Jonathan's Universe

So, I’m about to get a new apartment. Kind of excited. It’s a small place and it’s closer to my office than my house now. Here is an image I quickly drew up. It’s not at all to scale since I did it in a hurried fashion. And yes, I know approximation is spelled with two Ps.

As you can see, you walk into the common area with the bed room to the left, and a kitchen to the right. The one thing I’m not too horrible pleased about is that in order to get to the bathroom, you have to go through the bedroom. This may or may not be  a problem with overnight guests. We’ll see I guess.

As far as the price goes, it is a little pricey, especially considering my budget and circumstances surrounding the move. For a two year lease, it’s $590 a month. For a one year lease it’s $660 a month. Also, I would of course have to pay for gas and electric… as well as interent. Cable Television would probably be put in a backburner (not like I have time for TV anyway).

Here’s the sucky part. I have a cat. They want either one full month extra upfront plus $25 per month OR one half month extra upfront plus $50 per month for having my cat live with me. That sucks. A lot. Also, I have to pay first/last/security deposit upfront. The guy said that since I have no credit at all, he MIGHT be able to waive the last month upfront costs. I wrote a quick program that helps me calculate the total costs.

Here is possible costs for a one year lease:

Upfront values 3.5 months upfront and $50 animal fee.
Cost upfront is: USD 2,310.00
Total Cost is USD 8,520.00
Grand Total is USD 10,830.00

Upfront values 4 months upfront and $25 animal fee.
Cost upfront is: USD 2,640.00
Total Cost is USD 8,220.00
Grand Total is USD 10,860.00

As you can see, for a one year lease it would be cheaper (by $30) to pay more monthly than upfront.

Here is the one year lease with the last month upfront payment waived:

Upfront values 2.5 months upfront and $50 animal fee.
Cost upfront is: USD 1,650.00
Total Cost is USD 8,520.00
Grand Total is USD 10,170.00

Upfront values 3 months upfront and $25 animal fee.
Cost upfront is: USD 1,980.00
Total Cost is USD 8,220.00
Grand Total is USD 10,200.00

And two year lease:

Upfront values 3.5 months upfront and $50 animal fee.
Cost upfront is: USD 2,065.00
Total Cost is USD 15,360.00
Grand Total is USD 17,425.00

Upfront values 4 months upfront and $25 animal fee.
Cost upfront is: USD 2,360.00
Total Cost is USD 14,760.00
Grand Total is USD 17,120.00
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Upfront values 2.5 months upfront and $50 animal fee.
Cost upfront is: USD 1,475.00
Total Cost is USD 15,360.00
Grand Total is USD 16,835.00

Upfront values 3 months upfront and $25 animal fee.
Cost upfront is: USD 1,770.00
Total Cost is USD 14,760.00
Grand Total is USD 16,530.00

As you can see with a two year lease, it’d be cheaper to pay less monthly, by a considerable amount ($300). So ultimately, I think I’m going to have to choose the 2 year $25 monthly plan. Oh Boy.

Related posts:

1. New Apartment: Part Deux So, I put money down on that apartment. I put the rest of the down payment tomorrow when I sign the lease. I’m excited to move in, but my parents are, expectedly, a wreck. I did some research and when I called the energy provider, they told me the average bill for my unit is [...]...
2. New Apartment 3D Model: Work In Progress I decided I’m going to craft a 3D representation of my apartment, so I can easily visualize how much space I am going to have with furniture and decide what I need and what I can fit. I’m using google sketchup, simply because I can. Here is a work in progress. Included is a stock [...]...
3. Problems Moving In On the 17th, I leased my apartment for two years. Billing effective immediately. This sounds awesome, right? Wrong. The next day I called PECO to have the unit placed in my name so I can receive electric and gas service. However, there was one problem. The previous tenant has an outstanding balance. Because PECO is [...]...