The 2-Year Apartment Rule
My friend and I have a theory that when you rent an apartment, it starts going downhill after two years. Everything usually starts off well (the building is nice and clean, the amenities are good, the maintenance team is responsive, the apartment is in good condition, etc.), but for some reason, after renewing the lease, things slowly go awry.
I've noticed this myself with every apartment I've ever lived in. Things start off fine, but then mold starts growing in the bathroom, and a recurring leak springs up in the living room, and then roaches start appearing in the kitchen. Once the lease is up for renewal, I'm dying to leave. I then move into a sparkly, new apartment where I repeat the process all over again.
Right now, with my current apartment, the treadmills in the gym are always broken, more and more roaches keep appearing in the kitchen, the elevators have started breaking down, and the vents in the bathroom have stopped working, making the bathroom smell moldy.
Even the people moving into the apartment building have taken a downturn. The other day a man who looked just like the unabomber ambushed me in the elevator. When he saw how flustered I looked, he mumbled an apology and scuttled away. When I told my husband about it, he said, "Oh yeah, that's the crackhead. He's fine, just a little skittish." The hell? Call me a wuss, but I don't want to worry about who I'm riding the elevator with, not when I'm paying as much rent as I am.
Fortunately, the maintenance here is still fast and reliable (something unheard of in previous apartments), but many times they have told me that the building is "old" and there's only so much they can do. My lease is up later this year and, just like my last apartment, I'm thinking of moving again.
I was talking about this with a friend who's also switching apartments, and she was the one who mentioned her theory that apartments always start going to shit after two years. When she told me this I was like, "Wait, you're right! Why does that always happen?" However, when I brought this up to someone else, they didn't agree. They accused me of simply having the perception that things were worse off than they really were.
So honestly, I'm not really sure who to believe. Is it a conspiracy that apartments deteriorate after two years so that you leave and they can jack up the rent? Or is this all a perception fueled by an unconscious desire to "switch things up" every two years or so?
I'm not lying when I say I have moved every two years for my entire adult life. I can only think of two times I've stayed in one spot for longer than two years, and both of those places were riddled with almost nightmarish issues by the time I left. One condo I lived in literally rained inside one day. And this was a building considered "high end" when I first moved in.
It's unfortunate as I would really like to make a place a home instead of renting and moving forever. Plus, there's no such thing as a house or building that never has issues. Yearly upkeep is just a fact of life (and also one of the reasons home-ownership terrifies me).
Or maybe all this is just wanderlust? I'm not sure, but when my lease ends, I think I'm gonna move. Again.