Have you found yourself in a situation where you need to win over your landlord in order to avoid or perhaps talk your way out of a rent increase that you’ve just received?
Be open with your landlord. As soon as you get the rent increase, you should talk to your landlord about your situation. Landlords respect tenants that are open and honest. As added leverage, it would be good to mention that you’ve been a dependable tenant and that you’ve always kept your place impeccably clean and in good condition, if that’s the case. There is a good chance that if you’ve been a model renter and always paid on time, the landlord may decide to just disregard a small rent increase, this time around, in order to keep you on as a tenant.
Negotiate. Perhaps you can’t afford a $20 increase but you could afford a $10 one. Discuss your situation with your landlord and ask if they would be open to a lower increased. Or perhaps you are expecting a raise next March or a bonus at Christmas. Maybe they can revise the effective date of the rent increase notice. Again, it would be good to remind your landlord that you’ve been a model tenant.
Offer your help. A landlord may also be willing to not increase your rent if you offer to help with maintenance tasks like painting, raking leaves, sweeping or shoveling the snow. This one might especially work if your rental unit is in need of repainting. If your landlord provides the paint and you’re willing to paint for free, that is a huge cost savings to your landlord.
These are really good tips and they work because it can cost a landlord a lot of time, energy and money to find new tenants for a vacant apartment. In most cases, a savvy landlord will easily decide to keep a quality tenant who pays on time over getting a small increase in the rent.
