Budgeting for an Apartment in Charlotte

When you’re budgeting for an apartment in Charlotte and thinking through what rent will actually cost you, here are two numbers that matter, and what each one means.

Total Monthly Leasing Price

Total Monthly Leasing Price is base rent plus all required monthly building fees.

That’s the definition. Simple as that.

Required monthly fees vary by building. Trash service, pest control, package reception, and utility admin fees are all pretty common in Charlotte. Residents don’t have a choice on whether to pay these fees, so they are rolled into the Total Monthly.

Total Monthly is used for income qualification.

Total Monthly is the number more and more buildings use to income qualify applicants. Most buildings look for 3x Total Monthly in gross monthly income before taxes. Some buildings look for 2.5x, but the vast majority use 3x.

This is a recent shift. For years, the standard across the industry was 3x base rent. That’s changing. Greystar, the largest apartment operator in the country, and the largest in Charlotte, has been rolling out income qualification based on Total Monthly. Greystar manages a diverse portfolio, (some properties they own and others they only manage,) so qualification criteria can still vary property to property. But the direction is clear: Where Greystar leads, others follow.

Because this change is still spreading, confirm the exact income qualification criteria directly with the property before filling out the application.

Use Total Monthly when you’re evaluating whether you’ll qualify. Use your gross income before taxes, not your take-home pay.

Bottom Line Rate

Bottom Line is what you’ll actually spend each month after move-in specials are applied.

For the math and finance folks: this is the net effective rent (base rent after the concession is amortized across the full lease term) plus all required monthly building fees.

The Bottom Line Rate is best for budgeting.

This is also your comparison number. When you’re evaluating two buildings side by side, Bottom Line is what matters. How specials are structured, and over what lease term, can shift the Bottom Line significantly, even when Total Monthly looks identical. We get into all of that in the Deal Math deep dive →.

Quick recap

So: Total Monthly is base rent plus required monthly fees, before specials. It’s what buildings use to determine if you qualify. Bottom Line is what you’ll actually pay each month after specials are factored in. It’s what to use when you’re building a budget.

Now, one more layer to be aware of.

Additional fee considerations

Situational fees are monthly building fees that are specific to you and your household. Pet rent is the most common example. If you have a pet, most buildings charge a monthly pet fee on top of base rent. These are real monthly costs that don’t show up in Total Monthly or Bottom Line unless they apply to you. If you want to read more about renting with pets in Charlotte, we’ve got a full page on that.

Optional fees are upgrades you choose. On-site storage, preferred parking spaces, and similar add-ons come with an extra monthly cost if you want them. Your call.

Usage-based costs such as water and electricity are also separate. In most Charlotte buildings, water is billed based on your usage and paid alongside rent each month. Electricity is a separate account you set up directly with Duke Energy.

Both numbers on every deal

Every apartment on the Poema deals page shows Total Monthly and Bottom Line. You can also search by either one. Search by Total Monthly if income qualification is the priority, or by Bottom Line if you’re working from a monthly budget.

If there’s a specific apartment you’re interested in, the Bottom Line calculator does the math for you.

This post is part of our series on understanding apartment pricing. See also: Deal Math: The ‘Bottom Line’ Formula for Comparing Charlotte Rentals and What to Look for in a Charlotte Lease Agreement.