Apartment communities try to maximize their rents – no surprise there. One element in rent maximization is timing lease expirations into periods of high demand.
It’s not uncommon for high-rise apartment communities to display a pricing matrix that varies the amount of your rent based on your move-in date and the length of the lease term you select.
A near real-time rent and availability check at a Streeterville apartment complex this morning surfaced the matrix you see above.
If you opt for an 11-month lease on this studio apartment, you’ll pay $1,686 a month. A 12-month lease on the same apartment will set you back $1,851 a month. The 11-month lease would save you $165 a month, or $1,980 during the 11 months. A 7-month lease costs $1,762 a month.
The variance in rent prices based on lease length typically changes throughout the year, sometimes on a daily basis, and differs from property to property and among unit types within a property. There’s no general rule you can apply, but the closest you can come to one is that you’ll often get a lower rent quote during the late fall and winter in Chicago than you will for a lease starting in the late spring or summer.
If you’re working with one of the rental service brokers on our do-not-call list you’re unlikely to learn about all of your options. Saving you money reduces the broker’s commission and may eliminate it entirely if you opt for less than a 12-month lease.