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How do Apartment Specials work Anyway?


Many apartments will run different specials through out the year. Below you can find how you can save by working with an Apartment locator and taking advantage of apartment specials!

Apartment communities often give specials in different ways. Some give you a "rent credit", some will give you money upfront, others will prorate the "free rent", while some will give you a percentage or a fixed amount off. So how do you manage these specials in a manner that will benefit you and your finances most?

Let me give you some advice on how to make this money work for you.

1. Rent Credit. Rent credit is a fixed amount that is placed on your "account." Let's say they give you $1,000 as "rent credit" what that means is you can use it however you want. You could use it towards your first month's rent. You can save it for a rainy day, or the wisest way would be to prorate it yourself. Let's say you sign a 12 month lease, and you are given $1,000, you want to divide that $1,000/12 which yields a savings of about $83/off a month. Let's say you are paying $1450/mo. Instead of having to pay $1,450/mo you can now pay $1,367/mo.

2. Cash Upfront. Some apartments will give you cash money upfront. Some apartments will give you as much as 1-2 months FREE rent. Let's say your rent it $1,500 and the promotion you sign for was for 2 MONTHS FREE rent. You would get paid $3,000 cash to move there! So, you may ask... "Why don't they just prorate my rent for me?" Good question Charlie. There are a few reasons why they don't prorate it for you, one being they want their apartments to be occupied at a certain price point. So, how do you make this money work in your favor? You can do the following: You could pay the $3,000 cash on your account to create your personal "rent credit". Like the example above, you would be responsible for prorating your rent yourself. This is would be my recommendation so you arenā€™t tempted to buy that fancy Louis Viton purse or Burberry suit! On a 12 month lease, you would save about $250/mo. Therefore, on your $1,500/mo rent you would now only have to pay $1,250/mo.

3. Prorated. Some apartments rather prorate the rent for you so they don't have to give you "cash upfront." Also, it makes it easier for you to manage your finances. The money is put to work for you already. You don't have to mess around with having to prorate the rent yourself. The best part about this is you can move into a little higher budget apartment and pay under "market rent.' Maybe you were considering less luxurious apartments for $1,250 but like our sample under #2 you found an apartment for $1,500 that you like with all the views you dreamed of! You can now move there and pay what you originally budgeted for!

4. Fixed amount or Percentage Off. As I was recently browsing specials in our system I saw a unique promotion/apartment special. It was 1/2 or 50% off your first 6 months. I know, my jaw dropped too! WHAT? Yes, so how does this work? I know 1/2 off seems like common sense but let me explain the trick here. Their apartments start at $1,900/mo for a 1/1. For the first 6 months you technically would pay $950/mo. That means you have now "saved" yourself $5,700 over the course of 6 months. You may ask me, "How do I better distribute this savings? Good question! This is what I would do. I would divide the saving of $5,700/12 months which yields a savings of about $475/mo. I would then subtract that from the original $1,900 - $475 = $1,425 / mo. You could live in this luxurious apartment for $1,425/mo. So instead of only paying 50% off your rent for 6 months put the savings to work for you.

So you may ask, "How does working with an apartment locator help me?" As your locator, we can search our database for the best deals/promotions. Also, we use the above methods to help you find something better than you expected sometimes and still stay within your budget. We call the properties on your behalf while youā€™re busy at work. We confirm pricing and we schedule the apartment tours to view them together. We also help manage the transaction to help save you more time and take some stress off.

We'd love to help you! Call/Text - (832) 460-6670 | Email - alexa@ariserg.com Houston Apartment Locator | Alexandra Salas - Arise Realty Group with J. Lindsey Properties

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