Yesterday I was speaking to one of the other tenants I've known since the day I moved in; he had nothing but good to say about the place when we first met. When I told him that I was going to be moving out in July (putting him up to exactly the second person I've told) due mostly to the increase in rent, he said "yeah, this place has a bad habit of doing that kind of thing, but they usually only do it every two years or so." He also mentioned that he doubted he'd be staying another year (although I got the impression that he'd probably signed a lease at least somewhat recently); he thought his rent was a bit high for the apartment he was in.
I seem to recall him telling me that he's lived here for about eight years. I was REALLY surprised when he told me that he's actually paying $50 a month more than I am for the identical apartment. I guess that information can lay to rest the entire notion that what they did to me was even remotely personal. When I moved in, my rent was indeed the market value ...if I go to the apartment hunting websites, I see the increase on rent from what it was a year ago. The neighbors length of stay confirms that they raise rent according to market value, but they certainly don't decrease it when values are down.
Yeah ...moving if definitely the correct decision if that's the standard here, and apparently it is. This makes the fourth place I've rented in the last (wow!) 25 years, and all of them were really consistent in lease renewals. I seem to recall that in Denton, the apartments were going for nearly $200 a month more than I was paying after almost 10 years there. I guess it's like I said before ...such a shame to find such a nice neighborhood and a place I really like only to have it messed up by what is probably just overly greedy management who cares more about squeezing the most they can out of tenants rather than maintaining a high occupancy rate and retaining quality people. The neighbor I spoke of above admitted that another guy I know who used to live here and visits a fair bit moved over an extremely high rent increase himself. He said once that moving from here was probably one of the worst mistakes he's made, but I think he moved to a pretty scary place.
I guess you can overlook a fair bit when you aren't on a fixed income and are in a decent neighborhood. That doesn't make it right, but I guess it makes sense in a weird kind of way.
Onward...
I've been spending a fair bit of time looking at Mom's house and trying to figure out what needs to be done to get me in. Poor Mom ...she admitted to me last night that the house hasn't had a thorough clean up done since the mid-nineties. When Dad was healthier, the place stayed a lot cleaner (when MOM was healthier, it stayed a lot cleaner); but it's really just too much for her now. I'm going to have my work cut out for me in the coming month(s).
The carpeting probably needs to be replaced, but it's never been cleaned beyond vacuuming (and I suspect Mom hasn't been able to comfortably vacuum in at least a year). I bought a carpet cleaner when I moved out of the last place and I suspect it'll be getting a lot of use soon. As of last week, my plan was to do one room at a time over the next month, but I'm adjusting that idea to doing two rooms at a time.
The good news is that I think everything will move in fine, provided I get rid of my couch, coffee table, bed, desk and chest of drawers (maybe ...probably). I really don't foresee any issues with getting everything to FIT, it's just the logistics that really suck. That, and the fact that I'll more than likely be sick for quite a while afterward. I'm moving from here after only a year, and the initial move in knocked me out of much of anything for two or three months.
Sometimes I really just don't like admitting that my health issues are broader than I really want them to be.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
well ...crap!
I really did love my new (well, coming up on a year) apartment; nice neighbors, little to no crime, nice place with a great floorplan and great view of the pool from my patio. ...and yet I have to move. AGAIN!
The last place might not have been so bad if it hadn't been for the rampant crime; having your door kicked in twice and your stuff stolen twice has a way of really making you think about risk. This place has been wonderful that way ...the problem this time around is that I probably should have been a little more concerned about the management.
After the second burglary, I spent a lot of time looking at places. I used three different websites to research and also checked the crime rates in the neighborhoods. My budget is tight beyond belief, but I was willing to stretch things a little bit in order to have a place to stay that I didn't get a sinking feeling in my stomach every time I had to leave for a few days. The place I'm currently in had one huge demerit going for it; the website apartmentratings.com had a majority dim view of the complex, but the complaints all centered around the management. Now ...I realize that you just can't please everyone, and most of the time I'm pretty decent about picking up on people that just want to complain. A number of the complaints were about poor maintenance, but since I'm pretty big on handling most issues myself, I let those slide. To the apartments credit, I have nothing but good things to say about maintenance here ...I had a couple of issues, but never had to wait more than a few hours rather than days or weeks like my old place.
The complaint that I suppose I should have given a little more weight to was some of the less than ideal tactics used by the management. The big one most brought up in the reviews was that the base rent was low, but they added on a ton of extra charges. True enough ...all the little miscellaneous things added about $60 to the base rent. Plus for the management ...they were completely honest about that right up front with me at least. Many of the others complained that the deposit guidelines were a little too harsh and that you shouldn't count on getting it back if you moved. That part remains to be seen with me, but I don't really doubt it much. When I moved in, they gave me an itemized list of what they charge you for if you don't do them when you move ...$20 for removing any shelving paper, $10 for not cleaning the sink; mostly silly little stuff that although is easy enough to do when anyone leaves, but should be a part of prepping the place for a new tenant anyway. The list merely told me that they could be petty and I wasn't really all that intimidated. To be honest ...I was so impressed with the place, I didn't see myself moving anytime soon anyway.
So the straw that broke the dizzydude's back? ...upon the completion of the first years lease, they raised the rent by $60/month for the next lease. When I first got the letter, I thought it was a typo! The next day I went to the office and asked; the lady looked it up on the computer and said the amount was correct and that it was the current market value for the apartment. True as well, and rent is up all over the place. I would think that a disabled guy on a fixed income who didn't even meet the income requirements to begin with, but is by most criteria an ideal tenant, would have gotten a reasonable renewal rate though. Current market value is one thing for new tenants, but it seems to me like keeping your good tenants would include keeping the lease rates at least somewhat consistent.
A part of me really wants to think that there must be some ulterior motive for wanting to get rid of me, but nothing about the behavior of the staff would seem to support that theory. I would think that looking at the tenants income would be a part of the process; I missed the income requirement by $50/month coming in, and raising it to $110 over that just seems to be a bad idea. They seemed genuinely surprised when I turned in the notice to vacate though. Granted, they didn't care enough to make a case to the higher-ups for lowering my renewal rate, but even they remarked on how much they hated to lose me. When I moved in, that sort of thing wasn't a complaint, but apartmentratings has three semi-recent reviews of people having outrageous renewals as well. It wasn't JUST me, so it makes me wonder a little bit.
I guess that despite my disappointment and anger, it might be better that I found out NOW rather than later in any case. If I can't count on reasonable renewals, and certainly if they're going to start making a habit out of simply trying to get the same amount out of an old tenant as they can get with a new one, then I probably just don't need to be living here. It sure seems like a poor management decision, but given the amount of negative reviews about the management ...maybe that's all it is. There was a tragedy at one of the other units nearby recently, and another tenant told me that the residents were moving out in droves as a result (including him, although he simply requested relocating to my unit). If they're dealing with an occupancy problem as well though, it would seem taking the chance on losing more occupants with high renewals would be twice as bad.
I suppose that there may be a little bit of "providence" here. My mother's chemotherapy is starting to take a heavy toll on her; her energy level continues to drop and the big house she's in is getting to be a bit too much for her to keep up on her own. This was actually a consideration when I was looking for a place last year as well, but her general health was much better then and she wasn't thrilled with the thought of a "room-mate" at that time. She was quite FOR the idea this time around though, and that says quite a bit about how she must be feeling.
Shortly after getting the "sorry, but this is the best we can do" news from the office, I did a bit of half-hearted looking around at apartments elsewhere, but a part of me kind of knew what the best option was going to be for both my mother and myself. My credit card debt is just this side of outrageous, and it's risen over the last year almost in direct proportion to what the increase in rent was between my old apartment and this one (yeah ...there's a major clue). Living with her for a while would be a great way to make a years worth of really monster payments and try to knock it down to a reasonable level if not out completely (preferable, although I'm not sure if it's feasible).
It'll be an adjustment for both of us, and it's going to be a lot of work just to DO the move in the first place. I've managed to accumulate a lot of junk over the years and could stand a lot of improvement in getting rid of it, but I'm a rank amateur compared to my mother. Both of us are going to have to do a serious inventory of our belongings and see what can realistically be thrown out. I plan to get rid of most of my furniture and will probably do a pretty large "cleansing" of computer junk that's way out of date. She's managed to hang onto most of her books and schoolteaching stuff although she hasn't taught in 25 years. She also has most of the furniture we had when I was a kid ...scary!
We'll see how the next month goes and hopefully I'll be picking up on a little more writing in the meantime; when I'm stressed out, that often seems to go along with it. Weird that after moving into a nice neighborhood with great neighbors, if anything I've gotten less social. I suspect it has more to do with the fact that I've had almost no disposable income anymore though.
Oh well ...enough writing for now; I have chores to do before heading up to visit Mom and check out the attic for space.
The last place might not have been so bad if it hadn't been for the rampant crime; having your door kicked in twice and your stuff stolen twice has a way of really making you think about risk. This place has been wonderful that way ...the problem this time around is that I probably should have been a little more concerned about the management.
After the second burglary, I spent a lot of time looking at places. I used three different websites to research and also checked the crime rates in the neighborhoods. My budget is tight beyond belief, but I was willing to stretch things a little bit in order to have a place to stay that I didn't get a sinking feeling in my stomach every time I had to leave for a few days. The place I'm currently in had one huge demerit going for it; the website apartmentratings.com had a majority dim view of the complex, but the complaints all centered around the management. Now ...I realize that you just can't please everyone, and most of the time I'm pretty decent about picking up on people that just want to complain. A number of the complaints were about poor maintenance, but since I'm pretty big on handling most issues myself, I let those slide. To the apartments credit, I have nothing but good things to say about maintenance here ...I had a couple of issues, but never had to wait more than a few hours rather than days or weeks like my old place.
The complaint that I suppose I should have given a little more weight to was some of the less than ideal tactics used by the management. The big one most brought up in the reviews was that the base rent was low, but they added on a ton of extra charges. True enough ...all the little miscellaneous things added about $60 to the base rent. Plus for the management ...they were completely honest about that right up front with me at least. Many of the others complained that the deposit guidelines were a little too harsh and that you shouldn't count on getting it back if you moved. That part remains to be seen with me, but I don't really doubt it much. When I moved in, they gave me an itemized list of what they charge you for if you don't do them when you move ...$20 for removing any shelving paper, $10 for not cleaning the sink; mostly silly little stuff that although is easy enough to do when anyone leaves, but should be a part of prepping the place for a new tenant anyway. The list merely told me that they could be petty and I wasn't really all that intimidated. To be honest ...I was so impressed with the place, I didn't see myself moving anytime soon anyway.
So the straw that broke the dizzydude's back? ...upon the completion of the first years lease, they raised the rent by $60/month for the next lease. When I first got the letter, I thought it was a typo! The next day I went to the office and asked; the lady looked it up on the computer and said the amount was correct and that it was the current market value for the apartment. True as well, and rent is up all over the place. I would think that a disabled guy on a fixed income who didn't even meet the income requirements to begin with, but is by most criteria an ideal tenant, would have gotten a reasonable renewal rate though. Current market value is one thing for new tenants, but it seems to me like keeping your good tenants would include keeping the lease rates at least somewhat consistent.
A part of me really wants to think that there must be some ulterior motive for wanting to get rid of me, but nothing about the behavior of the staff would seem to support that theory. I would think that looking at the tenants income would be a part of the process; I missed the income requirement by $50/month coming in, and raising it to $110 over that just seems to be a bad idea. They seemed genuinely surprised when I turned in the notice to vacate though. Granted, they didn't care enough to make a case to the higher-ups for lowering my renewal rate, but even they remarked on how much they hated to lose me. When I moved in, that sort of thing wasn't a complaint, but apartmentratings has three semi-recent reviews of people having outrageous renewals as well. It wasn't JUST me, so it makes me wonder a little bit.
I guess that despite my disappointment and anger, it might be better that I found out NOW rather than later in any case. If I can't count on reasonable renewals, and certainly if they're going to start making a habit out of simply trying to get the same amount out of an old tenant as they can get with a new one, then I probably just don't need to be living here. It sure seems like a poor management decision, but given the amount of negative reviews about the management ...maybe that's all it is. There was a tragedy at one of the other units nearby recently, and another tenant told me that the residents were moving out in droves as a result (including him, although he simply requested relocating to my unit). If they're dealing with an occupancy problem as well though, it would seem taking the chance on losing more occupants with high renewals would be twice as bad.
I suppose that there may be a little bit of "providence" here. My mother's chemotherapy is starting to take a heavy toll on her; her energy level continues to drop and the big house she's in is getting to be a bit too much for her to keep up on her own. This was actually a consideration when I was looking for a place last year as well, but her general health was much better then and she wasn't thrilled with the thought of a "room-mate" at that time. She was quite FOR the idea this time around though, and that says quite a bit about how she must be feeling.
Shortly after getting the "sorry, but this is the best we can do" news from the office, I did a bit of half-hearted looking around at apartments elsewhere, but a part of me kind of knew what the best option was going to be for both my mother and myself. My credit card debt is just this side of outrageous, and it's risen over the last year almost in direct proportion to what the increase in rent was between my old apartment and this one (yeah ...there's a major clue). Living with her for a while would be a great way to make a years worth of really monster payments and try to knock it down to a reasonable level if not out completely (preferable, although I'm not sure if it's feasible).
It'll be an adjustment for both of us, and it's going to be a lot of work just to DO the move in the first place. I've managed to accumulate a lot of junk over the years and could stand a lot of improvement in getting rid of it, but I'm a rank amateur compared to my mother. Both of us are going to have to do a serious inventory of our belongings and see what can realistically be thrown out. I plan to get rid of most of my furniture and will probably do a pretty large "cleansing" of computer junk that's way out of date. She's managed to hang onto most of her books and schoolteaching stuff although she hasn't taught in 25 years. She also has most of the furniture we had when I was a kid ...scary!
We'll see how the next month goes and hopefully I'll be picking up on a little more writing in the meantime; when I'm stressed out, that often seems to go along with it. Weird that after moving into a nice neighborhood with great neighbors, if anything I've gotten less social. I suspect it has more to do with the fact that I've had almost no disposable income anymore though.
Oh well ...enough writing for now; I have chores to do before heading up to visit Mom and check out the attic for space.
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