4 Things That Are Almost Never Worth Paying Extra For in an Apartment

If you’ve looked into renting in a luxury building recently, you may have noticed that the offered amenities have been looking even more enticing. In-house gyms, community screening rooms, and greenhouses? Oh my! While it may seem like all these added bonuses are worth spending a couple hundred bucks extra on rent each month, how do you actually know you’re getting your money’s worth?

Thankfully, this doesn’t have to be an abstract question: I have the answers. In hopes of helping you make good choices, I spoke to some real estate agents to get the scoop. Here, five amenities they say you’ll regret paying for:

While a building may tout these “third spaces” as convenient and attractive places to hang out with friends and socialize, you might not be getting your money’s worth if you rarely get to use them. According to Michael J. Franco of Compass, investing in shared communal spaces won’t make sense if you work long hours and prefer to spend your Saturday night on the couch binging Netflix.

An in-unit washer and dryer is often seen as the holy grail for renters. Who wants to deal with schlepping to the laundromat and constantly fishing for quarters? But renters should be careful what they wish for when it comes to this oft-lusted-after amenity, says Emile L’Eplattenier, chief real estate analyst at TheClose.com.

According to L’Eplattenier, because landlords know in-unit laundry is so valuable to renters, you’ll pay a hefty premium. In some markets you could even be paying every penny of the value of those machines in your rent—and then some.

“For the same monthly bump in expenses, you can have your laundry washed and neatly folded for you, even delivered to your door,” he says.

Plus, while it’s easy to rationalize putting off a trip to the laundromat a few more days, once you have in-unit machines, you’ll feel obligated to spend your weekends doing the laundry.

L’Eplattenier also points out that many dryers in newer buildings are not vented, meaning your clothes will take much longer to dry, and so you can expect to see an uptick on your electricity bill as well.

Having a place in your building to take a dip sounds like the height of luxury, but before you get too excited, remember that kids are usually a pool’s most frequent visitors.

Unless you have kids yourself or relish the idea of little ones doing cannonballs as you try to enjoy yourself on your swan float, a pool isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, says Ashley Baskin, a California-based real estate agent who serves on the advisory board for Home Life Digest.

Instead, she suggests that water-loving renters seek out a building apartment with a jacuzzi. Not only will there be fewer children, but you’ll pay less in rent since you won’t be paying for pricey maintenance on a full-sized pool.

While you may dream of drinking coffee and sunning on your balcony, Jen and Josh Horner of RE/MAX Masters in Salt Lake City, Utah, say these luxury selling points are rarely as good as they sound. Often, they’re too small to actually enjoy—and especially so in big cities—relative to their price tag. Also in new, large buildings, these private balconies might be packed in like sardines. If you’re close enough to touch your neighbor, the word “private” becomes pretty meaningless.

Still figuring out if it’s worth paying a broker fee? Here’s a former NYC real estate agent’s case for skipping a no-fee apartment.

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