Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I moved into this building in June, 2009 and my 1 YR lease is coming up. I live in a bachelor apt and when I moved in the rates were 950.00 per month. I received the letter to renew my lease which also indicated a rent increase. The rate will go up to 965.00/month. My issue is that I have been looking online at other apartments and came across my building. They are renting bachelor units starting at 800.00/month. Probably because the building isn't the greatest, they are renovating the parking garage which is causing excessive disturbance and there seem to be better deals out there.
It just makes no sense to me that for a new tenant to move in, they would be paying less then an existing one. Because they can raise rates to existing tenants, doesn't mean they have to. Especially since the rates are dropping and the building probably has a dozen empty units. I just didn't want to go through the pain of finding a new place and moving right at the moment. After seeing this however, and after living through brutal construction, I'm really considering leaving.
It's the same thing that cable and phone companies do. The current customers are paying $50. a month for Internet service and you see TV offers for "new customers only" for a year of service for $29.99 a month. Irritating? Yes, but also very typical.
They don't care about you because you are already there and they don't need to lure you into their building. I would move if there were other apartments to be had for less.
Maybe you could approach the management with an advertisement of a bachelor pad for $800 and ask them if you can switch to that one?
I'd give notice .. and tell them if they wanna keep you longer they have to drop the rent ..
As a LL I dont raise rents usually I want to keep the folks I have .. and use the "raise" as an excuse tyo help problem tenants chose to move on ..
Yeah, it's a very common tactic. Get people in for a low rate the first year, then jack the rent up thereafter and hope that they'll pay it because they don't want to deal with the hassle of moving. And it works, a lot of the time.
The good news is that usually, an apartment complex only needs to advertise these great deals when they are in trouble and not filling their units up. Which means they may be willing to work with you. It can't hurt to talk to them about it. Even if they won't give you a unit for $800, you could maybe get them to increase your rent less than they are planning to. It depends on who owns/runs the place. Good luck!
It's very typical that they run special, lower rent offers to get new tenants into the building. Then when their lease is up for renewal they raise the rent back up to the regular price. So those new tenants that move in at $800 might be in for a bit of a surprise when they get their renewal notice next year. This is why I always ask LL's if I'm moving in at a "special" rate or if the rent they're offering is close to their regular price, cause I wanna know what I'll be paying after my first year is up. $10-$20 increase is reasonable.
It's worth asking your LL if you could keep paying the same rent you have now, or even lower if possible. I assume you've been a good tenant, so you do have some negotiating power. They'd prefer to keep you instead of bringing in someone new who pays lower rent, or having an empty unit. I've recently seen units in my building advertised for at least $50 less than what I've been paying for the past few years, so if I weren't moving this year I'd be asking my LL about that for sure!
I think its quite likely that the rent on those new leases would say $965 in the lease documents, but then the LL is offering a month's free rent for move-in--distributed across all 12 months evenly. So for the first year they may pay $800 but after that they'll be paying $965 or whatever the new rate is, just like you.
I also think it is quite likely that although those units may be called 'bachelor apartments' they may not be identical to yours--they may have bad views or be right above the main entrance or driveway which is noisy. Or any number of things that make those units worth less than yours.
You may as well try though, to get the rent increase cancelled. Tell them the construction has been too much and you aren't willing to pay. Its worth a try.
I'd say if you can't get them to drop to 850 or less, move. At 965, that is around 1200 more for the year. Imagine if yo socked that much away in savings. So, it's worth it to negotiate.
I would give notice and tell them that unless they lower it, you will leave....keep in mind that you might have to move, but who wants to be ripped off with their eyes open?
I agree with others- tell them you'll stay if they lower it and find somewhere new to move if they won't and you don't mind moving. Starting somewhere fresh might be fun too, if you don't really love the place you're in now.
Thanks for the replies! I'm going to be moving to another city within the next year or two so I really didn't want to start thinking about moving right now. However, after speaking to my LL today, I AM moving out of here. To get a place here now, it is in fact 800.00/Mth and apparently that is not a promotion. I asked them to lower it at least to 900.00 and I will sign another 1 YR. They said I can take 10 dollars off my May rent and 5 dollars off my June rent if I sign another 1 YR lease. I thought to myself, WHAT A DEAL!
They are completely rude and made me feel like crap for even bringing it up. They said they have a lot of the building to fill, that's why they dropped the rent. Makes no sense to me, because now their going to have yet another unit to fill.
Plus I found a place for a 185.00 less per month just outside of the city. Now I can bank the difference and put it towards my relocation savings.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This is why I always ask LL's if I'm moving in at a "special" rate or if the rent they're offering is close to their regular price, cause I wanna know what I'll be paying after my first year is up. $10-$20 increase is reasonable.
