What should bring the rent down is the lack of a washer and dryer, more than what floor the apartment is on. I've seen many buildings where all the apartments of a given size are the same rent, regardless of what floor. However, every apartment that has a W/D or even just hookups for them has had a higher rent. I could see a walk-up apartment costing less than in a building with elevators. To find apartments in small towns, I've tended to rely on the local paper, even if it is only weekly. They may have the classified ads on their website. Craigslist is also good. Are there any colleges or universities in the area? They usually have long lists of available rentals. Sometimes you have to be a student or alum to access them, but sometimes they are available online to anyone who checks. You will run into different problems depending on whether your daughter rents in a large building run by a management company or from a small landlord who has just a few apartments to rent. It is sometimes easier to find cheap apartments if you look for the small landlords. But some small landlords are great at maintenance and getting things fixed. . . and some are not. Larger buildings tend to have dedicated maintenance staff who are on-call evenings and weekends. Small landlords who do most of the work themselves may take a few days to fix things.

I am so excited for you... huge kudos to taking the plunge and going out entirely on your own. It won't be easy, but what you risk is made up for in being ENTIRELY on your own without having to worry about a roommate. Plus, there's a lot to be said, psychologically, for having the experience of taking care of yourself and not having to rely upon someone else, but that's a separate discussion... Anyway, spending half of your income on rent seems a bit excessive-- most guides will tell you to keep it at a third (or less) of your take-home pay. So if the rent is $410/month and your take-home is $350-500/week, you should be fine. To start with, ask the landlord of the units what utilities are included and what are not. At our last place, NOTHING was included; we had to pay water, sewer, trash, and electric (no gas), plus the stuff that usually is NOT included: cable, phone (cell and landline), internet, and renter's insurance. (RI, for us, was about $100/year, paid once annually. Some landlords require it, but even if they don't, it's a good idea.) Other things to remember to include are student loans, credit card payments, car payments and insurance, gas and routine car maintenance, public transportation fees, parking fees, laundry money (and I agree, don't bother with buying your own W/D yet), routine medical expenses, and the floating stuff like groceries, clothes, "fun money," etc. Sit down and add up all of these expenses (the landlord should be able to tell you what the utility bills average for your unit; if not, you can find this info out directly from the utility company). When all is said and done, figure how much you have available every week for the incidentals-- cup of coffee on your way to work, lunch with coworkers, dinner and a movie, etc. This is your "fun money" budget. best way to stick to this limit is to withdraw that amount at the beginning of each week from your bank account, and tell yourself that is ALL you have to spend on non-necessities all week. If you start using your credit and/or ATM cards for all of your impulse purchases, you can drown very quickly. As for cooking with gas vs. electric... I've used both, and quite frankly, aside from seeing an actual flame with a gas burner, which you can eyeball to see how high or low it is, you just cook as your normally would. The nice thing with gas cooking is, the heat is much more "instant on" and "instant off" than electric, which makes it easier (IMHO) not to burn things. Important things to ask your landlord before renting: get specifics on the security deposit, and on what grounds you get it back when you move out. Ask what you are allowed to do to the walls-- some places let you paint, some places won't even let you put up a nail to hang a picture. Ask about quiet hours. make sure you know how to contact maintenance in case of an emergency. Ask if there is mail delivery on-site, or will you have to get a PO box. Make VERY sure, when you move in (and before you bring in a stick of furniture or a bag of clothes) to document each and every single defect or flaw in the apartment, no matter how minor it may appear to you. Go over the walls, make note of all discolorations, tiny holes where nails may have been, etc. Stains in the carpet, scuff marks on the floor, etc. Take pictures if you can. Flush the toilet, turn on all the faucets, heaters, A/C units, stove burners, oven, etc., and note anything unusual. Give a copy of this list to your landlord (you should both sign and date it), and keep a copy for yourself somewhere safe. (Now is a good time to purchase a fire safe for valuable documents like this, BTW). When you move out, you can reference this list if there are any arguments regarding damage you may have caused. I hope all goes well for you, and best of luck in your journey... You are taking a brave step forward that you will never regret!

I have already talked to them, and they should be out this week to look at this set=up. They told me that this complex had been built to code, but were not required to stay up to code. My question I guess should be "did the 1980 code require that dryers be vented?" It seems that in the back of my memory I remember when these aprtments were built they only had washer and dryer connections on the bottom floor, and my daughter is living on the second floor. If these connections were added later, according the city planning office, they will have to meet the standards of that date. The apartment manager seemed a bit concerned when I told her that I had contacted the city code enforcement department. She requested that I wait to have them come out until they had fixed the problem. Today is when they installed the box....their solution to this problem. Hopefully, the city will get out before the end of the week. I will stay on top of this, because I think this complex is ripping off their residents by putting their health, and safety in jeopardy as well as pushing up their utility bills unnecessarily. No wrath like a mad Momma!!! When your very independent kid asks for help, you know it is BAD!

I would probably order it and hope for the best. I'm willing to bet that my malfunctioning model was a rare event - perhaps occurring 5 out of 100 or even less. Up to that point, the sale was great. Helpful sales staff, quick order processing, quick shipping straight from Kobe to me, and the unit was built in September 2014 so it wasn't sitting in a warehouse for a long time or shipped to multiple locations before it got to me. The unit is beautiful. The SS shell looks impeccably crafted. If you live in or near a city, a warranty issue would hopefully be dealt with well. I think Kobe's resistance to service my unit was because I'm somewhat rural, and thus the service call would have been higher. Still doesn't justify their resistance; I'm just saying you may get an adequate response to a warranty issue if you are in/near a city. Haven't been able to get to trying to fix mine yet. I hope I can and get to use it. Will report back when I can.