Dear Savvy,
After three years as a coordinator, I finally earned a promotion to manager. With the promotion comes a raise, and thus the opportunity to secure full financial independence from my parents.
Although my dream is to put a down-payment on a house in four years and I know I could save more if I continued to live with my parents (no rent, no groceries), I am eager to try living on my own.
I made my budget and know what I can afford to pay for rent while still being able to save towards a down-payment. My question is, I hear rumors that potential tenants can negotiate with landlords on rent. How does negotiating on rent work? Any tips?
To see my answer, read more.
Savvy says: You're not in as strong of a position to negotiate rent as an existing tenant with a proven track record of paying on time, and the odds could also be against you because you don't have previous landlords to use as references and vouch for your reliability. These facts don't necessarily preclude the possibility of winning a reduced rent, but expect to push a bit to land on a compromise with your landlord.
The fact that you are employed and earning a steady income is a start, but your credit history will likely be an important factor in determining whether or not you'll be approved as a tenant. I spoke with a real estate pal for her tips on negotiating rent. If none of these circumstances are true in your situation, she says you might as well at least ask your landlord to knock down the rent by $50 (help your case by reinforcing your clean habits).
- Try and find out how long the apartment has been on the market and if the rent has been reduced since its initial listing. If the landlord has been missing out on rent for more than a month (especially if there are multiple vacancies in the building), she may be more open to negotiations.
- If you're signing a six-month lease but planning on staying much longer, ask if your landlord would be willing to drop your rent if you sign a year lease instead.
- Be ready to move in immediately — landlords aren't earning anything on an empty apartment, so if you're ready to pack your things and go they may be more inclined to accept a negotiation.
T-Bags
Pepe Jeans
Rick Owens
If only it were that easy...
1Wonder how well it would work in NYC. I know its possible but it could be hard. I used to work for a apt. rental place and sometimes they would knock off some rent if you had good credit or were willing to put down an extra month in advance (in a lot of cases if you acted like you were sure about the price they might agree to giving you one free month's rent if you signed a 1 year or 2 year lease). Nothing impossible, just different levels of hard.
2my roommate and i were able to get the rent knocked down on our place because it had been on the market too long. we knew what we each wanted to pay a month so when we found one close to that, that the landlord was eager to rent because it had been vacant, we asked if he'd meet our price and he did. so definitely look for places that have been open for a while, the owners will be more likely to bend
3I don't think this is going to work in my city, where vacancy rates are at an all-time low - less than 1%.
4I don't know if this would work in my city, but I guess it would be worth a try the next time I start looking!
5I don't understand why you wouldn't try to negotiate?? Even if you do live in NYC or somewhere else. The worst they can say is "no"
6Enh, the worst isn't really "no." Instead, it's "We're not just saying no, we're moving to the next applicant." In tough rental markets such as Manhattan and San Francisco, there are literally dozens of people waiting to get apartments. I've negotiated rent in other cities, but wouldn't try it in SF or NY unless I already lived there — it's just too risky, considering some people will be willing to offer more in rent just to get the place. (I've seen it happen.)
7Agreed, bella. In one case I saw an apartment that had been on craigslist for two hours and had six people already signed up to fill out applications.
I would say two more things to try would be to offer to pay more than the first month in advance via money order and to offer to deposit your rent directly into the landlord's bank account every month. I do that deposit for him (typically around the 25th), and my landlord basically worships me for it.
Even if you're not trying to negotiate down the rent, offering those things may get you to the top of an applicant list in a tight market.
8I don't know. I hate it when there's an attitude like that. I'm not going to jump through hoops to rent from someone. Who is doing who a favor?
9Oh, I almost forgot. My friend was just looking for a rental in the bay area. Almost every rental advertised on craigslist had a million applicants, but the ones if the paper had far fewer. She said those landlords (probably older, I guess, and not hip to the new technology) seemed much more eager to work with her and negotiate.
10I would say that both the renter and the owner are doing each other a favor. However, in hot markets, requesting rent to be lowered when you have no where to live and are in competition with others that are willing to pay more, then the renter isn't doing anyone (especially their now homeless self) any favors
11LOL. It used to be part of my job to deal with all kinds of landlords on a daily basis, and it seemed like all of them thought they were the ones doing the tenant a favor! And it seems like everyone I know who rents hates their landlord. Mine is actually pretty nice, but he always says I'm his best tenant and makes it sound like the rest are all huge pains for him.
12Our old landlord would NEVER have let us get away with lower rent. He was a complete and total douchebag, so he definitely made sure he got his money every month. He actually told us that he wasn't making much money on the property, so he had to charge what he did just to break even I guess. Oh, and he tried to withhold our security deposit because of a little soap scum in the tub. So make sure you scrub your place before you move out!
13Well maybe I've just been blessed with having awesome landlords.
And I will always be of the thought that tenant is doing the landlord a favor.
14no dangit!
15wait, yes. OMG, I need more coffee
16well, it could be that, or perhaps you haven't lived in what could be qualified as a "hot" rental market?
17Super late on this, but I had to offer my perspective. I work in real estate and work with lots of investors who own rental property. People are trying to absorb as much rental property as possible because it's becoming harder and harder to get home loans and in my area, we're at a second peak (of at least three that I've seen projected) of forclosures, so soon there will be two more waves of ex-homeowners who pretty much HAVE to rent for five years. With that many people in the market for rental houses and investors in a flurry to convert the forclosures, there really isn't a good chance that they're going to let you pay lower rent.
So I think knowing your market is good. In some cities negotiating might be possible, in others it's laughable.
I like a lot of Savvy's points about being willing to bend to meet their needs if they're meeting yours. Compromise is the heart of any good negotiation - both sides should walk away feeling like they've won. Speaking of, I woudln't consider it to be anyone doing anyone a "favor" really. It's a business deal - the renter is paying the landlord for their services. If renter wasn't there, rentee would find another. And vice-versa.
[/super late thread jacking.]
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