When you’re looking to rent an apartment there are several factors to consider. Commute times, security, rental charges, and the amount of space you need come into focus.
A one bedroom offers privacy, control, and lower rent. A two bedroom offers more space, opportunity to share living costs, and ample room to host friends and family. Depending on your budget and priorities, those are some of the benefits to consider.
There are pros for living in a one bedroom apartment as well as living in a two bedroom apartment. Check these quick facts on why different priorities and considerations can make one attractive over another.
What Are Benefits Of One Bedroom Apartment?
While having an extra bedroom can seem attractive, sometimes you’re better off renting a one bedroom apartment. Some of the benefits include:
Privacy
When you have an extra bedroom, friends and relatives may be tempted to sleep over and overstay their welcome. With a one bedroom apartment, your limited space automatically means you can’t host. So they can’t invite themselves over.
Convenience
When you live in a one bedroom, everything you own and need is in closer proximity than in a two bedroom apartment. You don’t have to dress in one bedroom then go find your shoes in another bedroom.
Lower Rent
If you don’t plan on living with a roommate, then renting a one bedroom is cheaper than renting a two bedroom. It also costs more to keep a bigger space running. For example, it costs more to heat a two bedroom or to run the AC than when living in a one bedroom apartment.
More Control
Sharing with a roommate involves lots of compromises to keep each other happy. You have to negotiate kitchen menus, takeout meals, play times, study hours, stereo use, and when it’s acceptable to bring guests over.
With different personality types, sometimes the rules can be impractical. This can result in a miserable sharing experience. Living in a one bedroom on your own or with a significant other is much easier than sharing living space with a platonic roommate.
No Kids
If you live alone or with your spouse, you’re probably not prepared for the headache of dealing with other people’s kids. Generally, buildings with one bedroom apartments will not have kids .
Children tend to be noisy and messy. They cry all night and make all sorts of noises all day. They clutter the common areas, draw on walls, and mess up corridors. They jam the elevators and older kids play pranks on unsuspecting neighbors.
Opportunity to Declutter
If you feel you need extra storage space, then it’s also possible that all you need to do is to declutter. Instead of paying for a bigger apartment, get rid of the stuff you don’t need. Sell what you can, donate what others need, recycle and repurpose what has outlived its current use, and send off to the landfill anything that has no more benefit.
What Are The Benefits Of A Two Bedroom Apartment?
Renting a two bedroom apartment can come with lots of extra benefits. These include:
Saving Money
Two bedroom apartments usually rent for less per square foot https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-does-economic-evidence-tell-us-about-the-effects-of-rent-control/ compared to one bedroom apartments. Additionally, the cost goes down if you choose to share with a roommate.
Also, your utility bills will hardly differ whether you’re living alone or with someone. So apart from rent, you get to share water bills, electric bills, garbage collection, grocery shopping, and cable. This drives down your living costs and saves you money.
Dividing Chores
When you’re sharing living space you can reduce your strain by dividing chores. House duties like doing dishes, vacuuming, cooking, and taking out the trash doesn’t all fall on your shoulders. When done responsibly, dividing duties can make life a lot easier for both roommates.
Creative Space
If you choose to live alone, you can turn the second bedroom into your creative space. You can use it as a home office to motivate you into becoming more productive with your work and business. A home office can be tax deductible if you’re working from home full time. You could also turn that second bedroom into a meditation or yoga studio free of distractions.
Hosting
The second bedroom can be a guest room when family or friends visit. Guests will enjoy some privacy and you won’t have to endure the awkwardness normally associated with having a guest sleeping on your living room couch.
Storage
No matter how organized you are, a one bedroom may still feel cramped. A second bedroom allows you some extra space to stash away things like clothing accessories, hobby items such as fishing poles, exercise machines, complex computer setups, or your shoe collection.
Pet Room
Do you own a pet such as a dog or a cat? Then an extra bedroom could be the perfect place to make a home for your pet. While it may seem like over the top to provide a pet with their own room, you could make it a mix of storage space and pet space. This could be the room where the pet gets some privacy and can be messy without littering the rest of the house.
Which Is Generally Cheaper A One or Two Bedroom Apartment?
If you live alone, a one bedroom will be cheaper. However, if you live with a roommate and share costs, a two bedroom will be more cost-effective. With a two bedroom, you first save on shared rent.
For example, a certain neighborhood may have a one bedroom for $1,200 and two bedrooms for $1,500. If you share the two bedroom apartment with someone else, you’ll be paying $4,500 less than someone living alone in the one bedroom.
Secondly, you save on amenity bills. There’s not much difference in the amenity bills for a one bedroom compared to a two bedroom. So sharing the bills with someone else effectively halves some of your living costs. These include bills such as:
- Garbage collection
- Water
- Electricity
- Internet
- Cable
- Service fee
- Security charges
- Parking space
- Renters insurance
Even though the two bedroom apartment will cost more to run, the cost difference won’t be very significant. Sharing with a paying roommate makes the amount you pay lower than what you would have individually paid renting a smaller one bedroom.