Is rent negotiable?

[Cumberland]

We are going on a fact finding house hunting mission in the next few weeks. It looks like a three bedroom house in the neighborhoods we want to live in is between $1800 at the low end up to 3Gs.

And some of these houses have been on craigslist for a long time. So is rent negotiable? is it rude to ask? I just called one rental company and asked that, and I got a less than hospitable reception. If I had any wiggle room, if I saw a normal looking couple vs a three male college students, I probably would drop the rent for the normal folks to avoid the partying that might occur with full paying guys.

Re: Is rent negotiable?

If I had any wiggle room, if I saw a normal looking couple vs a three male college students, I probably would drop the rent for the normal folks to avoid the partying that might occur with full paying guys.

O.K. Probably my fault, but I'm embarrassed to say I'm very confused. And I've been AWOL on the boards for a while, which compounds my stupidity, but are you looking to rent out your home and wondering if you can adjust the rate based on who shows up at your door or are you hunting for a house to rent?

[HouseofWool]

Re: Is rent negotiable?

Rent is always negotiable. There is no harm in asking.

[medpedspouse]

Re: Is rent negotiable?

I just called one rental company and asked that, and I got a less than hospitable reception.

Probably because more rent means more $$ in their pocket whereas if you rent from the actual owners you may get a better deal.

While we were in residency, our neighbors paid their rent to a company and we to the owners. Our rent was much less and the maintenance in our house was better. The couple we rented from were so glad that we took care of their house that our rent never increased all the years we were there despite the fact that they did major upgrades (new oven, new AC, painted house, changed carpet for pergo). Our neighbors finally moved out of the house next door because the company was horrible in maintaining the house yet their rent kept increasing.

[Cumberland]

Re: Is rent negotiable?

Sorry, we are moving for fellowship and planning to rent for 2 yrs bc the housing market there is the toilet.

Re: Is rent negotiable?

You are planning to rent in your new city, but sell your current home?

Re: Is rent negotiable?

Rental companies are probably just less courteous and focus on getting the dollar amount they want and can apparently sacrifice months of no tenants. It never hurts to ask if they're willing to negotiate, and especially if you mention that you've noticed it's been on craigslist for a while. Some landlords just own a few properties and when you mention you're a family or married couple looking to rent, you're definitely more appealing than some frat boys straight out of college.

[Meenah]

Re: Is rent negotiable?

Always negotiable.

[Vishenka69]

Re: Is rent negotiable?

The bigger the company the less negotiable it is. If it's a person who has one or few rental properties, there's tons of room to haggle but with big rental agencies it's like negotiating the price of milk at a supermarket.

[alison]

Re: Is rent negotiable?

The bigger the company the less negotiable it is. If it's a person who has one or few rental properties, there's tons of room to haggle but with big rental agencies it's like negotiating the price of milk at a supermarket.

Exactly - it's no skin off their back. We're going through this right now.

[migirl]

Re: Is rent negotiable?

I guess I think it can't hurt to ask... :huh:

[HouseofWool]

Re: Is rent negotiable?

The bigger the company the less negotiable it is. If it's a person who has one or few rental properties, there's tons of room to haggle but with big rental agencies it's like negotiating the price of milk at a supermarket.

Exactly - it's no skin off their back. We're going through this right now.

I so prefer renting from an individual in some ways... We've been here 4 years and have had major repairs done but our rent has not been raised at all. We do have responsibility for clearing snow, but get the 2 car garage to ourselves as well as the finshed portion of the basement. All for less than $900.00/mo. There have been major repairs too, the washer died but was fixable. The stove conked out and was replaced. Twice. There was a very weird issue with the heating system. Hmm, listing these things off makes it sound not so great. But we've also got some of the best neighbors imaginable and live in a well maintained Arts and Crafts style home.

[DCJenn]

Re: Is rent negotiable?

I haven't raised my rent for the guys in DC because I know that they'll take care of things should something drastic happen. I'm losing 800 bucks a month but it's ok because I have a renter who takes care of the house and LOVES it enough to want to buy it.

They pay the rent directly to me, after the one year of using the crappy management association as the rental managers. Totally not worth the money I was losing to their fees.

Jenn

[GreyhoundsRUs]

Re: Is rent negotiable?

We negotiated our rent down $200 a month, but we are renting from a couple not from a company. They have not raised the rent in two years, but now that we are moving, they are looking for $2500 from the next renters...

I second (or third, or whatever) what others have said - no harm in asking!

[alison]

Re: Is rent negotiable?

I tried to negotiate a lease extension for 14 months (instead of 12 months) and it backfired in my face. They wanted to charge us the "market value" of the apartment for all 14 months, not just the final two.

Dh went down to negotiate, and got what we wanted. All 14 months at a slightly increased amount from what we're paying right now.

:huh: The apartment manager doesn't like me and works much better with my husband. Sometimes you just have to test the waters and be persistent.