<p>I haven’t rented an apartment in a long time, but this seems pretty ridiculous to me. S is signing a one year lease. According to my calculations, that is 12 months. Up front, he has to pay 1st month rent, last month rent, one month security deposit, AND another one month rent as a fee to the rental agent. According to my calculations… that is four months rent up front, or 1/3 of the one year lease. So of course I need to cosign the lease agreement (What, 1/3 upfront isn’t enough? If he pays no more rent how long would it take to evict him? Oh well…)</p>
<p>I can’t wait to see what they do with my cosignature when I list myself as unemployed and no income.</p>
<p>NJRes…my son is at the same Boston school as yours. He just rented a studio apartment for his junior year starting next September. We had to pay one month’s rent to the agent, one month security and first and last. Four times rent for a place he won’t even be in until September.
I spent some time researching and found that this is common. The Boston market is tight because there are sooo many college kids.<br>
I had also told my son I would prefer that he rent something with a month’s security because it is an indication that the owner/landlord actually cares about the property. If you see a place listed with no security deposit or a minimal security deposit that is an indication that the place will be a dump and not be maintained.
I’m not sure that is any comfort to my or your pocketbook but …</p>
<p>forgot to mention, the cosign form I received had a note about how if they get a noise/party complaint they will be calling the cosigner and that these complaints are generally between midnight and 5 am. So that’s what they will do with your cosignature…Hope you are a heavy sleeper.</p>
<p>We went thru this last year, and I also called various real estate companies to check it out…also my BIL’s relative is a realtor in Boston so I wanted a straight answer. Although it seems extreme , the realtor fee of one month’s rent is standard procedure there. I questioned the particular realtor my daughter was dealing with and he told me that either way , the student is paying the fee…if not directly then in the form of higher rent if the landlord supposedly absorbs the fee.
It hurts, no doubt to come up with such a big chunk of change when you most likely just paid for the second semester .Also, a lot of the rentals are from June to June…they landlords don’t want to ge stuck with a Sept to Sept when the students leave in May.
I have another year and then I have to go thru this again…I narrowly escapes it this time from my daughter who will be a sophomore next year !
One apt at a time, thank you.</p>
<p>Something else to check. Try to check to make sure they are not in a foreclosure situation. So many stories here of landlords taking the money and running. Then the tenants are evicted. Is there an escrow available or someway to check on the company and agent?</p>
<p>“Up front, he has to pay 1st month rent, last month rent, one month security deposit, AND another one month rent as a fee to the rental agent.”</p>
<p>Yes, three months up front is the maximum allowed under MA law. If you don’t want to pay the fourth month, you shouldn’t use a rental agent – I never felt that I needed one. The universities keep listings of available apartments.</p>
<p>My D is in a two-bedroom apartment, in Brighton, which attracts a lot of students. They pay $1575/month, for a third story apartment, with a very outdated kitchen (calling it a kitchen might be pushing it) and bathroom. She is a five minute walk to the T.</p>
<p>for a nice(ish) apartment, its about $1000/bedroom/month in cambridge close to a T-stop. Things get significantly cheaper the further you get from the T stop (ie somerville)</p>
<p>NJres - I’ll be curious to know the outcome…I tried being a cosigner for D in NYC last August. 4 kids renting a 4 bedroom, each paying $800 (x the 4…security deposit, first, last, and “fee”). Each kid had a cosigner. All of us were turned down as they wanted EVERY cosigner to make 4x the YEARLY rent ($154k EACH family!). In essence the combined cosigners needed to earn $600k. So much for that idea. Each kid went their separate way & ended up renting rooms in various spots around town.</p>
<p>Please be careful with the number of kids in an apartment. Many local communities in and around Boston (Boston itself (which includes Allston and Brighton), Newton, and I believe Cambridge and Brookline) limit the number of unrelated individuals living in a housing unit, no matter how large, to 4. A fifth roommate is illegal unless related to one of the others. But many unscrupulous landlords ignore this restriction, and kids have ended up evicted in the middle of the year.</p>
<p>Actually check VERY carefully. Some limit the number of unrelated folks to TWO. Three kid we knew were looking at a place in Brookline…oops…only allowed two.</p>
<p>My son and his roommate rent an apartment in Boston, but they found a condo in a high-rise that was no fee. (I should note that they’re young professionals just out of college and not current students.) Many high-rises offer apartments that are no fee. His apartment is in the West End: 1200+ sq. ft., 2 large bedrooms (one with a walk-in closet), 2 full baths with granite, two big storage closets, hardwood throughout, three-season sunporch, huge modern kitchen, huge living and dining space, paid utilities, concierge service, visitor parking, and convenient to everything. The negatives: Few young people, paper-thin walls, expensive resident parking, and on-going construction at the building entrance. The rent is $2000/month.</p>
<p>They found this place after months of dealing with rental agents (some unscrupulous), looking at countless dumps, and becoming very discouraged. They kept watching Craiglist and this place just popped up out of the blue one day. Even though they’ve had to learn to keep the noise levels down, they’re very happy.</p>
<p>Edit: I’m not sure if this listing is in the same building, but it’s very similar to this:</p>
<p>I was told by several realtors that young professionals are in a different rental category and may be able to rent/find something decent with no fee. Students and especially undergrads will have a harder time finding a place with no fee.
Also, the schools keep lists of unscrupulous agents…some “agents” even list on craigslist and then show students places they don’t own. They have the student Western Union a deposit and poof they are gone.
I believe MA law no says no more than four in one place.
Barrons, your strategy of only pay two months up front would mean that you or your student would probably end up with a much less desirable place.
It’s a racket but the agents have the market cornered.
PS I also found out that the max rental increase is three percent per year and you want a lease that gives you first right of refusal to renew your lease.</p>
<p>“So is it really a better option in the Boston area to rent an apartment than stay on the campus?”</p>
<p>Totally depends on the school. I’d never move off campus as an undergrad at Harvard or Wellesley. At Tufts and BU, most kids have to move off campus at some point.</p>
So that’s what they will do with your cosignature…Hope you are a heavy sleeper.</p>