The lease on our apartment is up the first of September. Even though the place is small, Ben and I had decided some time ago that if the rent increase was minimal we'd stay there for another year. If it went up substantially, we'd move elsewhere. We got our renewal offer the other day and they're raising the rent $77 a month.
Why?
Because they can.
The last thing I want to do is pack everything up again, but we found a very nice place southeast of where we're currently living that makes it worthwhile. For essentially what our increased rent would be, we'd be getting a brand new two bedroom place (we currently have a one bedroom, but want someplace that will accommodate out-of-town guests) that has all our current amenities, is literally a five minute walk from light rail and has hardwood floors.
The complex is about the same distance to Ben's work that our current place is, but it's a bit closer to mine, and will allow me to avoid I-25 entirely on my commute. As I mentioned earlier, it's ridiculously close to a light rail station, and that will make my snow day commutes a breeze.
The only real worry I have is that the unit we want (the one with the hardwood floors) is the last one they currently have available. They have several others with a nearly identical layout—all brand new—but they're on upper floors and are fully carpeted.
Fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed that it will still be available when we're actually allowed to reserve it…
I hope this goes well. I will keep my legs/fingers crossed until you get it.
Good luck you deserve it and don't give up because of a floor finish.