"Between first and last month’s rent, a security deposit, and the broker’s fee, “it’s like a down payment” just to secure an apartment." -- Kathy Brown, Boston Tenant Coalition #mapoliwww.bostonglobe.com/2024/07/12/b...
When I moved back to Boston, I had already spent a bunch of money to ship my key things (I got rid of most of my big stuff), and then apartments were asking for 4 months rent up front to move in - first, last, 1 mo security, broker fee. I ended up moving somewhere that didn’t have a broker fee but..
…when they raised my rent $300/mo after the first year, I was just switching positions (and from contractor to FTE) with costs for COBRA and a big tax bill from my company messing up my withholding. I felt I HAD to accept the increased rent because I didn’t have enough to pay 4 mo up front elsewhere
Luckily this /mostly/ ended up lining up with a pay bump for state workers (after I took a pay cut to become an FTE and get benefits), but it really sucks to feel so much at the mercy of landlords, especially when I live alone.