will be done by a maintenance person. But, you can't pick paint colors and for many you can't put any holes in the wall; you also cannot do any upgrades. Your rent price is not guaranteed to remain the same every year and it may go up every time you renew the lease. Apartments are wonderful if you don't plan on staying in the area for more than 2-3 years.
In a house, you have to do and pay for all the maintenence, the mowing of the lawn, and any upgrades. But, provided you pay regularly into the escrow, your payments will remain constant. Obviously, that will not be the case for utilities, but both apartments and houses are in the same boat. However, you can paint your house any color you'd like and hang up whatever you want. That is not the case for houses in a HomeOwner's Association area, which I highly advocate against doing. The big difference on houses is that you can claim your house on your taxes and as you pay the mortgage you are gaining equity on the house, 2 things that you cannot do with an apartment. Houses are the best if you plan on staying in an area for 5+ years.
For myself, I plan on staying in the area for another 5 years and I want a larger house that I will make into a veritable nerd utopia. I will possibly purchase a really big house that I will rent out a room or two to people of similar disposition.
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