> definitely don't need luxury

New-ish = Luxury

You won't find $2,500-2,700 in a new-ish building.

Boston and Cambridge are very old in terms of housing stock. The very few new units are all "luxury" insofar as they have in-unit laundry and a kitchen from the past 20 years. "Luxury" doesn't really mean luxury. It just means new. It means new-ish cabinets even if they're IKEA quality. It means central AC. It means in-unit laundry.

Median rent for a 1 bedroom in Cambridge is $2,700. The average apartment in Cambridge probably dates to 1920. It's unlikely that you'll find a place in a new building at that price point.

You're also saying that you want to be close to the Red Line. Being closer than average to the Red Line means wanting a place that will likely cost more than the average place.

I guess my question would be: why do you want a new-ish building? A lot of people who aren't from the Boston area say that. Some come from locations where half the housing stock has been built in the past 15-20 years and so older units aren't maintained well and new-ish units don't command that much of a premium. In Boston, newer units command a big premium and some of the older buildings have been maintained well and updated with nice modern stuff.

Newer housing in Cambridge often isn't located in the same neighborhoods too. Most of Cambridge's new housing is on the outskirts of the city. That's not necessarily bad. A lot of new jobs have moved into those areas too (think Alewife and Cambridge Crossing).

You've also said "close to the Red Line," but you haven't really defined what you mean by that. A 10 minute walk? 15 minute? 20 minute? Less than 10 minute? If you want to be 10 minutes or less, you're creating a very small radius around each stop - 0.3-0.5mi (0.5-0.8km) - depending on whether it's a straight shot or you're making an "L" shape and what the intersections are like (and if you'll spend a couple minutes waiting for cars). I'd also note that the area within a 10 minute walk will be 4x the area that is within a 5 minute walk. Circles! You double the radius and the area becomes 4x larger. So if you're thinking that you want to be within 5 minutes of a T station, realize that's an incredibly small area. Going from a 5 minute radius to a 15 minute radius means increasing your area to 9x the size - and potentially more than 9x more units given that a lot of the space directly around T stations is commercial, roads, and parking and most of the housing often starts a few streets away.

Likewise, why do you want to be on the Red Line? Would a place that's a 15 minute walk to work be reasonable? I don't know where you're working, but if it's in East Cambridge/Cambridge Crossing, Kendall, or Alewife, there's a greater abundance of newer buildings in those areas and maybe the distance to the Red Line matters less.

It's certainly possible to find deals, but often they require flexibility and/or trade-offs. $2,500-2,700 is possible, but probably not based on the list you've given (because the list you gave is "luxury").

I think you'd probably need to go into the $3,000 range to find what you're looking for, but part of that is based on my interpretation of what you're looking for.

In terms of timeline, yes you can look at and sign for a place within a month. However, the cheaper places often go earlier. Larger, newer, luxury buildings will often have units available hoping for higher prices. Smaller landlords don't want to risk losing out on rent and want to lock it down early.

I'd also note that if rents rise 5-10%, $2,700 turns into $2,835-2,970. I think we still don't know what is going to happen in terms of inflation and rents over the next 6 months. It's also possible that rents will go down. Maybe we'll hit a major recession and that'll make things marginally cheaper (though that might have other negative impacts in terms of your job - bonuses, stock compensation, raises, etc. might end up being worse).

For example, is this place what you're looking for: https://www.apartments.com/121-thorndike-st-cambridge-ma-unit-2r/1ztyzz7/? It's not a new building, but it has been refurbished a bit with a newer kitchen, baseboard heating (rather than steam radiators) and such. It's a 15 minute walk to Kendall and a 10 minute walk to Lechmere (on the Green Line). Nice quiet side street. You won't have air conditioning (you can get window boxes) and laundry will be in the basement, but it's cheap at $2,600 and pretty modern by Cambridge standards. But that's the cheapest I can find that's anywhere near "new-ish" insofar as the kitchen has been updated, it's been repainted, etc.

The Zinc building (https://www.apartments.com/zinc-cambridge-ma/963v765/) can be relatively cheap, but it's farther from the Red Line (20 minute walk) and you have to cross one of the two busiest roads in Cambridge to get from it to the rest of Cambridge. It's a modern building, I've had friends live there and love it, and one of the few places in Cambridge that has fiber internet.

But if you're looking for a more desirable location (or nicer than the Thorndike place), it'll be above $2,700. Does the Thorndike place meet your specifications? Maybe. When people say "close" it's really hard to know what they mean. For one friend of mine, more than a 5 minute walk is outrageous. For another friend, a 25 minute walk is nothing (and she walks fast so a 25 minute walk becomes 15-18 minutes for her). When people say new-ish, do they just mean they'd like a kitchen with a solid countertop and cabinets that are decent? It's hard to know.

The piece of advice I'd give you is that you'll have to make a decision quickly on places in smaller buildings (or condos being rented out by the owner in larger buildings). You can't think about it for a couple days. Also, don't judge a building by the exterior. Landlords don't spend money on the outside because tenants want an updated inside, not a fancy outside.

>I've heard of the 4 months up front deal and am planning for it, it's so strange, I have not seen that anywhere in Canada.

You won't see it anywhere, it's one of those things where people know it's wrong but it serves the interests of those who are entrenched here. Keeps property values and school scores up and feeds locals who bilk the students come through.

You'll be OK in that price range but start early and be open to a bit of a walk

We all hate it. I luckily only needed 3 months upfront, and happened to have enough saved, but moving costs plus that were a little shocking to my budget. You should be able to find that range though! Especially north of Harvard, maybe even in central/cambridgeport. You may have more options around Kendall, but the neighborhood is a little more biotechy/corporate.

I am certain you can find something good in that range and still be able to live comfortably.