i agree with the pricing issue but i'm wondering if it is more than offset by a lack inventory in the winter? for a long time i was on a december lease end and found there not to be as many listings as during the warmer months.

I must agree with cgups - less people moving means less of a chance of finding the apartment you'll love and more of picking a place based on which one is the least horrible and then hating yourself for not moving in the summer.

I'm moving this weekend!

Me too--my lease is up in December and I plan to renew for 6 months so I can move next summer. There aren't as many nice options (cheap or otherwise) in the winter.

Here in NYC the apartment hunt process is incredibly competitive. While there might be a larger selection in the summer, the chances of you actually getting the apartment you want aren't great. I found that a lot of people relocate to new cities in the winter rather than bounce to another apartment near by. So while there are not many people looking for apartments in NYC, there is still a decent inventory to choose from. I found my dream apartment, in a neighborhood I would have never been able to afford otherwise all because I had to move from my previous place in February rather than June.

I agree with icarolla - the inventory is less, but the summer months are so competitive. I've always had an easier time finding a cool apartment when I looked in the winter. When I moved into my current place, I started looking in July but didn't move until October.

Friends moved up to my city this past February and the inventory was still pretty good. They found a perfect apartment in 2 weeks.

I don't know, unless you have to move for work or school at a specific time, I'm starting to think that when you find just the right apartment you take it when you can. My husband and I are considering breaking our lease (& just paying the fee) for our "perfect apartment" once we find it... which might be tonight when we go look at a place.

It's a little scary to give in financially like that but when our lease was up earlier there was virtually nothing in our price range that we liked. I addition, our management company wanted us to re-sign or decline our lease 2 months in advance, and in Minneapolis most apartments are only listed one month in advance. So we would've had to end our lease not knowing if we'd find an apartment we liked better. Anyone else been in this dilemma?

I'm a big fan of the early spring/late fall move in NYC -- less competition from college kids, summer interns, and new grads, but also a smaller threat of miserable weather come move day. (I've been incredibly lucky during my last two moves in early November and mid-April -- sunny with temps in the 60s both times!)

you probably give up $50-100/month from what you'd pay in the dead of winter, but I've done the mid-winter apartment hunt/move, and I'm happy never to repeat it. :)

Weather is a consideration, as lmk points out, although not my #1. I live in LA, so for me, it's preferable to move in winter, which isn't cold. Summer, on the other hand, can be scorching hot, which makes for a really unpleasant move.

It doesn't seem to matter when you move in Indianapolis. The units available on he rental market here are terrible. It's a shock after living for ten years in Chicago, where there is plentiful beautiful rentals in affordable neighborhoods.

"If you've lived there for a few years, see if you can extend your lease by six months."

Most leases have a "Month-to-Month" clause at the end of the lease term - so there's no need to extend the lease opr move, just keep paying rent.

I started looking for apartments in Philadelphia earlier this spring and just couldn't find anything I liked. I lucked out this summer in finding a couple cool places, and now I'm moving next month!

Although I'm not looking forward to moving in the August heat, I agree with lmk that moving in the middle of winter would be pretty terrible.

I live in the city near a major university meanings when summer hits students/semester faculty all leave and real estate starts popping up everywhere! With that said, if I decided to move in the winter I would be working with a seriously limited selection of offerings. While I can certainly agree that its best to wait until winterboth in regards to money saved and not having to move in the heat, sometimes it isn't really worth it.

My lease term is up this August (after which I go month-to-month), so just for kicks I decided to see what was available.

Turns out that there was a place much closer to my work, had a bit of extra square footage, a washer and dryer in the unit, better flooring, in a nicer neighbourhood.

There is no way this place would have been available in the winter.

I just moved this week into a beautiful hardwood floor condo. Our landlord charged us the same price she charged the last tenants. I don't think she would have changed the price had it been winter.

The only time I can think that the price drop would be relevant is with lower end housing that is having trouble filling or apartment complexes with 10% vacancies. My experience is that the nice places are scooped up the moment they are posted, regardless of season.

I'm moving into my first apartment tomorrow! Well, I get the keys then, but my friends and family are helping with the big move-in this weekend.

Fortunately (hah), I'm moving into a unit that is owned by the county. The only way the rent can go down is if I earn even less.

I've lived in 3 different NYC apartments and have fared well with early spring/late fall lease signings. I've found the landlords more willing to negotiate in the leaner months.

I have three daughters in their mid to late 20s. This will be the first August in 10 years when my husband and I haven't had to help a kid move. At long last, they are staying put.

Month to month can be great. But check the terms. In a previous apartment my rent would increase $300/mo if I didn't renew. It could also increase at anytime because the M2M was based on current market rates, and not what you signed at the last renewal.

This was 2006, at the height of the property/rent bubble when rents only ever increased.

@thorndale, I too once moved in February in a snow storm in Chicago! Brutal. And as everyone has said, there is definitely less selection here in the winter than in the summer.

@mjs7640 - too funny! :)

My advice - move when the weather is good. Yeah, you might save $50 a month or whatever if you move when the weather is horrid (be that summer or winter), but is $500 a year or whatever really worth the misery of moving in bad weather? If you have to cancel your move during a snowstorm or pouring rain, or you end up with heat stroke from hauling boxes in the middle of a heatwave, it could cost you a lot more than $500.

That having been said, I think the best time of the year to move most places is early summer - late May thru early July. Inventory reaches its peak as all the college students move out, so there's plenty of selection, but fall's students haven't shown up yet to secure a place, and the summer hiring season is just getting underway so folks relocating for work haven't snapped up many units yet.