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Old 01-05-2013, 02:16 AM
 
122 posts, read 260,366 times
Reputation: 43

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Hello all,

I'm going to be signing a lease for a new apartment in an old colonial house in San Jose downtown. The house has been completely renovated exterior/interior with new carpet and paints.

I'll be taking a 1 bedroom apartment in the house. The apartment has all new carpets and hardwood ground. The kitchen is pretty big and comes with a huge granite countertop and new stainless steel kitchen appliances (fridge, microwave, oven, dishwasher). I also have a parking space in the back yard. The back yard has parking spaces for each unit and it's uncovered. It also has a barbecue for tenants use.

I will be paying $1598 for this apartment for a 6 months lease. The landlord only covers the gardening. The rest of all utilities will be on me.

HOWEVER, there is one thing I am confused. I was told the water bill and heating will be calculated on square footage. What is this supposed to mean? Does that mean I will pay a fix amount of the total house bill? If this is the case, is this a norm? I mean I felt like it should be dependent on the usage. If this is the case, is this a deal breaker?

Honestly, I like the place much. Within this price range, usually the apartments I looked had very old kitchen appliances and limited cabinets.

I'll be signing the lease tomorrow (friday) so any quick help would BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!

Thanks.

P.S. I'm including pics of the apartment to help you.

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Old 01-05-2013, 02:40 AM
 
122 posts, read 260,366 times
Reputation: 43
Also is it weird to ask the realtor to sign the lease at the apartment, instead of their office? I want to see the apartment for one more time. I only saw it once.
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Old 01-05-2013, 08:52 AM
 
765 posts, read 2,440,764 times
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From what you are saying, I would assume that each unit in the house doesn't have separate utility lines, so you are going to be splitting the utilites with the others in the house. Water and gas shouldn't be too bad splitting with other tenants, but if electicity is part of the bundle, that could be a red flag for me. Did he give you an average amount that you would be paying?
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Old 01-05-2013, 09:02 AM
 
Location: East Bay, San Francisco Bay Area
23,535 posts, read 24,022,219 times
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Hard to really say without knowing the exact area of San Jose, but the rent sounds decent. If the unit is desirable, if you don't sign the lease, someone else will and the unit will be off the market. Rentals move fast here.
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Old 01-05-2013, 09:20 AM
 
6,459 posts, read 12,027,306 times
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Beautiful place.

Why don't you just ASK the landlord or property manager this?
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Old 01-05-2013, 09:31 AM
 
Location: A bit further north than before
1,651 posts, read 3,697,463 times
Reputation: 1465
If each unit doesn't have it's own electric meter, odds are these aren't legally registered apartments. I'd ask some more questions first if I were you.
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Old 01-05-2013, 09:47 AM
 
6,459 posts, read 12,027,306 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gone down south View Post
If each unit doesn't have it's own electric meter, odds are these aren't legally registered apartments. I'd ask some more questions first if I were you.
I agree, but I can certainly see why the OP would want to live there. It really is a beautiful place and the rent is freaking awesome!

But this is coming from a NYer where most of our apartment rentals are ugly or small closets with no space.
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Old 01-05-2013, 09:09 PM
 
122 posts, read 260,366 times
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Thank you all. Here's what turned out: water is INCLUDED in the rent. Each unit has independent electricity meter. HOWEVER AC-heating will be calculated pro-rated on the square footage.

What do you think? I also got a letter about the blinds will be installed with a ETC.
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Old 01-05-2013, 09:11 PM
 
6,459 posts, read 12,027,306 times
Reputation: 6396
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowyman View Post
Thank you all. Here's what turned out: water is INCLUDED in the rent. Each unit has independent electricity meter. HOWEVER AC-heating will be calculated pro-rated on the square footage.
Why? If you have an electric meter of your own, why are you being charged pro-rated? This doesn't make any sense.

Quote:
What do you think? I also got a letter about the blinds will be installed with a ETC.
What's an ETC?
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Old 01-05-2013, 09:51 PM
 
122 posts, read 260,366 times
Reputation: 43
Quote:
Originally Posted by marilyn220 View Post
Why? If you have an electric meter of your own, why are you being charged pro-rated? This doesn't make any sense.



What's an ETC?
ETC: estimation of completion

And so here's the exact wording: "Tenant shall pay all utilities except water, sewer, and garbage. Tenant shall have the PGE meter for their unit changed into their name upon move-in. PGE utility invoice for the heating/air conditioning and common area shall be billed to each tenant on a pro-rota basis based on the square footage of their unit. Billing will be sent monthly and due upon receipt."

What's this supposed to mean?
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