Home & Renting
Landlords, tenants, deposits and the paperwork that decides who is right.
One listing gives the lot in acres, another in square feet — they can't be compared until they're in the same unit, and the conversion is one multiplication or division away.
One guideline decides the rent ceiling most apartment hunts start from: no more than 30% of gross income. Here's the formula, a real example, and why it doesn't know about your other debts.
A rate quote leads with principal and interest, but the number that actually leaves your account every month has two more pieces bolted on. Here's the formula, a real example, and what a smaller down payment costs you.
Miss the deadline or skip the itemisation and you can forfeit the right to deduct anything — sometimes with a penalty on top.
Not a will. An inventory — every account, policy and where the paperwork actually lives.
The list is longer than anyone expects and it is usually kept in one person's head. Here is how to turn it into a document.
An equal split ignores the fact that one of you is in a box room. Here is how to divide rent by floor area, by area adjusted for features, or by weights you agree — with every method reconciling to the exact rent.