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Rental Size. Wife and I disagree.


ccw

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Hello all,

My wife and I will be visiting for our first time in February 2018. We are staying 2 weeks to get a feeling for the area. I have been looking at long term rentals online to get an idea of pricing etc. I find myself skipping listings that seem to large regardless of the price. My wife thinks I am being to "logical"

We are currently living in a 2 bed, 2 bath, apartment with 1100 sf. I see a lot of listings for rentals there with 3-4 bedrooms with a lot more sf. The first thought I have when I see the listing is "we will never use 3 bedrooms and the sf is too big" (even when the location and price are good). Do I need to readjust my thinking? I am not asking or looking for specific areas, just your thoughts.

Thanks.

 

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Have fun looking online. Don't come to ANY conclusions until you have been here. Lots of people try to be too smart by half. Look into moving companies, etc. if you have to scratch your itch. You will have plenty of decisions to make soon enough.

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Locally, the square footage estimates by real estate agents includes more than enclosed, interior areas. Any outside covered area attached to the house, such as covered porches, patios, terrazas, balconies, miradors and carports are included. Not sure about covered detached areas, such as a garage, carport or bodega. At any rate, my point is that the square footage estimates you are seeing are probably not just enclosed, interior areas of the home. A home with 1100 interior square feet could easily show as 1500 or 1600 when including unenclosed areas with a roof.

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2 hours ago, ccw said:

Hello all,

My wife and I will be visiting for our first time in February 2018. We are staying 2 weeks to get a feeling for the area.

If it's just a 2 week rental, who cares? Pick based on LOCATION, amenities and comfort/price. So what if you don't use a room or two?

You're just auditioning the area afterall. Readjust your thinking and live it up!

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Bedrooms here can be what are called dens in the U.S..  A bedroom here does not necessarily have a closet. Or a window.  And the door may lead into another room, not a hallway.  My condo is listed as a 3 bedroom but it really is a 2 bedroom with a den.  According to U.S. definitions, that is.    I recently looked at a house that is listed as a 4 bedroom, but 3 of the bedrooms are joined by doorways, and the one in the middle only opens onto the room on either side.  And they were just rooms.  No closets.  And one did not have a window either.  So keep in mind that definitions are just different at Lakeside. 

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You 2 should discuss it and find a middle ground.  You will get 100 opinions from here.  You will be here you both should decided as it is only for 2 weeks.  We stayed in an hotel for 2 weeks, you do not have to clean or make beds, much better option in my opinion.

you can get a better rate for 2 weeks.  Good luck

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13 hours ago, Travis said:

If it's just a 2 week rental, who cares? Pick based on LOCATION, amenities and comfort/price. So what if you don't use a room or two?

You're just auditioning the area afterall. Readjust your thinking and live it up!

You misunderstood the OP.  They are doing an initial visit for two weeks but looking at longer term rentals on line now, and presumably in person during the two week INITIAL visit.  They are apparently trying to decide which on line rentals to screen out because of size.  We are pointing out to them that the square footage they see for properties now is not derived in the same way as the square footage number used NOB and to not prematurely screen out attractive looking properties based on that parameter.

The other thing of course is the architecture here can be quite different and hence the square footage number is not necessarily a good guide for how liveable a property is.

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I have to say there is some good information on the responses.  It's all accurate.  The square footage is calculated differently as it includes the outdoor covered areas AND there is a huge lack of storage, particularly when you get no garage (carports here usually), and no outside storage, no attic, no basement.

We have a small home in the US, along with a two car detached garage and attic.  It's only 1860 square feet, however, it holds all our belongings and is enough space.  Most homes here are 2 bedroom and what they consider a bedroom is really questionable.

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Thanks for all of the good information. Knowing how sf is calculated there helps a lot. And the definition of bedroom there also helps.

Mainecoons nailed it on the head with what my wife and I are doing. We are staying in La Floresta for 2 weeks with Airbnb while we scout out the area. Now I can readjust my thinking when I am researching long term rental housing on line.

We don't plan on moving there until the end of 2018, but I am just doing research now to get educated.

Thanks.

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Yes, there are many housing styles. On paper, ours is three bedroom/3bathroom, but this is misleading. One of the bedrooms is an entire suite, with its own entrance, own bathroom/shower, lounge and small kitchen area. I think they would call it a mother in law suite today, but it is closer to full time maid's quarters in its time. The rest of the house is on a massive scale, a real entertainer's house. 30 foot plus ceilings, massive pillars, huge living room/fireplace, walls of glass, lots of parking. The door to the Master bedroom is at least 6 or 7 feet across, mahogany and brass, with three heavy duty bolts. The bedroom is so huge, we have a decorative table and chairs setup in one corner. Huge walkthrough clothes closet. The bathroom is normal size but it is all done up in what would be antique, hand painted tallavera today. Whoever built this house sure loved Puebla Tallavera. So you never know what you are going to find.

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3 hours ago, ccw said:

Thanks for all of the good information. Knowing how sf is calculated there helps a lot. And the definition of bedroom there also helps.

Mainecoons nailed it on the head with what my wife and I are doing. We are staying in La Floresta for 2 weeks with Airbnb while we scout out the area. Now I can readjust my thinking when I am researching long term rental housing on line.

We don't plan on moving there until the end of 2018, but I am just doing research now to get educated.

Thanks.

Come here, enjoy, and have a GOOD look around at many different areas / neighborhoods / available services etc.  The biggest mistake a lot of people make is not checking these things out. Then before you know it you're tied to noisy (at might) neighbors, or spotty garbage pickup,  off-and-on water (from the street source),   or...... the list goes on and on!

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A 3rd bedroom for storage is practically mandatory for us. Closets seem to be almost an afterthought in Mexican homes to such an extent that I often wonder where my Mexican friends store all their stuff with fancy clothes that are only worn once a year or so.

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55 minutes ago, Aquaponicsman said:

A 3rd bedroom for storage is practically mandatory for us. Closets seem to be almost an afterthought in Mexican homes to such an extent that I often wonder where my Mexican friends store all their stuff with fancy clothes that are only worn once a year or so.

Totally agree.  Closets insufficient.  Also, frequently NO PANTRY in the kitchen.  We end up having a metal shelf for some of our food in another room.  We are in a two bedroom now and it's really insufficient storage wise.

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4 hours ago, Aquaponicsman said:

A 3rd bedroom for storage is practically mandatory for us. Closets seem to be almost an afterthought in Mexican homes to such an extent that I often wonder where my Mexican friends store all their stuff with fancy clothes that are only worn once a year or so.

This is what I see and have seen for decades in Mexican bedrooms to store their clothes etc. instead of built-in closets. They take it with them when moving same as kitchen cabinets etc.

  "mudgirl:

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Like the closet issue, traditional Mexican style homes, even if they have fairly large rooms, have kitchens with hardly any counter space. A house my friend rented had a tiny living room, an ENORMOUS bedroom, an ENORMOUS bathroom, but the kitchen had about one square meter of counters."

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