What rent you can actually carry, what a landlord will screen you on, and how both compare to what Iowa really costs.
The median across Iowa’s 92 FMR areas — unweighted by population, so it runs below what a typical resident of a metro pays. Pick a county for a local figure. Two-bedroom FMRs in this state range from $919 to $1,368. An FMR is the 40th percentile of gross rent, including tenant-paid utilities — so roughly 60% of units rent for more, and it is not directly comparable to an advertised rent that excludes utilities.
The honest break-even, including what selling costs and what the down payment would have earned if it stayed invested.
What actually reaches your account after federal tax, FICA, and your state's own brackets — with local income tax disclosed rather than guessed at.
Needs, wants, and savings as shares of your TAKE-HOME pay — not of gross, which is the version that never balances.
Nearly every deposit dispute is really one argument: is this damage, or is it wear and tear? Here is where the line actually sits, what the statutes permit, and the deadline that ends the argument before it starts.
Twenty-seven states cap what a landlord can hold. Twenty-three do not. The deadline to return it runs from 14 days to 60, and twelve states owe you interest on it — three rules that decide most deposit disputes before anyone argues about the carpet.
Five gates, in order, each with a number you can compute. Includes the 50-state break-even table built from each state's own property tax, insurance and appreciation — and why that table is not a forecast.
The cash a move actually takes, split into what comes back and what never does — because a deposit and an application fee are different kinds of money and averaging them hides the real cost. Covers the lines people plan for and the ones they do not: the overlap month when two leases run at once, utility deposits, cleaning the old place, and unpaid time off. Gives you the total as a multiple of one month's rent so you can see whether yours is normal, a straight answer on whether your cash covers it, and a before-you-sign checklist built around the evidence that actually decides a deposit dispute.