As the months of your apartment lease begin to tick away, it is normal to begin thinking about what is next. Over the next few months, you will need to decide whether to renew your lease or if it’s time to move on to a new one. Now, if you have ever gone through this yourself, you know it isn’t always an easy choice to make.
With that in mind, prepare yourself to make a pro and con list as this article walks you through important questions to help you decide whether to stick around and sign a new lease or move on to another apartment.
How was your experience?
The most important consideration to make here is to gauge how your experience was. If you had a great time and loved the landlord and the unit, you should at least be open to the idea of renewing the lease. Getting stuck with a bad landlord or a unit full of issues is common, so you should feel lucky that you were able to land a place you enjoy.
If you had a bad time or weren’t a fan of the landlord, roommates, neighbors, or rules, this should make your choice to move out incredibly easy as you had a poor experience. Be sure to consider lifestyle aspects such as commute time, access to amenities, parking availability, and proximity to friends.
Can you still afford your unit?
Unfortunately, rent increases are a common experience, especially if most of those incentives offered will only last a year, and when you renew your lease, those deals will be gone. As a result, there is a good chance your rent will go up for your renewal (unless there has been a large change in the market).
A rent increase isn’t always the case (and some landlords might even provide additional incentives or a decreased rent for a renewal), but usually you should expect to pay a slightly increased rent when you renew. However, you could have recently scored a new job or additional sources of income that may allow you to spend more money on rent making the increase not as impactful as you would have originally thought.
Don’t forget to take into consideration any changes in utilities or common charges. Is your morning coffee getting more expensive? While rent is one part of your expenses, there is a lot that goes into your cost of living, especially if you’re a New Yorker.
If you’ve received your lease renewal terms and like the experience in your current unit, double check to see if the new rent still falls within smart budgeting ratios by using the RentHop Rent Calculator.
Of course, there are people like New Yorkers who report paying proportionally more for rent than other cities, but don’t make that decision without doing research first!
Is it worth it to re-sign your lease or move?
So let’s say you like your apartment and you can afford to stay and resign, but is it really worth it?
There are several questions to ask yourself if it’s worthwhile for you to stay in your current home. Is the new price fair for what you get? Would the cost and hassle of moving be worse for you than extra rent each month? Are there other aspects about the apartment’s amenities or location that make renewing your lease worth it? If so, it could be worthwhile to stay. However, if not, it might be in your best interest to move.
If you’re a NYC renter, another useful tool to help you make this determination is RentHop RentCompare, where you can see if you are overpaying or underpaying on your rent. RentHop RentCompare takes into account the current average of your bedroom count and neighborhood and shows you where your rent falls on the spectrum. This information is another data point to add to your deliberations to decide on renewal. While you could be overpaying, you may have access to laundry and a fitness center cutting back on those regular expenses, or, you might never go to the gym and the cost for the additional amenity isn’t worth it. On the flip side, you could be underpaying in rent but live off a train that experience frequent delays or doesn’t run on the weekend.
What is “worth it” to you, might not just be the flat cost.
Have you found somewhere better?
Even if you intend to stay at your apartment and renew your lease, it is a good idea to do a little bit of research and see what’s out there. New apartments are being posted daily, and many of them will likely have features you are interested in.
Who knows, if you simply sign a renewal without even looking at other options you might eventually discover you could have gotten a similar place for less money, but simply missed the opportunity. Apartment hunting when you plan on renewing may even give you information to negotiate with your landlord.
If you find something better before the lease renewal cut-off date, you can take it, but if not, you can still sign the renewal without losing anything.
What’s the market like?
Before you agree to a renewal or decide to leave, you should evaluate what the market is like. Is there a lot of demand for apartments, and are rent prices high? Or are there many vacancies that are leading landlords to drop their prices? Either way, knowing the market in your city can help you make an informed decision. Check your local trends to see how rent in your area changes over the year to decide if things look favorable for you to move or negotiate. You should compare the rent you will be paying if you renew against rents in similar locations in your area.
Each city is different, and many will even be different depending on the time of the year, so timing your research correctly is also important.
Are you able to afford or handle moving out?
While this was touched on briefly above, it deserves a whole section of its own due to the impact it may have on a renter.
Moving all of your belongings from one apartment to another can get expensive once you factor in moving trucks, boxes, possible missed days of work, and hiring labor assistance can often cost hundreds (or thousands) of dollars, and don’t forget tip!
In addition to moving out being expensive, it can also be incredibly stressful, especially if you are on a higher floor. Depending on how much stuff you have, moving could take dozens of trips with your vehicle, and moving things like bookcases, bed frames, and couches down flights of stairs or trying to fit them in elevators isn’t easy. There is a risk for lost or damaged property due to all manner of reasons, from accidents to the weather!
If you are very busy at the time of your renewal date and simply can’t handle it or don’t have time for a move, it might make sense to renew as long as the terms are acceptable.
Next Steps After Deciding to Renew Your Lease Or Move
If you made a list, examine how things shaped up. Leaning more towards renewing? Or moving? The answer might not be immediately apparent, so it’s perfectly fine to take some time to think about it.
If you plan on moving, make sure you feel knowledgeable about moving processes, apartment hunting and are geared up for your next step in the process! While if you’re renewing, maybe it’s time to celebrate with a new plant or finally introducing yourself to your next door neighbor (or maybe that’s a little too wild!)
