The envelope was waiting in our mailbox on the second Tuesday of September, tucked behind a pizza menu like it was embarrassed to be there. I knew what it was before I opened it. Every year since we moved into our building, the renewal notice has shown up in early September, and every year I carry it up three flights of stairs a little slower than I need to.
This year's number: $1,560, up from the $1,480 we pay now. That's $80 a month, or $960 over the year. Olive watched me read it from the top of the couch with the expression of a cat who does not contribute to rent.
First, we didn't decide anything that night
Our rule, which we made after last year's notice, is that nobody makes a decision about a rent increase on the day it arrives. The first night is for being annoyed. Sam made grilled cheese, I complained about the stairs, and we left the letter on the counter under the salt jar.
For context, here's our history in this apartment:
| Lease year | Monthly rent |
|---|---|
| Oct 2023 (move-in) | $1,395 |
| Oct 2024 | $1,440 |
| Oct 2025 (proposed $1,525, negotiated) | $1,480 |
| Oct 2026 (proposed $1,560) | ? |
Seeing it laid out like that stung a bit. We'd gone up $85 in three years, and now the landlord wanted almost that much again in one jump.
Then we priced out leaving
The weekend after, we spent a Saturday morning with coffee and two laptops looking at one-bedrooms in our neighborhood and the two next to it. I wasn't trying to fall in love with anything. I was trying to find out what the alternative actually cost.
What we found, roughly:
- Most one-bedrooms of a similar size were listed between $1,575 and $1,700. A few cheaper ones were basements or had no laundry in the building at all, and I already walk my sheets down to a coin machine for $2.75 a load. I'm not walking them down the block.
- Almost all of them wanted a first month and a security deposit up front. One wanted an application fee per adult.
- Several listed in-unit laundry or a dishwasher, which was tempting until I remembered what that does to the price.
Then the moving math. Our last move, from my old studio in October 2023, cost $640 all in: the rented van, pizza for the friends who carried the boxes, tape, boxes and a stupid amount of bubble wrap. Two people with more stuff and a cat would cost more, not less. Add in the time off, the overlap between leases, and the fact that our current deposit would be tied up for weeks after we left, and the "cheap" option kept getting less cheap.
Sam put it best: "We'd pay a few hundred dollars to move into a place that costs more than the increase we're mad about."
What we actually asked for
Last year, I emailed our landlord, politely pointed out we'd paid on time every single month, and asked if there was any flexibility. He came down from $1,525 to $1,480. So this year I did the same thing, and tried to keep it short and friendly.
I mentioned three things: we'd been there three years, we'd never been late, and we'd handled small stuff ourselves without calling him (re-caulking the tub, replacing a cabinet hinge, the weatherstripping saga from last winter). I asked whether $1,530 would work, and said we'd be happy to sign quickly if so.
He wrote back four days later. Not $1,530, but $1,545. I'll admit I read the reply twice to make sure I wasn't missing a catch.
How the increase lands for us
We split rent and bills proportionally to income, so I pay 45% and Sam pays 55%. The final increase is $65 a month. My share of that is about $29.25 and Sam's is about $35.75. Annoying, absolutely. Catastrophic, no. The $41 a month we trimmed from subscriptions back in February covers well over half of it, which made it feel a little less abstract.
Why we stayed (this time)
We signed the renewal at $1,545 last week. The money was the main reason, but it wasn't the only one.
- We know this apartment's quirks. Which burner runs hot, which window needs the extra towel in January, which stair creaks at 11 p.m.
- The neighbors are good. We finally know most of the people in the building by name, and that counts for something when a package goes missing.
- Olive. She took weeks to settle when we moved in. I'm not eager to do that to her again for a $15 difference.
What I keep coming back to is that we didn't stay because moving felt scary. We stayed because we checked, and for us, right now, staying was the better deal. If next September's letter asks for another $80, we'll do the whole exercise again: one night of grumbling, one Saturday of listings, one polite email.
For now the letter is filed in the folder labeled "apartment stuff," the new lease is signed, and the salt jar is back to being just a salt jar.
