Sep 20
I won my fantasy football match for the second week in a row. That puts my record at, obviously, 2-0 which places me alone at the top of my division. And barring a significant combination of unlikely events I should handily win my match this weekend as well. Considering that I joined the league with the singular and less-than-lofty goal of ‘not finishing in last place,’ my results so far are pleasantly unexpected. I realize that this is only week 3 of 16, but the bar has been raised – indeed, off the very ground – and there is now a growing belief that I might actually be able to win this whole damn thing. That would likely be seen less as a victory for me than an embarrassment for my opponents. It would not be me who won, but rather them who lost.
My vanquished opponent from this past week was my roommate Bill, who, upon being so completely served, felt such shame that he packed up his belongings and moved out of the apartment.
Alright, it is possible that the one had nothing to do with the other, but he is gone just the same. If you wanted to write him a letter just address the envelope to Wyvern’s Bitch and affix a Libertyville zip code. No doubt the postman will know who you mean.
But seriously folks, with Bill’s randomly sudden departure I am left with an under-occupied three bedroom apartment. Because we signed our new (one year) lease less than two months ago, it is unreasonable for Matt and I to make up the missing rent for ten months. Rather than shack up with (and then get murdered by) some Craig’s List sketchball, it makes sense to just pay the penalty fee and break our lease.
We can save some money on that penalty if we simply switch into a smaller apartment within the same complex. Instead of paying a Lease Breaking Fee we instead pay a smaller Transfer Fee and then make a smooth transition to the lower rent. It is basically just a math problem – you know, that stuff that you will never, ever need in real life.
So… $1310 per month / 2 people = $660 per month per person. Breaking the lease costs one month’s rent and requires one month’s notice so $1310 x 2 = $2620. That is effectively the cost to stay until October 30th, at which point we would begin paying rent at some other, unrelated apartment which I estimate at $1100 per month. So as of November 1 we would have burned $3720 ($2620 + $1100) plus moving costs (boxes, truck, etc).
Now, to transfer within the same complex we would pay a $500 fee (cleaning fee + transfer penalty) plus a prorated combination of both our old rent and the new rent – because we can’t move into the new unit until the first week of October. And so as of November 1 we will have paid the $500 fee + $1220 prorated October rent + $1100 November rent = a total of $2820 plus moving expenses.
So swapping apartments only saves us $900, or about $450 per person, versus leaving completely.
Continuing the thought… if we were instead to just stay in our current situation and pay the higher rent we would be paying an extra $110 per person per month (($1320-$1100) / 2) versus the cost of the smaller apartment – which multiplies simply to $1100 extra per person for the rest of our lease.
With the moving penalties and costs subtracted we would each be paying an extra $800 to stay here for the year. So now we have to consider the benefits of the current situation over the hypothetical one. Our place is really nice, but is it worth $800? Maybe, maybe not. Further, that number will be lowered if we hold Bill accountable for part of our loss – basically, a penalty for hanging us out to dry like this.
But while considering a new rental my mind drifted to that third, as yet un-considered option. What if we didn’t rent? What if we owned?
The benefits of owning property have long been extolled by people much older, and perhaps more worldly and wise than I. Though not quite spoken in a whisper, the advice is offered with reverence just the same. Being young and poor I would always nod and smile, but maybe now is the time to finally listen. Out of sheer curiosity I did a quick search on Realtor.com for available homes in my area. Picking a random house off the first page – my methods always scientific – I was a bit amazed to find that I can buy what looks to be a nice 3-bed, 3-bath two-story house, located less than one mile away from me, for only $200,000. Now, I obviously don’t have $200,000, but with very limited research into mortgages and loan rates it looks as if I can own that house for about $1500 per month. Better still, unlike paying rent that $1500 is an investment that I can hope, if not expect, to get back when I sell the property sometime in the future.
Now, I don’t know much at all about the process, but talks are already underway with my parents. They will have a much better idea as to the realities of this situation. I have asked that a decision, at least one way or the other, be made in the relatively near future. I don’t want to move twice, and the longer we stay here the higher the financial penalty and the lower the incentive to move at all.
Still, I am excited for the possibility.