Rents are rising in some of the country's hottest rental markets. In the Bay Area, for instance, rents saw average increases of 11.4 percent between October 2013 and October 2014, according to an article in the San Jose Mercury News. The double-digit increase brought average monthly rent to just over $2,200, with rent for a two bedroom apartment topping $2,500. Last year's average increase continues a trend of rising rents. A post on the Priceonomics blog noted that between 2011 and 2013, Bay Area rents increased by about 25 percent.

A ten percent annual increase on a monthly rent of $2,200 increases a renter's costs by $2,640 a year, and the higher price may motivate some renters to seek out less expensive housing. Of course, moving to a new apartment home involves its own costs, and financially-savvy renters may determine whether to move by comparing the amount of the rent increase to the monetary and other costs of a move.

To make the decision, some renters might seek the help of a moving cost calculator, like this one from moving.com that estimates that hiring movers to move from one two bedroom apartment to another within the same zip code may run somewhere between $1,500 and $1,800. However, in addition to the cost of hiring movers, renters should also consider other additional outlays. An Apartment Guide blog post about "Expenses to Plan for When You Move" suggests that renters should also tabulate the costs of application fees, security, utility, and pet deposits, and any required advance rent payments (like first month's rent).

Renters' moving cost estimates should probably also include room for incidental or unexpected expenses, like those catalogued in this article on The Billfold. The costs of things like packing tape, boxes, apartment cleaning services, and buying lunch for friends who help may each seem small, but they can add up very quickly.

For renters, all these potential moving costs may make it worth it to stay in an apartment for another year even after a rent increase.

Bay Area Apartment Rents at Record High [San Jose Mercury News]
The Rise of Bay Area Rent Prices [Priceonomics]
What I've Spent Moving Into A New Apartment [The Billfold]
Expenses to Plan for When You Move [Apartment Guide]
Moving Costs Calculator [moving.com]

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How much attention do renters pay to online apartment reviews? Quite a bit, according to a survey conducted earlier this year. An article about the survey on Multifamily Executive noted that nearly 7 out of 10 respondents are likely to consult online review sites as they're making a decision about where to live. Less than 10% of respondents said that reviews weren't important at all.

The survey also offered some other interesting takeaways. For instance, survey respondents were slightly more likely to consider apartment communities with almost all positive reviews than they were to consider communities with entirely positive reviews. Likewise, many renters looked favorably on apartment communities that responded to online reviews.

As you might expect, younger renters were very likely to look for reviews online, especially when they were moving to a new city.

If you'd like to learn more about the survey, click here to read about it on Multifamily Executive.