You’ve signed a lease and you are ready to rock your new pad. When can you do that? And can you move in early?
The move-in date is specified in your lease. And, Yep!, at Elkins Apartments you can sometimes move in earlier than that date. Sometimes….
When can you move in?
Your move-in date is in your lease agreement. Most of our student tenants will move in sometime in August. Everyone else tends to vary throughout the year. For the August dates, the actual date that this occurs depends on the year, and the lease term always begins at 2pm. For all of these tenants and their homes, we first have to move out the tenants that are already living in the places, then we fix them up, then we move everyone in.
In all cases, the move-in date on the lease is not modifiable by any form of verbal agreement or other communication. We have to move everyone out and in, and the dates are selected to allow us to do this most effectively. That said, often we can accommodate an early move in request, no problem (see Can You Move In Early?).
When in doubt, check your lease, or contact us, and we can confirm your move in date. Many times your move in date may also be listed as your “Start Date” in the Tenant Portal, but if that date conflicts with the lease, the lease controls the situation.
Can you move in early? Yes, often times you can, but…
Sometimes you would really like to move in a little earlier. We can try to help out. Please note, we generally do not allow an early move in on a weekend and very rarely on Monday or Friday. Additionally, we DO NOT process any early move-in requests that are within 1 week of the designated move in. It is too challenging to change third-party vendor schedules and so on in this very busy time frame. Thank you for your understanding!
What does it cost? Why isn’t it free?
An early move in has two costs associated with it: a $50 non-refundable early move-in application fee, and, if an early move in is feasible and we allow it to occur, then an early move-in charge becomes due and payable.
“I pay 12 months, why can’t I move in for 12 months.” This is a misconception. You already are paying a prorata rate for the year, and your term is approximately 50 weeks, with payments made in 12 equal installments. Read more about how the installments work. It explains a lot!
How does an Early Move-In Work?
Here’s what has to happen for an early move in. Keep in mind that someone is likely moving OUT of your place, and they have a date for that too, and we have to have time to fix any existing damage, etc.
- You submit an initial early move in request. We have an online form for that! It just gives us an overview of where you will be living, when you want to move in, and why.
- You pay an NON-REFUNDABLE early move-in application fee of $50.00. Sometimes folks mess around and change their minds. Setting up an early move in takes time and effort. If you aren’t serious, then don’t apply. It’s that simple. Otherwise, you waste your and our time. If we approve your early move-in, this fee will be applied toward your Early Move-In Fee (see below). If we cannot accept your request, the payment will be credited toward future expenses. If YOU choose not to move in early, the fee is non-refundable and non-creditable.
- We assess whether its feasible to turn your place around in time so that you can in fact get in early. If it IS feasible…
- You sign an electronic Early Move-In Request, which we will email to the entire unit.
- You pay an early move in fee, which includes paying pro-rata rent for the period of time you will be early. This is for the entire unit regardless of how many of you want to move in early, because you are moving into the full unit and because you are jointly and severally liable for the unit.
- That’s it. We will send a confirmation, and then you can put it on your calendar!
Come move-in time, you should be aware and agree that…
- You must pay the balance in full for the entire account before moving in early, not just some portion you’ve agreed to among yourselves. This includes the “first” installment that is due, typically August 15th. You may not move into a location unless you have paid all 3 initial payments (security deposit, last, and first) and any associated fees.
- You understand and agree that in some cases work that needs to be done to make the unit ready will not be done before you move in.
- You also understand that Elkins Apartments will expect the apartment to be returned in a ready-to-move-in state (paint, carpets, and cleaning) at the end of the lease even though your early move-in may have impeded the repair/cleaning/painting process.
The key things here are simply: can we make the early move in request happen at all given the status of the outgoing tenants? And, are you willing to deal with the extra costs and possibly (but not always) extra hassle of moving in early.
And, well, are you willing to cut us slack if things are not quite ready. Many times people beg and plead to move in early, we agree to let them do so, tell them all the above and yet they still complain about conditions that aren’t quite right yet.
In the end, if we allow an early move in, we need to work together to make it successful, and less stressful, for everyone, right?!