The Dirt on Apartments With Yards

Smart City

Jul 24, 2019

71% of people we surveyed said that they’d rather rent an apartment with a private yard than one with an attached garage, and we get it. Having a yard expands your space from four walls to the great outdoors. Obvious perks to having a yard include having space for a dog to run around, to keep a really extensive garden and to entertain, because sometimes sitting outside with a drink is more fun than sitting inside with a drink.

When trying to decide if an apartment with a private yard is right for you, here are a few things to consider:

The simple math is that the more perks an apartment boasts, the more it costs to rent. In our experience, a unit with a yard is about $200 more expensive than the same floor plan without a yard.
Apartments with private yards are limited and because the availability is slim, these apartments are more difficult to find and rarely ever receive any kind of discount/concession.
Units with yards are ALWAYS on the first floor, obviously, and for some people that is an issue. Direct access to the ground level can feel unsafe to some, sometimes on the other side of the fence there can be unpleasant views like electrical boxes or parking lots, and it’s possible that being on the ground level makes your space more prone to bugs and tracking in dirt.
Is the juice worth the squeeze, or rather the yard worth the cost? For some people, having a yard seems awesome and then six months into their lease they realize they’ve only utilized the space once or twice, and that they aren’t actually getting the most out of the added cost of rent. If you have a dog you’ll definitely utilize the yard. If not, spend some time determining if this is important to you and your lifestyle.

So you’ve decided that a yard is your next move:

To give you a glimpse at the current market, one of our agents ran a quick search and found a few available Austin apartments with yards. Check ‘em out, but remember that pricing and availability are subject to change at any time because the market is about as consistent as a cheap wifi connection.