12/13   I am about to rent an apartment in Mountain View.  The contract
        allows rent hike with 2 months' notice.  Is rent going to increase
        in the next year?  I am wondering whether I should sign for m2m,
        6m, or 1yr.
        \_ gee, I sure miss the Bay Area...NOT!!!!!
        \_ Rent will increase. LLs (most of the time)
                will hike the rent. Some large, corporate LLs may keep the
                rent the same or give you a break but this is rare. This is
                even rarer in South Bay and rarer than rare for anything less
                than a 2-bd. Word of advice: shop around prior to renewal
                and negotiate. The rental market is soft right now and it's
                thought to remain soft well into 2004. I was able to keep my
                rent the same in East Bay even though pretty much everyone in
                my apartment complex had a 5% hike. (They just signed the
                renewal offer). Oh and it's easier to renew for a deal then
                to get out of a deal (penalties?) so I'd say sign for 6m-1yr.
        \_ Ignore all the idiots below.  The answer is you should sign for
           the length of time you expect to be there.  In this case you'll
           have that plus 2 months to figure out where you want to live after.
           The other option is to sign for the shortest period possible if
           you're willing to apartment hop every few months to save a few
           bucks on rent.  In that case get the shortest possible terms.
           \- well obviously if you know you are joining the army or getting
              married etc you may have a good idea of "the length of time
              you epxect to be there" but most people dont, down to the
              month. duh. if the person knew the nswer to this, he wouldnt
              be asking what to do in the face of uncertainty. --psb
              \_ genius boy scribbles to motd again.  look genius boy, he made
                 it pretty clear he's planning to be in the area for at least a
                 year, his only question is about if he should sign long to
                 lock in a low rent or sign short so he can move if it drops.
                 i answered for both the long and short term cases while you
                 completely failed to do either.  your best response was to
                 tell him to post his name so you could tell him your sob story
                 in email.  go smoke your pipe, genius boy.
        \_ please consult madame cleo for answers to all of life's pressing
           questions.
           \- you are probably best off signing for a year. i know what i
              am talking about but i am not going to explain unless you
              sign your name. --psb
              \_ What does signing name have to do with this?  (S)he is not
                 trolling about chocolate or WMD?  The BIG one is coming?
                          \- because i want to try and stave off
                             E_CASTPEARLTOSWINE --psb
                 \_ It seems possible that there may be details that The
                    psb is not willing to share on motd that he might be
                    willing to go into via email or chat, etc.  Try to use
                    your brain a little bit.
                    \_ It was possible until he replied above making it clear
                       he's got nothing to say.
        \_ If the terms for the rent increase are the same for all three
           periods of time, sign m2m. Figure that rent will start increasing
           late next year, but not that much if at all. More COLA. Not as
           many jobs being created.
        \_ on the one hand, motd posters fret over a housing price crash.
           on the other hand, they worry about increasing rent?
           What gives?
           \_ It's fun to bash home owners on the motd and spread FUD but when
              reality strikes....
           \_ It's similar concerns. An increasingly ambiguous economy. A
              jobless recovery when real estate prices are increasing thus
              allowing landlords to maintain high rents. If the bubble bursts,
              homeowners lose lots of equity, but how the housing/rental market
              will react is unknown. High unemployment during a recovery means
              those with jobs will have fewer opportunities to increase
              salaries significantly by trading up jobs.
              \_ trading up jobs?  what happened to your employee loyalty?!
                 \_ It went right out with companies cutting pensions.
                    Legislated out of existence by 401k's
                    \_ So it's all about money, huh?  Sing the corporate song
                       and think of your cube mates!  Team spirit!