This is mostly just to vent...My tenant asked for a rent decrease from $1150 to $1050 if he renews the lease. We really want him to renew because he's a great tenant. And to find another tenant, since we're 400 miles away, would cost us a month's rent in agent fees. So we'd only lose if we didn't agree to the decrease. I just hate being over a barrel like this. We're counteroffing at $1100 and hoping he takes it. Just frustrated and wishing we could just sell it right now...

If it it isn't too late, you could try building in a rent increase to the new lease - say, $1100 for year 1 and $1200 for year two.

Good luck!

I'd walk away if you didn't give it to me. Yes, meeting in the middle is just $600 over the course of a year (which is $850 of my gross income). I did this to my last landlord, getting a $200/month decrease. I always treated the place like I owned it and took care of it. And I always paid rent on time = me being a great renter. If you want to take a risk on the open market to find someone like me, have at it. And I always assumed it would be me over the barrel come deposit refund time.

Sure, it sucks, but so does having the place vacant for a couple of months and dealing with it long distance. And it would further suck to get a crappy tenant. Have you experienced an eviction yet?

So negotiate in the middle, but do you end up begging him to come back if he says no thanks? And if you build in increases, you are sure to chase him away if your increases are more then what he can get elsewhere, which leaves you negotiating again anyway. And if the market value of renting exceeds your increases, you're screwed.

good luck.

just my 2 cents.

I actually think it is much less simplistic than Econ 101 would suggest. IF all renters were the same, then yes, supply and demand. but, all renters are not the same. Any old landlord will tell you a "good" tenant is better than top dollar.

Agreed. I'll have to fall back on VinTek's first rule of negotiations: The one with the most power is the one willing to walk away first.

I agree with all this. A good tenant is worth an extra hundred a month because over a given 5 year period a bad tenant can easily cost you $6000!

I'm not so sure though that a tenant that issues an ultimatum is a good one.

Take it in stride though. I'm in the rental business, but short term. And EVERYONE wants a discount! I think your counteroffer is reasonable.

I also have a bit of a rule about power. Giving in is a submission of power while walking away is more of an assertion of power. So if you give in on rent/make your landlord give you a discount, there is a little power shift in the relationship. It might be completely harmless and irrelevant but it occurs nonetheless.

He agreed to meet in the middle with at $1,100.00 and will sign the lease renewal now. I completely agree that it's much better to give him a decrease, since he pays, treats the property well, and does not bother us with minor concerns in the middle of the night. It's just frustrating because we're already losing money each month on this property. I cannot wait until we can sell it.

Why can't you sell it now?

Because my job in Ohio is temporary and there is a chance that we may move back there in Fall 2013. Once we know where I'll be working after this job, then we can sell it if we're not going back to Pennsylvania.

For someone who just rent a house or an apartment, a low rent cost is what he looks for. But if rent decreases, the house lord will tend to increase the cost of the rent then.

I lived with a friend a while back for two years who was buying a new home. Should've been suspicious when the other guy who was supposed to live with us backed out. Also, during my two years he wasn't able to find a third person to pay rent and help with utlities even though it was a 3 bedroom/2 bath.

Rent fluctuated by month according to the shared utility bills we paid. I paid every month on time or ahead but he never did give me a break. I cleaned the house and even let him use my groceries. But it always seemed what I did was never enough. Eventually, I moved out and got my own place. He hasn't had a good "roomate" or tenant since then. In fact for the last year he's had nobody live with him at all.

Best to keep a good tenant than risk a bad tenant or worse no tenant.

~ Eagle

This may be true in your state, city, or country. The specific times would definitely vary though.

I tried to negotiate with my landlord on my upcoming lease. No luck at all. They actually want to increase my rent lol. $960/month for a 1 bedroom (what I am paying now.)

Wrote a blog post about it.
http://ourwallets.com/we-failed-to-negotiate-our-rent/

What the heck? "It wouldn't be fair to the other tenants?" Who cares? Whenever I fly, I know that everybody on that flight paid a different fare (depending on when they booked, who they booked through, if they used any kind of loyalty "points" or belong to any number of "clubs" that have negotiated member discounts with the airline, etc.). Is that "fair?"

If I were you, I'd move. Put your money where your mouth is. Show them you won't be bullied into ignoring the economic reality of the housing market. Prices are down, and they cannot justify raising (or even holding steady) your rent while the rest of your housing market has contracted by a significant percentage.

P.S. - That Facebook slider thingy on the left side of your blog is super-annoying. It blocks the beginning of several sentences of text around the middle of the page, and there doesn't seem to be any way to get rid of it. I had to resize my window, and even then, I could only read the text in the top third (or bottom third) of the screen. Really intrusive and annoying, IMHO.