I will make a wild guess that you are a Hill staffer and your husband works for the Census. If so, you will likely never be able to buy a house in Capitol Hill (or even significantly further away). You should not be renting a house that is so far out of your purchase range.

I'm a little confused as to how he has been able to raise the rent without you getting into another lease. Is it just a "gentleman's agreement" that you'll pay whatever he asks?

As for the twins thing. I think he'd appreciate knowing just in the interest of transparency of who is living in the apartment, but in no way can it influence his decision not to raise the rent (again, still confused re above). We told our previous landlord when renewing the lease that we had a son a few months prior...didn't stop her at all from raising the rent.

Your landlord is not going to not raise your rent because of twins. But I do think they are legally obligated to test for lead with an infant in the house. Once our building found out I was pregnant I think they started doing lead paint testing and they had to remediate some areas because I live in an older building. They now check it on a regular basis, this is I believe required by DC law. If you have a crummy landlord you may have a hard time getting them to do this. The other issue is lead in your water, if you have older pipes. You may want to get this tested and start using a filter like Zero Water that filters out lead. Brita doesn’t do this.

If you are having issues with your landlord now and affording your life, during pregnancy is the time to make changes—you do not want to deal with any additional complexities once your babies are here. What worked for you and your partner before becoming parents (expensive but crappy apartment with a good location with landlord/maintenance issues) is not necessarily going to work for you with two small infants to take care of. If your landlord is not responsive to your apartment issues now, do you really want to be dealing with that as another stressor in the postpartum period?

Anonymous wrote:

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a twin mom sitting here laughing at OPs naïveté

Thanks for the support?

It’s an incredibly silly post. Not sure if it’s the hormones talking but nobody cares that you’re having twins except your family.

by that logic, why participate in parenting forums if no one cares about anyone else's concerns/questions? Geez.

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to tell him but you also shouldn't expect a break simply because you are having twins. If the rent is too expensive for you then you should move to a different place.

+1
you live on the hill - you could move to, say, rockville and rent for less money. welcome to the commute/size/schools/budget dilemma.

We're fine with the schools--big supporters of public schools--and not able to move at this time, especially not so far out. The fact of moving in and of itself is an expense we couldn't take on now for one thing.

I'm not EXPECTING the landlord not to raise our rent, just expressing a hope. The current rent is not too expensive (other than by the standard that ALL rent in DC is too expensive) but the longer we can go without a rent increase the better off we will be. (Duh.)

We have had money saved toward potentially buying a place at some point, but that will now all be spent down as we supplement our monthly income to cover daycare and other child expenses.

i see - you simply must keep living in one of the most expensive neighborhoods, it's the only way?

I know this was sarcastic but: basically. We can't afford the actual moving expenses and the decreased quality of life from the length of that commute for each of us (my husband works in Suitland and I work on the Hill) would outweigh any potential savings in rent.

you don't seem to understand the meaning of "afford"
"we can not afford unpleasant life" is the same as saying "I can not afford not to be a genius" or "I can not afford not to be a Victoria secret model"
reality not your desires dictates what you can afford
if you don't have enough money to move from a place you are overspending on your housing
with your income you should not have rented a 2 bedroom to begin with - there were only two of you; it was a luxury

You don't know our income, and we rented a 2 bedroom home knowing we wanted to start a family and wouldn't want to move right away. The twins part was a surprise, obviously.

OF COURSE we're overspending on our housing, that is life in a city like DC. There is almost no way to spend only the % suggested on the generic real estate guidelines. And if we were not expecting twins we would be able to afford a move, but we aren't able to spend that extra money at this time when we're trying to save toward that.

I was just looking for advice based on others' experiences. I'll look elsewhere for helpful nonjudgmental advice.

one bedroom would do with one child for a while. also, when you were childless you could have afforded much longer commutes. all of that would have allowed you to have a nest egg that you now need.

i don't know your income, obviously, but if <10k you would need for a move is a big deal to you then it can be all that big. you seem to think that you are facing big costs now but reality is that your costs are going to go up up up. your only chance to save was before kids.

sarah1513 wrote:He has not raised the rent every year, just once or twice.

Also, if you are concerned about rent what about moving to Suitland where your husband works? It's much more affordable. Sure, not as prestigious as "The Hill", but with twins on the way, you might want to consider cheaper digs.

He has not raised the rent every year, just once or twice.

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a twin mom sitting here laughing at OPs naïveté

Thanks for the support?

It’s an incredibly silly post. Not sure if it’s the hormones talking but nobody cares that you’re having twins except your family.

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to tell him but you also shouldn't expect a break simply because you are having twins. If the rent is too expensive for you then you should move to a different place.

+1
you live on the hill - you could move to, say, rockville and rent for less money. welcome to the commute/size/schools/budget dilemma.

We're fine with the schools--big supporters of public schools--and not able to move at this time, especially not so far out. The fact of moving in and of itself is an expense we couldn't take on now for one thing.

I'm not EXPECTING the landlord not to raise our rent, just expressing a hope. The current rent is not too expensive (other than by the standard that ALL rent in DC is too expensive) but the longer we can go without a rent increase the better off we will be. (Duh.)

We have had money saved toward potentially buying a place at some point, but that will now all be spent down as we supplement our monthly income to cover daycare and other child expenses.

You having twins is not his problem. If he typically raised the rent around this time, you should not expect him to give you a break. And yes, I think you expect him to give you a break. Otherwise, why post?

Anonymous wrote:

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to tell him but you also shouldn't expect a break simply because you are having twins. If the rent is too expensive for you then you should move to a different place.

+1
you live on the hill - you could move to, say, rockville and rent for less money. welcome to the commute/size/schools/budget dilemma.

We're fine with the schools--big supporters of public schools--and not able to move at this time, especially not so far out. The fact of moving in and of itself is an expense we couldn't take on now for one thing.

I'm not EXPECTING the landlord not to raise our rent, just expressing a hope. The current rent is not too expensive (other than by the standard that ALL rent in DC is too expensive) but the longer we can go without a rent increase the better off we will be. (Duh.)

We have had money saved toward potentially buying a place at some point, but that will now all be spent down as we supplement our monthly income to cover daycare and other child expenses.

i see - you simply must keep living in one of the most expensive neighborhoods, it's the only way?

I know this was sarcastic but: basically. We can't afford the actual moving expenses and the decreased quality of life from the length of that commute for each of us (my husband works in Suitland and I work on the Hill) would outweigh any potential savings in rent.

you don't seem to understand the meaning of "afford"
"we can not afford unpleasant life" is the same as saying "I can not afford not to be a genius" or "I can not afford not to be a Victoria secret model"
reality not your desires dictates what you can afford
if you don't have enough money to move from a place you are overspending on your housing
with your income you should not have rented a 2 bedroom to begin with - there were only two of you; it was a luxury

You don't know our income, and we rented a 2 bedroom home knowing we wanted to start a family and wouldn't want to move right away. The twins part was a surprise, obviously.

OF COURSE we're overspending on our housing, that is life in a city like DC. There is almost no way to spend only the % suggested on the generic real estate guidelines. And if we were not expecting twins we would be able to afford a move, but we aren't able to spend that extra money at this time when we're trying to save toward that.

I was just looking for advice based on others' experiences. I'll look elsewhere for helpful nonjudgmental advice.

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to tell him but you also shouldn't expect a break simply because you are having twins. If the rent is too expensive for you then you should move to a different place.

+1
you live on the hill - you could move to, say, rockville and rent for less money. welcome to the commute/size/schools/budget dilemma.

We're fine with the schools--big supporters of public schools--and not able to move at this time, especially not so far out. The fact of moving in and of itself is an expense we couldn't take on now for one thing.

I'm not EXPECTING the landlord not to raise our rent, just expressing a hope. The current rent is not too expensive (other than by the standard that ALL rent in DC is too expensive) but the longer we can go without a rent increase the better off we will be. (Duh.)

We have had money saved toward potentially buying a place at some point, but that will now all be spent down as we supplement our monthly income to cover daycare and other child expenses.

i see - you simply must keep living in one of the most expensive neighborhoods, it's the only way?

I know this was sarcastic but: basically. We can't afford the actual moving expenses and the decreased quality of life from the length of that commute for each of us (my husband works in Suitland and I work on the Hill) would outweigh any potential savings in rent.

you don't seem to understand the meaning of "afford"
"we can not afford unpleasant life" is the same as saying "I can not afford not to be a genius" or "I can not afford not to be a Victoria secret model"
reality not your desires dictates what you can afford
if you don't have enough money to move from a place you are overspending on your housing
with your income you should not have rented a 2 bedroom to begin with - there were only two of you; it was a luxury

Anonymous wrote:I’m a twin mom sitting here laughing at OPs naïveté

Thanks for the support?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is all a business transaction. Dont think you are something special and rare bc you're expecting twins.

Not saying we're special (although technically, it IS rare!) but given that we're dealing with huge financial costs for all of this, and that we're dealing with an individual landlord, not a corporate one, we're thinking of it as trying to make a human appeal and see what happens.

yeah, this is kind of ridiculous. we moved a lot and were renters for a long time by DCUM standards. 2 out of 3 children were born to apartments we rented. the thought of it having any kind of favorable effect on rent never crossed our minds.

As a landlord on the hill this would make me want to increase your rent. I, too, am a parent and know how kids can cause problems to a house. I’m not talking about coloring on the walls with markers but innocent things like dragging toys on hardwood floors that’s causes scratching. He isn’t going to reduce rent because he feels bad for you and he won’t send you a baby gift. Would you tell your dry cleaner or grocer hoping for a discount? Welcome to the expensive world of children.

If you could see the state of our hardwood floors (predating our living here) you might not be so concerned.

I’m a twin mom sitting here laughing at OPs naïveté

Anonymous wrote:

sarah1513 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to tell him but you also shouldn't expect a break simply because you are having twins. If the rent is too expensive for you then you should move to a different place.

+1
you live on the hill - you could move to, say, rockville and rent for less money. welcome to the commute/size/schools/budget dilemma.

We're fine with the schools--big supporters of public schools--and not able to move at this time, especially not so far out. The fact of moving in and of itself is an expense we couldn't take on now for one thing.

I'm not EXPECTING the landlord not to raise our rent, just expressing a hope. The current rent is not too expensive (other than by the standard that ALL rent in DC is too expensive) but the longer we can go without a rent increase the better off we will be. (Duh.)

We have had money saved toward potentially buying a place at some point, but that will now all be spent down as we supplement our monthly income to cover daycare and other child expenses.

i see - you simply must keep living in one of the most expensive neighborhoods, it's the only way?

I know this was sarcastic but: basically. We can't afford the actual moving expenses and the decreased quality of life from the length of that commute for each of us (my husband works in Suitland and I work on the Hill) would outweigh any potential savings in rent.