How Can I Lower My Flat Rent?
Unemployed and otherwise fighting apartment renters are searching for bailouts, too. When there are just a few billion dollar plans–besides HUD housing programs–aimed at renters, as is true with banks and submerged homeowners, it’s still possible to attempt to make a bargain for yourself together with your current or potential landlord. As with other kinds of discussion, the key is using tact and bringing something to the table other than an aggressive and self-entitled posture.
Conduct study on the building and area you now reside in or are thinking about. Since Anna Vander Broek of Forbes.com advises, learn what other tenants are paying in your building. Look at apartment listings that are nearby. Attend open houses. If you provide proof to your landlord that you’re overpaying, he is more inclined to take your case seriously.
Use the exact time of year or month to your advantage. If you’re taking a look at a new location, hold up before the end of the month prior to making a offer for lower-than-advertised rent. Vander Broek notes that a landlord may be more inclined to take your offer when the alternate is an empty flat. Along similar lines, don’t attempt to negotiate lower leasing when demand is high. Wait until school is out in a college town, for example, before trying to strike a bargain.
Offer to cover your rent before the first of the month every month. Vander Broek’s report asserts that some landlords will react positively to the sense of safety this gesture provides.
Sing your own praises. Attorney Janet Portman informs American Public Media that renters should tout their timely payments, damage-free and clean apartments and desire to stay in their flat for the long haul–or during the lease term–as they try to exude a landlord into cutting a rest in their rent.
Offer your landlord something in return. Portman advises against demanding a rent decrease. Instead, don’t simply tout what an wonderful tenant you’re. Inform your landlord that you’re willing to do something more, such as maintenance job, keeping the landscaping up or collecting the rent each month from fellow tenants in exchange for a significant drop in your monthly obligation.