OverviewPart Three — Finding Your Place
What Chapters 10–12 accomplish together
These three chapters transform housing from an abstract concept into a specific, costed plan. By the end, your student should know exactly where they want to live, what three real apartments cost, what a lease actually commits them to, and what every utility will run per month. The budget gets updated after each chapter. The number that comes out at the end of Chapter 12 is the real housing cost that goes into their presentation.
Chapter 10Find an Apartment
Track A · Weeks 17–18
What to Watch For
Listings from an unrealistic city or wildly below market rate. Pull up the listings yourself. Does the rent match what real apartments in that city actually cost? A student who lists a 1BR in San Francisco for $1,000/month is not doing the assignment. The listing URL field is there for a reason — check it.
True monthly cost not calculated. Rent is only the starting point. If your student entered the listed rent without adding utilities, parking, and renter’s insurance, the number is wrong. Ask: “What is the true monthly cost — everything included?”
Move-in cost not accounted for in savings. Security deposit, first month, application fees, moving costs, and furniture can easily total $4,000–$8,000. If your student’s savings plan doesn’t include this total, they can’t actually move in. Ask: “Do you have this saved — or when will you?”
Roommate decision made on preference, not math. The roommate section includes a live cost-split calculator. Make sure your student ran the numbers for both scenarios — solo and with roommates — before deciding. Preference is fine, but it should be an informed preference.
Discussion Questions
Show me the three listings. Pull them up — are they still live? What city are they in and why did you choose that city?
What is the true monthly cost of your top choice — rent plus every other expense?
What is your total move-in cost? Do you have that saved? If not — when will you?
Solo or roommates — what did you decide and what does the math say?
What red flags did you find — or look for — in the listings you researched?
- Three real listings with working URLs in a real city
- True monthly cost calculated for each listing
- Roommate scenario run through the calculator
- Move-in cost total calculated and in savings plan
- Student can explain every number when asked
- Listings with no URL or clearly below market rent
- Only listed rent — no utilities or true monthly cost
- Roommate decision made without running the math
- Move-in cost section incomplete or estimated
- No city or a city with no real research behind it
Look up the listings yourself. Sit down with your student and pull them up together. Read the descriptions. Check the neighborhood on a map. Look at the commute time to a plausible job. This turns a form exercise into a real conversation about where adult life might actually happen for your student.
If the numbers are shocking — if rent in their target city is much higher than they expected — that’s the lesson. Don’t soften it. Ask: “Given what rent actually costs there, does your budget still work? What has to change?”
Chapter 11Understand Your Lease
Track A · Weeks 19–20
What to Watch For
Lease review form filled in with vague answers. “Normal” and “standard” are not answers. The form asks for specific terms — exact dollar amounts, specific day counts, precise policies. If the answers are vague, the student hasn’t read an actual lease.
Not knowing the early termination penalty. This is the clause that bites most renters. Make sure your student can state the penalty clearly: “If I break my lease early, I owe X months rent plus rent until they re-rent the unit.” If they can’t, they haven’t read that section carefully.
No move-in documentation plan. The chapter covers video walkthroughs, timestamped photos, and the move-in inspection form. Make sure your student has a concrete plan for move-in day — not just awareness that they should document things.
Discussion Questions
Walk me through three lease clauses you found most important — what do they mean and what would you watch out for?
What is the early termination penalty in the lease you reviewed? Under what circumstances would you consider breaking a lease?
What is your move-in documentation plan? Walk me through exactly what you’ll do on day one.
Did you find any red flags? What would you do if a lease contained a clause you weren’t comfortable with?
What is the one thing in a lease most first-time renters miss — and why does it matter?
- Lease review form filled with specific real numbers
- Early termination penalty clearly understood and stated
- At least one clause analyzed with the Claude prompt tool
- Move-in documentation plan is specific, not vague
- Pre-signing checklist fully completed
- Lease form filled with “standard” or “normal” answers
- Early termination policy unknown or skipped
- Claude prompt tool not used
- Move-in plan is “take some photos” — not specific
- Pre-signing checklist not completed
Contact one of the landlords from the Chapter 10 listings and ask for their standard lease agreement. Most will email it without hesitation — it’s a public document they use with all tenants. Reading a real lease from a real property in a real city transforms this chapter from theoretical to immediately applicable.
Read it yourself first. What surprises you? What would you negotiate? What would you flag for your student? Your own reaction to reading it is valuable context for the conversation that follows.
Chapter 12Set Up Your Utilities
Track A · Week 21
What to Watch For
Treating renter’s insurance as optional. Most landlords require it. More importantly, a student who moves out with $15,000 of electronics, clothes, and furniture and no renter’s insurance is one apartment fire or theft away from losing everything. Make sure this is not skipped.
Not understanding ACV vs. RCV. Actual Cash Value pays the depreciated value of a stolen or destroyed laptop. Replacement Cost Value pays what it costs to buy a new one. The difference in premium is small — the difference in a claim payout is enormous. Make sure your student can explain both and knows which they would choose.
Utility costs not updated in the budget. Every utility has a budget update callout at the end of the section. Make sure your student actually went back to Chapter 8 and entered real numbers — not just acknowledged the callout and moved on.
Discussion Questions
Walk me through your utility tracker. What does each utility cost per month — and how did you arrive at those numbers?
What is renter’s insurance and what does it cover? What does it not cover?
What is the difference between ACV and RCV coverage — and which would you choose and why?
What is the total monthly cost of all your utilities combined? Has that been added to your budget?
What is the 2–3 week setup timeline — and why does it matter to start utilities before move-in day, not after?
- All utilities researched with real provider names and costs
- Renter’s insurance quoted — real premium documented
- ACV vs. RCV understood and a choice made with reasoning
- Personal property value estimated
- All utility costs added to Chapter 8 budget
- Utility tracker filled with round estimates, no research
- Renter’s insurance section skimmed — no quote obtained
- ACV vs. RCV not understood or explained
- Utility costs not added to the budget
- Setup timeline not reviewed
Sit down with your student and get an actual renter’s insurance quote together. Go to Lemonade, State Farm, or your current auto insurer’s website. It takes 10 minutes. Enter real numbers — a real address, a real estimate of belongings. See what the premium actually is.
While you’re there, check if bundling with your auto insurance saves anything. If your student is on your auto policy, they may already be eligible for a discount. This is the kind of practical information that doesn’t come from a textbook.
MilestoneMilestone 4 Review
Before moving on to Chapter 13
Milestone 4 is the housing reality check. After this milestone, your student should be able to state — without looking anything up — what their total monthly housing cost is, what their move-in cost would be, and when they could afford to sign a lease based on their savings trajectory.
Do not advance to Chapter 13 until these are true.
The question to ask yourself at Milestone 4: If my student had to sign a lease and move in next month, would they know exactly what to do — and exactly what it would cost? Every detail, every dollar, every step. If the answer is yes, move to Chapter 13.