Many people feel like it’s getting tougher to make ends meet every month. Inflation is driving up the prices of goods and services, and the housing market is being impacted as well. Rent prices are increasing steadily all around the country.
Before you start looking for installment loans online or consider other drastic methods to pay your rent, you might want to try negotiating with your landlord. Below are some tips and tactics to help you negotiate your rent.
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1. Negotiate How Long You’ll Stay
Conventional leases often require that you stay for at least 12 months. You can sometimes get a landlord to budge on the rent, though, if you agree to stay for longer.
The real estate market usually has some degree of uncertainty. At certain times of the year, a landlord will find it easier to secure a tenant. Usually, tenants are willing to pay more per month if they sign a lease during the summer, since that’s a common time for people to move.
If you have a lease that’s running out between September and April, you might contact your landlord and offer to extend it so that it will end between May and August. If you do that, it means your landlord will be in an advantageous situation when your lease ends.
They can likely find another tenant quickly if you decide to move on. In the meantime, you’ve locked in the price of your rental for another few months, meaning the landlord will be unable to raise it.
2. Offer Work in Return
Some landlords own many properties, and they’re reluctant to hire anyone to work on them to improve or maintain them. If you have any blue-collar skills, you might put them to use for your landlord in exchange for reduced rent.
You might agree to paint the apartment or do some basic plumbing if the landlord supplies the materials and knocks $100 per month off the lease. You might install some tile backsplash in the kitchen or whatever else the landlord wants.
3. Time the Lease Renewal Correctly
The ideal time to negotiate a lease renewal is usually about two months before your current one runs out. That way, you’ll know whether the landlord is willing to renew the lease at the current price or whether they’re going to increase it.
You’ll have a few weeks to decide whether you want to move or try to bargain with the landlord. They may negotiate with you rather than have you move out. They don’t want that apartment or house to sit empty, of course.
Keep in mind that if the market’s hot, your landlord might insist on raising the rent. If the market’s cold, you typically have more bargaining power.
Learn How to Negotiate with Landlords
Suggesting to a landlord that you do some work on the house or apartment for them can sometimes get them to reduce your monthly rent, provided you know what you’re doing. You can also get in the habit of negotiating with a landlord about two months before the end of your lease. That usually gives you enough time to decide whether you want to move or stay.
If your lease is scheduled to run out during the winter months, you can ask for an extension so that it runs out between May and August. Those are prime moving months, so your landlord will no doubt find this extension advantageous.
Learning to think like a landlord is often key when you’re a tenant trying to get a better rental deal.