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#RealEstate - Greater Boston Real Estate Rental Market: Learn the Ins and Out in Advance

Welcome, Hunter I shall call you Ishmael. 

Hunting for an apartment is like hunting for a whale. I've often said to my clients---if you're here to hunt the White Whale, I won't go on that journey with you. I never have and never will. He doesn't exist to my mind. But if he does to yours, the least I can do for you, since the journey for finding him must be perilous, is teach you everything I know. Here's my guide.


The Boston Real Estate Rental Market: Learn the Ins and Out in Advance

Boston's Rental market moves lightning quick. Literally hundreds of real estate offices have thousands of agents who's sole function, day in and day out, is to move property. An apartment you view today could be rented by another party within minutes of you seeing it. Nothing to be done about it because a deal's a deal--and the first rabbit in the hole, gets the hole. All that work you did leading up to a second place finish means only you'll have more work to do---and trust me, it will be suck for you---because in my experience, which is informed by tens of thousands of observations, Nobody is delighted as much by their second choice as they are their first.

So, this writing, this article serious is my gift to you, Greater Boston. You've been so good to me over the years, here is for you now your backstage pass to Greater Boston's rental market. This article series will educate and illuminate you with a sufficient knowledge base and insight into this market we share. Upon this base you can stand well balanced and by this insight you will a vital competitive edge over your less-balanced and short-sighted competition during your housing search. In other words, this writing is an electronic emblem of my primary living function in this market---to be a 24/7 Beacon, a guide to serve and protect you as a special agent---who helps you always save time and money, and enables you to make a well-informed and highly crucial decision at this cross-roads you now stand at, but also to do it swiftly because as you may hear some of us say, Time is of the Essence. And money represents your life-force, if you think about it.

Topics Covered:

Size, Location, Price - The Three Principle Factors That Will Govern Your Apartment Search
Do it Yourself or Get a Real Estate Agent? - Where to Start Looking for Apartment
Super Agent Man or Super Waste of Your Time? - How to Tell if the RE Agent is Worth the Cost of a Phone Call
Real Estate Agent Fees Explained - An Explanation of No Fee, Half Fee and Full Fee Apartment
Looking for an Apartment With Roommates? - Get Your Ducks In a Row
Cats and Dogs and Snakes - Pet Friendly Apartment Searching
What to Do with Your Car - Off Street vs. On Street Parking in Boston
Boston Rental Market Timing - Know when to Start Looking
Preparing for an Appointment - What You Need on the Day of Showing
Upfront Costs and Lease Addenda - Make Sure Your Lease is Kosher

#RealEstate - Boston Real Estate - Upfront Costs and Lease Documents

Upfront Costs and Lease Addenda
Make Sure Your Lease is Kosher

So you've written a few major checks in the past few weeks. You have been approved for the apartment you want! Congratulations!! But you're not out of the woods yet. Yes, you have been approved. Yes, you've laid down a deposit, which now counts as your first month's rent. But you still have to sign the lease and perhaps pay more money, such as Last Month's Rent, Security Deposit and Finder's Fees.

Most leases are standard forms created by the Rental Housing Association (RHA). Typically you will see a Standard Fixed Term Lease, or a Simplified Fixed Term Lease. Sometimes you will see a Self-Extending Lease.

The difference between a Fixed Term lease and a Self-Extending lease is that a Fixed-Term lease is set to expire on a certain day if you do not respond positively to the renewal notice your landlord sends out. A Self-Extending lease is set to renew if you do not respond to your notice or otherwise inform the landlord that you intend to vacate.

#RealEstate - Boston Real Estate - Preparation for a Showing Appointment

Preparing for an Appointment
What You Need on the Day of Showing

Whether you are going it alone or working with an agent, here is a brief summary of what you need to  have with you on the day of your showings in order to be most competitive:

1. A Picture I.D.
2. A Student I.D. (if you are a student)
3. Verification of Employment (pay stubs or offer letter)
4. I-20 Statement (if international)
5. Current and previous landlord contact info (Student Housing Department # if student)
6. A list or summary of previously viewed properties, including address and price
7. A checkbook with clear funds at least equal to one months rent (if you do not have a bank account, then $500 cash for a quick temporary deposit, to buy you time to get a bank check or money order)

You should always expect that another party is interested in the property you like. Underestimating your competition can cost you your top choice and keep you looking much longer than you need. Be prepared in advance and go to every showing appointment ready to rent.

This article is From the How To Find An Apartment In Boston series.

Other Articles:

Size, Location, Price - The Three Principle Factors That Will Govern Your Apartment Search
Do it Yourself or Get a Real Estate Agent? - Where to Start Looking for Apartment
Super Agent Man or Super Waste of Your Time? - How to Tell if the RE Agent is Worth the Cost of a Phone Call
Real Estate Agent Fees Explained - An Explanation of No Fee, Half Fee and Full Fee Apartment
Looking for an Apartment With Roommates? - Get Your Ducks In a Row
Cats and Dogs and Snakes - Pet Friendly Apartment Searching
What to Do with Your Car - Off Street vs. On Street Parking in Boston
Boston Rental Market Timing - Know when to Start Looking
Preparing for an Appointment - What You Need on the Day of Showing
Upfront Costs and Lease Addenda - Make Sure Your Lease is Kosher

If you have any further questions about housing search matters that are not answered here, please feel free to contact me through my Housing Needs Analysis Form.

Have a great day!
-Robert Ortiz

#RealEstate - Boston Real Estate - Off Street vs. On Street Parking

What to Do with Your Car
Off Street vs. On Street Parking in Boston

Never should you let parking determine your housing search. I've had clients turn down seemingly all around perfect housing opportunities because off-street parking wasn't available at that location. In every case this happened, I learned afterward that while they did find a place with parking the apartment was inferior in quality to the one they could have rented without a spot. If your housing search is equivalent to a sucking chest wound, then your parking spot search is like a hang nail or a knee scrape. Dress the parking wound AFTER you secure appropriate housing.

Off-Street Parking

The difficulty level of finding an apartment that offers off-street parking approaches the difficulty level of finding a dog friendly apartment. Because off-street parking is rare, and because the demand for it is high, if you are going to get a parking spot it will surely cost you extra money. Even if the parking spot "comes with the apartment" the extra value is built into the monthly rent. This is true for all apartments with the exception of apartments located more than a 20 minute walk from a train line.

#RealEstate - Boston Real Estate - When To Start Looking for An Apartment

Boston Rental Market Timing
Know when to Start Looking

Fortunately for you, the Boston Rental Market is a heart with a regular beat. The same set of folks come  in and out every single year, to the beat of the same drums. This regularity makes it easy for you to know when to start looking for a new place to live.

Below is a list of months in the year, organized in order of popular moving date, along with the dates the apartments first go on the market.

#1 September 1st

Busiest moving day of the year. All year long, starting in December, you can find listings for September first. If you are an undergraduate student looking for off-campus housing you will want to start looking in December/January to rent a three bedroom or larger apartment. If you wait to February or March, you will be rummaging through left overs, the turkey carcass may even be picked so clean by then that you'll have to break up your groups in pairs and go looking for smaller units.

For undergraduate housing in the studio, ones and twos category, you can wait for February or 

March to role in before looking. For graduate students and professionals, you should start looking in May and June for decent September 1st housing opportunities.

#RealEstate - Boston Real Estate - Pet Friendly Apartment Searching

Cats and Dogs and Snakes, Oh My!

Pet Friendly Apartment Searching

Finding the right apartment for yourself is no easy task. Finding an apartment with a roommate or roommates is even harder. Finding an apartment for you, a roommate, and a pet may seem to be nearly impossible. A pet in Boston or Cambridge is considered both a luxury item and a liability. Landlords who allow pets in their apartments fall into three categories.


First Category - Landlord Doesn't Care 

Neither do they really care about you, nor do they care about the quality and condition of the apartment they offer you. All they care about is timely rent payment, and whether the market is hot enough to support this bastard attitude of theirs.

As long as the rent is paid on time, they would not care if a bull moose is living in the apartment with you. When you move out of the apartment, Fido may have destroyed the floor, FiFi may have shed eight pounds of dander, Fergie your roommate's anaconda may be living in the walls.



Landlord doesn't care. The next group of tenants will have to inherit that mess. You will see this first hand when you are the tenant inheriting the mess. The first category of pet friendly apartments is a complete "I don't care" scenario. When quality is no object, then this category is for you.

Hint: apartments in this category can be found by doing a cross-referenced search for Dog Friendly and No Pet Deposit.