Space is a real issue in Hoboken. We simply don't have enough of it. At an average cost of $500 per square foot, Hoboken apartments are certainly not cheap. Many of my friends constantly rearrange furniture in their apartments to make the most of every inch. Floorplans are an invaluable part of any real estate transaction since they give potential renters/buyers the ability to see whether the space will work for their needs.

Nobody wants to spend more on real estate than you have to, but you also don't want to get stuck in an apartment that is just too small. Two people can squeeze into a one-bedroom, but what if one of them works from home or they have a baby? With the economy still in the doldrums and unemployment at its highest level since 1948, more people than ever are experimenting with entrepreneurship. Half of all small businesses are based out of home offices, so when you are choosing your Hoboken apartment it's a real toss-up between saving money versus having enough room to explore your options. My husband was nearly driven insane by my machine-gun typing late at night in the corner of our bedroom that I used as my home office until we moved to our current four-bedroom condo.

The simple answer is to rent. After all, it's a one-year commitment and you can always find something better when the lease expires, right? The problem with that approach is you need to factor in moving costs, realtor fees, and the expense of getting set up in the new apartment (new shower curtains, storage units, etc.). And there is no guarantee that something both affordable and better will be available exactly when your lease expires. Furthermore, renting can often mean roommates, and then you have to deal with their changing needs (for example: someone gets in a serious relationship and the boy- or girlfriend wants to move in) as well as melding different lifestyles.

To further complicate the roommate dilemma, how many roommates do you want?  It's cheaper to split a $3,000 three-bedroom three ways than it is to split a $2,300 two-bedroom two ways, but that means rounding up two other people plus a suitable apartment with equally-sized bedrooms, no mean feat in Hoboken. And then there is location; do you rent or buy a unit without a washer and dryer in a small walkup building near Washington Street, or do you go for a more spacious unit in an elevator building on the west side of town? Plus parking is a constant headache in Hoboken. Having your own parking spot is worth its weight in gold in this town.

Ultimately my husband and I wound up buying a 1,050 square foot two-bedroom in southwest Hoboken to maximize our living space while minimizing our expenses. We hedged ourselves against the lack of mobility by choosing a unit we knew we would be able to sell easily because of the unusually large private outdoor patio. For five years, we didn't have to think about our housing situation, and the absence of real estate stress was really nice.

To read more about what makes Kathy Zucker tick, check out her blog at http://hobokenmomcondo.com/momblog and follow her at http://twitter.com/zhobokenmom