Furnished vs Semi-Furnished

Let's see, if I can recall, my semi-furnished place had a bed but no nightstand or dresser, a dining room table and chairs, a sofa but no end tables, no TV, etc. Each is different! That is why you will want to gaze at the place with your little eyes!! I also had a furnished spot with linens, towels, dishes, toaster, VCR , etc. I think they even left some clothes behind! It is the luck of the draw.People move here. accumulate a few things and they end up leaving the stuff with the apartment. Yes, if phone and cable are included, that makes things easy on you! Ask about electric and water also. I know people who live in the apartment of a house and the landlord makes them pay 1/2 of the water bill, even though it is the landlord who has the washer and is taking bubble baths! I had a WONDERFUL landlord who would never have done that! 😉

Paul, don't worry about the questions - you are doing your homework that is why you are asking the questions that you are.

In terms of what I think affects price of apartments on St. Thomas. Location (view, close to beach, privacy, driveway close to main roads) then size, furnishings, whether it stands alone or is part of a home or complex...

As for furnished or un-furnished its hard to say whether one will be more or less when other factors are included in the rent cost.

The apartments I am familiar wtih as being semi furnished or furnished have stove, refregerator, bed, dresser, small dining table with maybe 4 chairs, sofa, a couple lamps and maybe a book shelf. Many times like East Ender said past tenants might have left other items; dishes, linens, area rugs and the landlord might just leave them there. So I think yes you can expect to find some apartments with everything... I think electronics are usually not common (TV, VCR, Radios, Clocks...)

Phone and Cable... might not mean its included as in its paid for you or its already hooked up... it means the apartment is phone and cable ready... the lines are already there, perhaps the previous tenant had these and when they left they were just turned off and can be turned back on when you apply for the services. If the apartment is not ready for these two amenities then it requires installation which sometimes takes a bit.

Amenities included in the rent... well this usually is an indication that the apartment does not have its own electric meter... the electricity you use in the apartment is metered on the same meter as your landlords or other tenants making it very difficult to judge who is using what. So in this case most landlords pay the bill because the meter is on their name and then tack on $50 onto the rent... so its not like you are getting it for free its just already incorporated into the rent because they have no other way to do it. Some landlords have more then one meter which means you would have your own bill. Gas stoves - some landlords will provide first bottle of gas - when it runs out you order and replace it. Water - some landlords make you pay a portion if the cistern goes dry and some condos have water meters so you pay on what you use.

Phone always being a pain - no not always. But it is greatly affected by whether the place is already set up and can just basically be "turned on" so to speak or not and the lines need to run from the main post.... ect. Water depends on how you are expected to pay... if you staying somewhere that has say 5 people total in the building and then you devide a truck of water by 5 then its not to bad unless you dont use very much water and everyone else does.... hard to say though. If you have to buy a trunk by yourself then try to conserve water so you dont have to buy water often.

Hope that helps some.

--Islander

Starting my life on St. Thomas is making more and more sense thanks to both of you. I will be there on Wednesday, with my eyes wide open. The logic, which both have you offered, makes perfect sense to me, and I now more clearly see the issues of water and phone hook up, of which I was somewhat aware, as important and sometimes difficult issues.

Keep your fingers crossed and you better believe I will report my hoped for success as a huge thank you in this forum.

Paul: there was a big story in the Daily News today on the renovations at Tillett Gardens. Good luck!

I'll check it out, thanks. I take it this might be a possible place to hang my hat?

Its the artist hang out basically. Piano instruction, live theatre, candle makers, painting, handmade jewerly.... might be a place to get to know some other artist and maybe set up a little shop or studio if you are interested.

--Islander

Good, I'll check it out on Wednesday. I thought it might be a housing complex or something.Islander wrote: