What do you think of this arrangement?

I don’t need to read any further than this “But I am somewhat leery about being on a monthly lease, especially because the house is up for sale.”

Your next landlord will likely up your rent once the building sells and that’s if they have renting out the spaces on their agenda. Be careful here. If you’re mobile and can just move if things go south, go for it. If not, you may want to look for a more stable setting. When I was living in apartments in my 20s I kept my belongings light so that I could rent a truck and be in a new place in a day by myself or with help from one person. I’d leave the day before my lease was up if they wanted to up my rent too much. I’d take advantage of move-in bonuses, and while I usually got my deposit back, I made sure there was enough savings to just let it go if the landlords were not honest. The big commercial places often just took your deposit while the individuals often gave it back.

It also costs money to move. I wouldn’t. To secure a place for only a month is a waste of money. I would hold off. If it’s a matter of having no place to live in the moment, see if you can find a cheap extended-stay hotel and seeing if a friend or family member can care for your cats till you find something better. By the way, some realty companies do rentals for their customers who rent their home. Try looking there.

see PM

If you urgently have to move, do it. But if not, absolutely don’t take this place. You say it would kill you to give up your cats, and think about it: in this new place, at any point you might be told you have to move within a month. Finding an affordable and pet-friendly apartment in just one month could be very difficult.

Okay, I’m not tagging anybody in my response because this is kind of in response to what everybody said except for my PM that I’ve not read yet.

The thing is, I’m going to have trouble getting approved for a lot of places because of my low income. Many places insist when you making two and a half to three times with the monthly rent is and I never even made that amount when I was working my full-time job. So while I am leery about the monthly thing, I’m not sure what else I would be able to find. I’ve been looking extensively and nothing else is really in my price range unless it’s in the city. At that point my car insurance would go up so much that it would make up for the difference in rent, plus I would have to drive further for work and live in a less safe area.

I know it’s not a great situation. I could potentially pay higher rent for a while but then wouldn’t be able to stay as long overall. So it’s a tough situation but I’m running out of time and I need to get my ducks in a row. I can still look for other options in the meanwhile but I need to know that this place is locked in if necessary.

A friend was in a situation recently where she had lived in a house for over 20 years (through three different owners) and the newest owner raised the rent to something that she couldn’t afford. What she found out in the County she lives in is that if there is a lease, and she had a lease, the new owner has to honor the lease. So if the new lease expired in March of 2026, she had the right to live there with that rent, for that long. If month to month, she would not have had that protection.

I agree with others who said it costs money to move, so it makes no sense to move and then potentially have to move again very shortly.

While you are planning your next move (literally and figureatively), sign up in your city or town or county for Section 8 or other rental assistance for low income renters. This will put you on a list for a low rent apartment that will be based on your income, and won’t take more than a third of your income. If your income drops, your rent drops.

Would they be willing to give you a lease for a year? Otherwise, I would say no go.

Sounds like it could be ok, but also like you’d need to be ready to move on short notice, which could happen at any time if a buyer appears, so you’d still be looking for other places.

Therefore, for me it would come down to how it compared to my current situation, how much effort and cost it would be for me to make each move, and how trustworthy/etc these new people seem to be.

Month-to-month CAN be fine and even preferable, IF it continues and the rent doesn’t change. In fact, it can be preferable to a lease, because you can leave as soon as you are ready, and in response to any developments such as a rent increase.

@Zaku Well, the point of a year’s lease is that the rent would not go up even if a new owner bought the place.

Jeez I’m stressed just thinking about myself in your situation. And I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t get rid of my pets just for an apartment. I’m sure that sounds stupid to many people; it’s just how I am so I understand. I had 2 cats from kittenhood through 17 years – longer relationship than anyone except my parents and siblings. We went through so much together there’s no way I could not take them with me every time I moved…and I’m talking >15 moves (some were just to a different apartment/house). Now I’m sad…I still miss them and it’s been 15 years since the last one passed away.

Can you stay where you are until you can get more info on assistance?

@smudges I could stay where I am, but the rent would be twice as much what I would be paying at this new place. And the idea is to move as soon as my lease is up because even the money I have left is only going to last so long. Plus, if I stay for a shorter amount of time at my current place, the rent goes up even more and then my money would definitely go quickly.

whew, I feel for you, I really do. <3

@janbb Right, my mistake, they generally can’t increase the rent on a lease unless it has a clause allowing it. But there could be other unpleasant developments with a new owner coming in.

I’d move and roll the dice that the building won’t sell, and if it does that it will take some time for the deal to close. Some areas require notice of rent increases x months ahead of time, so that’s a factor as well. Use the reduced rent to bank up some savings that you can apply to a new place if necessary. But that’s me. I’m ok rolling the dice when I think the odds are in my favor.

If I recall correctly, you work for a church. I suggest you enlist the help of your church to assist you with moving, and also consider putting the word out that you are looking for a new apartment.

The members of my church love to help with things like this!

I can only tell you that I had a good experience renting the top floor of a house with the owner on the main floor. Month to month, but I lived there many years including and change of owners and rent did not increase. It was small but with a big backyard on the river.

The place my friend rented was an attic apartment, under the eaves. The house was old and nothing was updated or fresh. The rooms were small, and in the kitchen, there was the kitchen sink in a separate room under the eaves. The living room had a small room under the eaves with a doorway to the living room, and a small window. The small room was so small, and since it was under the eaves, with a slanted ceiling, it really wasn’t usable for more than a storage area. The new owner, who is selling the house, is calling it a two bedroom and he’s referring to that as a bedroom. If you put a bed in there, you might barely fit a twin bed. It’s not what most people would consider a room and technically, a bedroom is supposed to have a closet, which this room didn’t. We were shocked when we saw the ad referring to this apartment as a two bedroom. He’s asking 2700 a month, which it would be really surprising if he gets that. Plus it’s a two story walkup – one story to walk up to the house and one story from the ground floor up to the attic. Really ballsy of him to call it a 2 BR and ask 2700.

@kruger_d that sounds really nice, but with them selling the house, I just have no idea how the new owner will be or if he will want to jack up the rent really high. I would feel better about the monthly lease situation if I knew it was going to be the same owner that’s there now.

@jca2 that’s crazy! The place I looked at also said there was another room that could be used as a bedroom but it’s pretty small. And none of the closets are really big except for the pantry in the kitchen. However…

And this update is for everybody that commented on this thread. I went to church this morning and was sharing with one lady about the situation being somewhat unstable with this possible rental, and she told me about a guy just down the street who goes to our church occasionally and he has a basement apartment that he’s going to be renting out and she said it would probably be about the same price. Now I don’t know if the utilities are included, but I do know it has a washer and dryer and that would be a definite positive thing. Also he wouldn’t mind me bringing my cats which is very important to me. So she’s going to talk to him this week and then get back to me. So now at least I feel like I have two different options and I feel a lot more relaxed about things. Because one of my big concerns was that I would plan to move to the first place, but then something would fall through at the last moment and then I wouldn’t have time to find another place.

@LifeQuestioner It’s great to have options. It’s wonderful you used your contacts (networking) and that helped you with another possibility.

@jca2 yes, it feels so wonderful to have that second option just in case. And it may very well be that the second one is actually the better choice. But I already feel so much less stressed!

@LifeQuestioner That’s awesome! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you! Keep us posted.

@LifeQuestioner That sounds really positive.

it sounds shifty to me. Avoid it.

@YARNLADY I don’t think it sounds shifty at all. I just think that I found out about the rental right as they were in the process of selling. At any rate, I now have a better place that will hopefully work out that I heard about from another person and this new one sounds like it’s even better than the last one, although I’m not sure if utilities are included. That was always going to be something hard to find anyway and then you have to deal with putting up with whatever temperature the person wants it to be.

Housing is such a tough deal for most people right now. Glad you found something that will work.

It’s possible to have the utility company average a year’s worth of billing so that you know month-to-month what you’re going to owe. Hopefully, in the new place you’re talking about utilities will be included because I don’t see how the owner could separate out the amount you might owe, unless they charge a flat rate.

@Blackwater_Park I’ve not actually talked to the guy yet but the lady that told me about him is getting in touch with him. But he’s somebody that occasionally attends our church and several people that I’ve shared the info with think it will work out really well so I’m hopeful.

@smudges yes I do budget billing and I always call before I move into a new place to find out the average bill. Although I will say that when I moved into my current place a couple years ago, the amount they gave me for the bill was much lower than it was when I moved in and I called shortly before I moved. But some people do set up a separate meter so I’m not sure the exact situation. Hopefully it will be nice and cool in the summer though since it’s a basement apartment. And sometimes underground is more consistent with the temperature in the winter too. But I’ll have to see.