| Form your description, this sounds like an "in-law" apartment, either a renovation or addition to a house to create an apartment, usually for a relative. The owner sounds as if he has bought the house and is counting on the income from the apartment. Nothing wrong with that, but a first-home owner and landlord could cause some problems. I would check out how he plans to handle even minor repairs, such as what happens if your toilet gets clogged. Is the landlord going to fix it or will he call the appropriate repair person? Will he call at midnight if it's a problem or make you wait until the next day? As for the utilities, it depends on a lot of factors if 1/3 is fair. I'm assuming that you will have your own phone line and internet connections. How many people will be living in the rest of the house? Just the owner? A family? Kids? Will you be sharing their cable TV connection, even if it is more expensive or less comprehensive than you would want? Can you get your own hook-up or dish? How big is the house? If the house is 5 times bigger than the apartment, then I don't think 1/3 is fair for the heat/air conditioning. 1/6 would be more like it. Same with electricty--if there are a lot more people living in the house, the bill should be divided proportionately. If you are very conservative with utilities and the owner and his family are not, you will end up subsidising their utility use. I would not want someone else in control of all the utilities. This is one are where I can save money by using less. So I keep my apartment fairly cool in the winter and wear sweaters. I don't turn on a lot of lights. I would not want to be paying for someone else's use of these things. The other thing to be concerned about with an in-law apartment is the owner's access to the apartment. Some of them have a door from the house directly into the apartment. I would want to have a bolt on my side of that door to prevent the owner from entering without my permission. I would also probably put a big, heavy piece of furniture in front of it. Check the laws of your state carefully. Things such as when, how often and how much notice a landlord must give before entering an apartment vary from state to state. You should know your rights before you sign the lease. You may have to do some educating of your landllord on a few things. My last landlord didn't know that Connectict has laws on how long a landlord can allow an apartment to go without heat. I had to point out to him that we had been heatless for three days, and according to state law, I could call the police and have him arrested. He wasn't happy with me, but the heat was fixed in three hours. A first time landlord may not be aware of all his responsibilites. As for the bedroom floor, you can ask about the carpet/hardwood issue. If there is hardwood under the carpet, the landlord might be willing to remove the carpet. I'm not so sure about installing hardwood, however, as that is much more expensive. | 
