A free month can make an apartment cheaper over a lease without making its regular monthly bill affordable. To compare offers, calculate the full lease cost after the discount, add required fees and check when the savings actually arrive.
That calculation is useful as landlords continue offering specials. CoStar's October 28 RentPulse release puts the national concession rate at 4.2% in the third quarter, up 0.6 percentage points from a year earlier. In this report, the rate measures the discount between advertised and effective rent after specials. It does not mean that 4.2% of apartments offer a deal.
Compare the whole lease, including fees
Start with the rent for the entire contract, subtract the written concession and divide by the number of months. Trulia's renter guide describes that average as net effective rent. For your own budget, also add mandatory recurring charges and nonrefundable fees before comparing properties.
Here is an illustrative comparison, not a pair of current rental listings. Both leases last 12 months. Offer A charges $2,000 a month with one month free; Offer B charges $1,900 with no free month. Assume A also requires a $100 monthly fee and B has none. Utilities, deposits and other charges are excluded from this example.
| Lease cost | A: one month free | B: lower base rent |
|---|---|---|
| Base rent per month | $2,000 | $1,900 |
| Rent due over 12 months after concession | $22,000 | $22,800 |
| Rent-only monthly average | $1,833.33 | $1,900 |
| Required fees over the lease | $1,200 | $0 |
| Rent plus fees over the lease | $23,200 | $22,800 |
| Monthly average including those fees | $1,933.33 | $1,900 |
A saves $800 on rent, but its fees add $1,200. B costs $400 less over the year. These figures are Edit USA calculations using the stated assumptions; an actual offer needs its own fee list and written terms.
The payment schedule can still favor a different choice for someone with tight move-in cash. A genuinely free first month provides immediate relief. A credit applied at the end of the lease provides the same rent saving only after you have carried the earlier payments.
The average is not necessarily your monthly bill
StreetEasy explains that a net-effective price can spread one free month across the full term even when the tenant pays full rent in every other month. Ask whether the landlord applies a monthly credit or waives specific payments.
Lease length changes the discount too. At $2,000 a month, one free month on a 12-month lease averages $1,833.33 in rent. The same offer on a 14-month lease averages $1,857.14: you pay $26,000 across 14 months, rather than $22,000 across 12.
Keep the refundable security deposit separate from the rent-cost comparison. It affects how much cash you need to move in, but it is not automatically a permanent expense. Identify any nonrefundable application, administration or other charge separately.
Discounts vary sharply by location
CoStar reports a 9.9% concession rate in Austin and 12.9% in Naples, Florida. Its report also shows rents rising in parts of the Upper Midwest, including Milwaukee, while falling in Fort Myers and Las Vegas. Those are market-level third-quarter findings, not promises about a particular available apartment.
The national vacancy rate fell to 7.8% while discounts deepened. A tighter national market can coexist with buildings competing for tenants in individual cities. Compare actual available units near your intended move date rather than applying a national discount to every listing.
Get the discount and the payment dates in writing
Before paying a nonrefundable fee, request the proposed lease and any concession addendum. Check:
- Which unit and lease length qualify, and whether a move-in deadline applies.
- The months credited and the amount due in each remaining month.
- Mandatory monthly charges, one-time charges and which advertised extras are optional.
- Whether an early departure triggers repayment of the concession.
- What happens when the first lease ends and the promotional credit expires.
Trulia warns that some leases require concessions to be repaid if a tenant leaves early. Read the actual clause instead of assuming every advertised free month has identical conditions.
A renewal can become more expensive even without an increase in the base rent. If the $2,000 example loses its free month, annual rent goes from $22,000 to $24,000, an increase of $2,000, or about 9.1%.
When an unusually cheap advertisement demands immediate payment, verify the property and rental company first. The FTC's rental-scam guidance recommends checking the address against the company's own listing and warns against demands for payment only by wire transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency.
