Negotiating Your Lease

If you’re like most college students, you already know you can negotiate better test grades, more time on a term paper and less homework with one or more of your professors, pending the right conditions. But you probably didn’t know that you may also be able to negotiate the rent at your student apartment.

Wait. What? That can’t be possible, can it? The listed rent is the rent everyone pays. Isn’t it? Maybe not. There are several situations in which you may be able to decrease the monthly rent and chances are, at least one of them applies to you.

• There are several improvements needed in the apartment and you’re willing to make them. Improvements to a property don’t make it more expensive for the current tenant to rent, but do make the property more valuable after the current lease expires. If you’re willing to bust out $80 on paint for your apartment, you may be able to negotiate lower rent with your landlord. After all, he won’t have to pay someone to paint it. But never make improvements without asking the landlord and getting the deal in writing first.

• The apartment has been empty for a while. If you’re looking at an apartment that has been vacant for more than a month, you may be looking at wiggle room. Ask the landlord if they’d be willing to consider a slightly lower monthly rent.

• You’re looking for a new place in a buyer’s market. Check this out—it’s not just a buyer’s market. It’s a renter’s market as well. If you are able to find a comparable apartment at 20% lower than what you’d pay at the apartment you want, tell the landlord like this—“I really like this place and I like you as well. But there’s this other apartment two streets over that’s a little bigger and it’s only $…I would totally rent this place, if it fit my budget.” You may be surprised at how many landlords are willing to be more competitive.

• You’ve been a model tenant for a year or more and your lease is up for renewal. When approaching the subject of lower rent for the model tenant, remember to come armed with information on how clean and well-kept the property is, how many times you’ve had the carpet cleaned, that you’ve always paid rent on time, etc. Your argument will be even better if you have receipts showing the love you’ve provided.

• The landlord has not been on top of repairs and maintenance and you’ve had to plunk down cash for temporary solutions. Remember four months ago when your refrigerator broke down and the landlord said he’d have it fixed in a hurry, just don’t open the door in the meantime? You can remind your landlord that he never reimbursed you for the loss and get your reimbursement in dropped rent.

Remember, this is a renter’s market. In fact, if you search for an apartment and sign your lease during summer—when college is not in full session—you’ll always be searching in a renter’s market. Keep that in mind and your negotiating power will always come out on top.