rent hike :(

[TahliasMom]

Today I get a nice note from our lease office informing me that my lease will be up end of June. If I wish to stay, I can either rent month to month at an extra $250/month or sign a year lease with only 5% increase! And I have to make a decision by May 7th. I called to talk to them about the rent hike and lease, and the office lady only so rudely reminded me that I should be lucky that a. I live in a BMR unit (hence my rent is $500 less) and b. my rent increase is only 5%. Also, that the area I live in has no rent control so the landlord can increase the rent as much as 10%. Yeah thanks for making me feel all warm and fuzzy...Don't get me wrong, I love where we live but beween rent, utilities and preschool costs, I'm barely have enough for food and gas. At least we're getting a refund from the IRS sometime in May right?

[tylersmama]

:hug: That really stinks, and I can completely relate. When we first moved here, we loved the apartment we were living in, but when it came time to renew the lease, they wanted to increase our rent over $100/month. And this was at a time when the apartment rental market had taken a nosedive, there were tons of vacancies, and most complexes were offering super huge incentives. STBX tried to negotiate with the management company and basically told them that if they kept the rent the same we would stay, otherwise we were out of there. They wouldn't budge, so we moved! We moved to a complex 1/4 mile away, same size apartment, and a much better pool. We paid $400/month less, got two months free, AND a $100 gift card to the local mall. All told, we ended up saving several thousand dollars because our original rental management company was dumb.

I know you're in a tough market real-estate wise, but it might be worth looking around just to see what might be out there. You may be able to find a much better place for less than what you're paying now. Good luck, and hang in there!

[TahliasMom]

I'm starting to look. I just hate to uproot dd again, she's been thru so much. but maybe if i can find a cute place with a yard, i might consider moving. i also talked to the lease office and trying to negotiate the rent increase.

[janeybwild]

:hug: I'm sorry that you have to go through this. It must be quite stressful. I hope you can figure something out.