Through Life, Who's Got You?
Sack Boyz Entertainment presents

Before You Rent

Count the first cost. Walk the lease. Then sign.

A place is advertised by its rent. It is gotten with the first cost — the deposit, the first month, the last month, the fees, the little charges with names nobody explained — due all at once, before the keys. And the lease itself is the biggest signature most people ever sign without reading. This free tool counts the first cost in writing and walks the lease clause by clause, before your name goes on it. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere.

— The First Cost, And The Lease Walk

Two parts, in order: count every dollar due before the keys, then walk the lease. The sheet prints only when the first cost stands and every clause has been looked at — "not in the lease" is a finding, and it prints as one.

1 · The place

2 · The first cost — every dollar due before the keys

One row per charge, named the way the landlord names it — the junk ones included; a charge with a name of its own can't hide inside a total. A row with no name never counts.

The first cost, all in
$0.00
every dollar due before the keys
Charges named
0
Rent after that
—
per month, going forward

3 · The lease walk — eight clauses, looked at one by one

For each clause: is it in the lease in front of you, or isn't it? Both answers count as walked. A clause you haven't looked at yet keeps the sheet waiting — that is the point of the walk.

  • Clause 1. How long the lease runs, and what happens when it ends — renewal, or month-to-month.

  • Clause 2. When the rent is due, the grace period, and the late fee.

  • Clause 3. The security deposit — how much, and the terms for getting it back.

  • Clause 4. Who pays which utilities.

  • Clause 5. Who handles repairs, and how a repair gets requested.

  • Clause 6. Guests, parking, and pets — what is allowed, and what it costs.

  • Clause 7. What it costs to leave early — a break fee, the remaining rent, or nothing stated.

  • Clause 8. How, and by how much, the rent can go up.

Count the first cost and walk all eight clauses — the sheet prints when both stand.

— Get the app

Before You Rent is free, forever. Put it on your home screen like any app — no store, no account, no cost — and it works offline once it's yours. Keep it next to the lease, where the walk is still fresh.

On iPhone: tap Share, then "Add to Home Screen."
On Android: tap the menu (⋮), then "Install app" or "Add to Home screen."