Renting a SFR (difference between asking rent and actual rent)? (apartments, rentals)

[egold70]

Curious to get an idea from those who have rented a house over the past few years. I know that on apartments, rents in LA have fallen significantly over the past few years, landlords are offering 1-2 months free rent if you sign a 12 month lease, or other various incentives to attract new tenants.

I imagine that to rent a house, there is plenty of negotiating room as well, especially for homes that have been for lease for the past 6 months. I guess that in some cases if the owners have paid their mortgage off or have owned the house forever, they aren't as desperate to lease as some others. But for those who have rented or know people who have, what was the difference between the advertised rent vs. what the actual lease was signed for? I have heard that a good rule of thumb is to discount the asking rent by 10%, so a $4,000 house for rent should go for $3,600.

Any thoughts?

[JohnG72]

I think you have more leverage if you have really good credit and a job where you are likely to remain employed. And also if you are renting at an amount well below what you can afford and if you have strong references. I have those and am looking currently for a small house. I'd be more likely to start negotiations at a point below the average rent for an area. Asking price doesn't mean to much to me, especially since some landlords seem to want to list high purposely. The worst they can say is no.

[egold70]

Thanks. Yes, I am married, both wife and I have been employeed at our respective firms for over 3 years each, combined income of $225K gross, 780+ credit scores, great references. I feel like owners trying to rent out their houses would prefer to do so to families, as they tend to offer more stability and probably treat the place better than a 25 year old trust fund kid. Most of the homes I am looking for are listed at 4,000-4,500 per month.

[nmnita]

Sounds like you certainly are qualified and yes, the 10% rule is standard, but don't expect it to be accpected..rental bargaining expecially in the more upscale houses isn't as easy as some think. Good luck,

Nita

[drshang]

Start looking at listings a month or two before you want to rent. Find out who has been on for a while, then there's your negotiating room.

The thing is that most of the rentals that are negotiable are the ones that are overpriced to begin with. If a rental is on for a period of months it probably has a price problem. Sometimes you can get a better deal on one that isn't negotiable because the asking price is actually correct.

[LABornandRaised]

When I rented a house in Valley Village over a year ago, there was no negotiating due its close price range to an upscale apartment. When we applied for the house, we were on a waiting list behind 4 other people. Luckily those other 4 people's applications fell through and that is how we got in, but with that much demand (and people lining up behind us), there was no negotiating room.

If your houses you're looking to rent are in the $4K range, I definitely think you have negotiating room because your competition will be a much smaller pool. It's when you're looking at $2K rentals is when you will need to accept asking price. Hope that helps.