Hi Everyone

Right now I live around West Chester / Exton, and am looking to move closer to the city to find a better Graphic Design job. I am having alot of trouble assessing which areas are safe enough to be able to walk my dog and not have to worry about my car being broken into.

I have been looking around the Greene Street / Harvey Street neighborhood of Germantown. I have seen a few beautiful apartments in renovated homes, which all looked great during the day. I am particularly interested in a place in the 5300 block of Greene. It is a one bedroom (huge) in a great old house for $895.

I also have a small, extremely well behaved Boston Terrier and not so hot credit. I just graduated from college, and even though I pay my bills on time, I have a low credit score because i have student loans and stuff.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to overcome these obstacles and find a place to live?

Just a side note, I was treated HORRIBLY at Upsal Gardens, I wouldn't recommend going there.

Thanks so much, anyone who can give me some advice would be greatly appreciated!

try to find a place where the monthly rent is less than 30% of your monthly salary. why germantown and where do you work )location not co.)?

Really good rule of thumb. I think that area of GTown has great possibilities. Anyone on the board here familiar with what's really going on there these days?

Safety is something that varies block by block- basically, when you're going to look at a place, ask the neighbors, ask the nearest shop keeper ask anybody you can about the area. One thing I've always found as a good measure is "street furniture" - flowers, chairs, toys - how much domestic stuff do you see outside? Are people treating their street as a part of their home, or are they building barriers.

Well, you'll have a low credit score because you don't have much of a history yet. So, "when in Rome do as the Romans do"- so if you have low credit like a student, then you ought to be looking into rentals near students- East Falls around Philadephia University, around Chesnut Hill College, near Montgomery County by Arcadia University, Fairmount/Spring Garden area near Temple, or University City.

Basically, looking at an apartment, you're going to need the money up front. If you've got a pet, the landlord might take an extra $75 per month instead of a pet deposit or extra security deposit-=> whether that helps you will depend on your cashflow. Expect to have first, last and 2x security deposit with a pet.

So you're going to have two choices-
1) throw money at the landlord, or
2) go with a longer term lease- but you should add a "break out/break even" clause that allows you to find a person to sublet if needed.

You'll also want to consider some kind of barter- essentially you need to
find a landlord who needs some kind of graphic design done- which might suggest the larger management companies, rather than a small landlord.


I checked around, I see 5 places that take pets under $1,000 on the Realtors list.

I see
2 in University City, 1 in Fairmount, 1 in Girard, and 1 in Richmond.

Hal

Thanks so much for the great info. I really appreaciate it!

here's a link to my landlord's proeprties in germantown
http://www.apts-now.com/apartments_g...germantown.htm

as you move further 'north' it gets nicer, though it varies block by block. if i remember right, that stretch of greene is a bit nicer north of penn than south, penn/knox is OK.

for ads, look @ the chestnut hill local:

http://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/classifieds.html#RER

lots of apts. in germantown in the "h"'s and a few in the "w"s in this week's classifieds. a whole bunch are probably on harvey street or walnut lane near greene.

My landlord, Lindy Property Management, http://www.lindyproperty.com has a bunch of properties in Mt. Airy & Germantown, and I've found them pretty easy to deal with. Our building allows pets for no extra charges, and I think we just had to put down first, last and 1 mo security.

I'm sorry to hear you got bad treatment at Upsal Gardens - those are nice apartments, and I know a couple of people who have been happy renting there.

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Thomas Taylor

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when are you looking to move to philly?

I have an apartment to sublease. Close to germantown. Can ride septa bus to germantown. Let me know if you are still looking


san