Is Renting a Luxury Apartment Worth the Extra Cost?
The great American dream is to own your own home. For many of us living in the city, this is impossible. The only real option will be renting an apartment. If you are an apartment renter, I am sure you have heard of luxury apartments. But, is renting a luxury apartment worth the extra cost? This cool infographic I ran across breaks down some of the benefits of going the luxury apartment route versus traditional renting.
It Costs How Much?
I was surprised to find that renting a luxury apartment can cost an average of nearly $3,400 a month. Who has that kind of money to spend on just rent?!?!?!? As you will learn below, this whopping price includes a whole bunch of extra stuff that you may be paying for separately. If you do currently pay for many of these services, then the price doesn’t look quite so bad.
According to the infographic, the average apartment cost is $1,420 a month. So, we’re looking at about a $2,000 difference for renting a luxury apartment versus a plain-jane apartment. I was able to find this 2013 CBS article that suggests the average apartment cost is $1,231 per month for the US. So, I don’t think this infographic is too far off.
What Is Typically Included in Luxury Apartment Costs?
Here’s a quick list of all the things luxury apartments can offer in their bundled price:
- Nicer location/look than a traditional apartment
- Personal trainer
- Health and Fitness center
- Pool
- Free movies
- Free pool tables and game rooms
- Tennis court memberships
- Free steam room and/or sauna
- Free coffee
- Free dinner and dancing balls
If you find yourself partaking of many of the above, then a luxury apartment might be right for you.
Renting a Luxury Apartment Infographic
Without further delay, here’s the renting a luxury apartment infographic:
Luxury. Its a Bargain Created By: ForRent.com
Is Renting a Luxury Apartment Worth the Extra Cost? – Final Thoughts
It is always a great idea to investigate and compare prices on anything that you spend your hard earned money on. When it comes to renting a luxury apartment, you really need to cover all your bases when comparing costs. Important questions to ask yourself are:
- what amenities are included with my luxury apartment?
- which of these included amenities will I actually use?
- will I be paying for items that I don’t really care about?
- if I went with the cheaper option, what would I do with the money I saved?
The infographic above presents a case where a particular person would actually save money overall if they went with renting a luxury apartment. I will have to admit, I have never lived in a large city. So, it is hard for me to grasp the idea of paying separately for a gym membership ($466), pool ($45), tennis ($117), and sauna ($139). I am used to seeing all of these together in one facility like the YMCA for about $80 a month – not $750+!
If you feel like you will use nearly all the amenities that come with the luxury apartment that you are looking at, you very well may come out ahead financially. Just make sure you take the extra time to ensure you will really use all that extra stuff that you will be paying for!
” … it is hard for me to grasp the idea of paying separately for a gym membership ($466), pool ($45), tennis ($117), and sauna ($139). I am used to seeing all of these together in one facility like the YMCA for about $80 a month.” Indeed.
I have been reading a lot about luxury apartments lately but it is not something I am intimately familiar with as I haven’t studied the market closely, and like you, I live in a smaller city and as far as I know, no such market exists here.
As you note, if an individual is considering a luxury apartment vice a more traditional apartment, it comes down to running the numbers and determining the value.
James recently posted…Better Bet. A Pension or a 401(k)?
I usually find with these sort of all-inclusive type things you really end of losing money in the long run unless you are taking advantage of 90%+ of the “package”. Anything less than that, and you would be better off buying the things separately.
I am skeptical about the analysis from forrent.com. Apparently when people get luxury apartment (i.e. pay more for their rent) through forrent.com, the site gets a higher commision. So what I’m seeing is kinda like a real estate agent trying to persuade everyone to buy high end houses. The price savings for gym membership and personal trainers also look ridiculously high. But it does bring some interesting perspectives of looking at luxury apartments.
Charlie,
I tend to agree – I haven’t heard of paying over $700 a month for basic gym stuff (pool, sauna, tennis, etc.). But, there are a lot of crazy things that go on in large cities like New York. Maybe folks really do fork out this much??