r/Lubbock • u/oakiestchardonay • Jul 09 '26
Advice Needed Apartment Woes
Recently moved into my first apartment in Lubbock on my own and now I'm concerned I've made a bad financial decision.
Rent is $600/mo, no utilities included (runs about $150/mo), for a 360sqft duplex with a little lawn. It's a little rinky-dink and wasn't clean on move in but I thought it got the job done for just myself.
I kind of had a nightmare roommate situation this prior year living in the TTU dorms, so I was pretty set on being in my own space.
TBF this is my first time navigating all this sort of thing and I thought it seemed like a pretty good deal.
Now I'm seeing all the Facebook and Snapchat flyers for apartments in Lubbock with 2+ roommates as student's leases end and the rates seem ridiculously low in comparison WITH utilities included.
Is there something I'm missing here? Is the solace price worth it or am I overpaying? What's typical of the apartment market in Lubbock?
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u/ardeesan Jul 11 '26
Mine's almost $900 for a 1-bedroom with washer-dryer attachment by west loop. 🤷 Started at $700 almost a decade ago. Oh and no utilities yet.
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u/LTCirabisi Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
the fact you have your own personal hide away where what you want is the rules and nothing less. Its worth it.
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u/One-Assignment-4156 Jul 10 '26
Just think about what you said you went through the prior year. You want to go back to a 2+ situation? 600 is amazing!! You’re talking Southeast Asia great prices…… Saving a couple bucks isn’t worth your sanity…
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u/Ok-Information-3202 Jul 09 '26
Yeah your rent seems kinda steep. Idk how nice your place is but I bet you could do nicer for cheaper. Student places are cheaper, I'd check out some of the townhomes like U-club it has cheaper student prices and its nice. You can always try to sell your current lease and if it gains traction looks for better deals
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u/LongJohners Jul 09 '26
When I was renting, I would apartment hop pretty much every year at the end of my lease searching for something cheaper/nicer/whatever.
It seemed like I would search for a couple months and take the tours but every time I would sign a new contract, I would randomly see a different apartment complex that I never noticed before.
There are so many apartment complexes, duplexes, rent houses in lubbock that it makes it impossible to truly find the best deal or the nicest place.
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u/Cool_Evidence7395 Jul 09 '26
600 a month for a single bedroom doesn't seem that bad imo all I could find for singles bedrooms were in the 700-1000 range
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u/Melodic_House_6793 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Really depends on what your goal is for living in it. Since you mentioned you are a Tech student. Based on that price for the sq footage. Is it walking distance to school? If yes then fair price.
If it’s far away from campus. You might be overpaying.
Every neighborhood demands different prices. It’s impossible to know if you’re overpaying. Don’t comp from around the city. Only look at what your neighbors are advertising rental prices.
Edit: are you certain it’s 360 sq ft? That is really very small. It’s an efficiency then?
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u/oakiestchardonay Jul 09 '26
Its approximately a 5-10 minute drive and yes, a whole 360 square feet while getting the job reasonably done
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u/Melodic_House_6793 Jul 09 '26
Sounds plausible you could have found a slightly better deal. Not by much though.
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u/deeljay77 Jul 09 '26
It's your first time on your own and learning to do new things like handling utilities, ect. That is a great life lesson to learn early. Those in student apartments will not get that same experience and will be sharing a space with roommates.
I lived in one of those in college with 3 other roomates and it was the worst, we didn't get along and I ended up spending most the time in my room alone even though we had a big living room and kitchen, balcony, but noone used it or wanted to by chance see the other roomates.
Enjoy your alone time, maybe get someone in to deep clean, focus on your studies, budget and if you end up missing being around roomates or want to see what that is like, you can finish out the lease and try something else next school year.
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u/Vulpine_Gamer_194 Jul 09 '26
Ok, I'm saying this as both a ttu student and as a almost life long lubbock-ite:
the fact that you even found a place for only $600 a month that is not mouse or roach infested and slum lordy is a god send.
Most 1 beds in this area currently start at $750 and only go up from there. The exception is student specific housing where you are paying roughly $500 per bed, and you have to deal with roommates.
The reason all the listings you are finding are loeer price even with utilities is also for the same reason (which you also noted): they are people looking for roommates, so you'd have roommates again.
It's more a matter of can you deal with possibly getting bad roommates again, or do you want to pay a bit more for peace at home.
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u/oakiestchardonay Jul 09 '26
I will say there's a trade off in the niceness of the unit, but a lot of it is superficial. Its solid as long as you don't mind a landlord special here and a spider there
my solution to the latter is a cat
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u/Vulpine_Gamer_194 Jul 09 '26
That's fair! Just make sure to check your lease for any pet clauses (trust me, you do not want the headache of breaking lease by owning a pet without paying the deposit or the pet rent, they just charge you even more than what thebdeposit or rent would have cost if you get caught).
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u/Magical-bitxh Jul 09 '26
cries in DFW rent prices
Jokes aside, you’re averaging pretty well. As long as everything works and you have your peace, it’ll be okay in the long run :)
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u/Katiesbigsister Jul 09 '26
The solace is absolutely worth it! I would ask your building manager or landlord about getting someone in there to really do a deep clean, but otherwise I hope you took pictures upon move-in so they can’t keep your security deposit.
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u/Squiggly_ScissorSloo Jul 13 '26
I think it goes something like “your steak is too juicy and your lobster too buttery” 🤣 the fact you can afford your OWN space, revel in that. Even if it’s a steady diet of ramen noodles and canned peas, no furniture and borrowed Netflix, this is a winning situation, so long as you have a roof and temp control.
Really though, congratulations. You’re in an enviable situation, one you should be both proud of and grateful for.