What is the current market price for a 1BR in Atlanta? (hardwood floors, apartments)

[chrisl1208]

I am trying to negotiate my rent, and would like to know what is the current market price for a 1 BR, middle-rise or high-rise, hardwood floors, washer/dryer in community in Atlanta.

Thanks for your help!

[cwkimbro]

umm... that is the most vaque post ever.

Neighborhood, sometimes the block it is on, age, square footage, in tall buildings the floor number, among other things all matter to what the price is.

I would search for rental ads for similar properties in that immediate area and only look for comparable rentals.

If you find something cheaper go for it.

[chrisl1208]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

umm... that is the most vaque post ever.

Neighborhood, sometimes the block it is on, age, square footage, in tall buildings the floor number, among other things all matter to what the price is.

I would search for rental ads for similar properties in that immediate area and only look for comparable rentals.

If you find something cheaper go for it.

You are right, it's kind of vague!

My concern is that this community raised the rent of 3% last year, and now 7%!!! I am wondering if there are rules for that.... This community is in an unsafe place, they cannot raise as much!

[flyonpa]

There are no rules,

In a "Normal" not Government housing, they can raise (or lower) rent as much as they want/or what the market will bear, at the renewal of your lease.

Don't like the "new" rental amount, you can try to negotiate lower, (Might work on a small landlord, but not on a corp. owned place). or Move.

[ATLTJL]

This used to always drive me crazy.

I remember when the cell phone industry worked this way, where new customers got crazy deals on phones but renewing customers got diddly. A few years after porting numbers was mandated, the cell industry finally figured out that it cost more to attract new customers than to retain existing ones, so customers at contract renewal finally started getting the same deals as new ones.

It's a concept known as "churn."

Apartments are run the same way. They raise and raise rent until you finally move out. There's a combination of things happening. First, they are trying to capitalize off the fact that most people would rather pay an extra 5% than pack up all their stuff and move. But I also don't think they really know the market value of each unit. When you move out, they will market the unit at what they think is the market rent, which is probably pretty close to what they are asking for at renewal. But if the unit sits for a while, the system will notice, and put it on "special" to move it. The trouble is, a special will never get flagged so long as the unit is occupied.

It's a strange phenomenon. The complex may have to ultimately rent the unit out for less than you are paying now, PLUS they have to pay all the costs of turning it over. Painting walls, cleaning carpets (maybe replacing them), cleaning everything....these are costs that don't exist at all if you just renew. But they still haven't really figured it out.

In my experience, rent renewals NEVER decrease. At least, I've never had it happen. I lived in a declining area once and the rental company tried to convince me to stay by only raising my rent $5.

Unfortunately, it's a sellers market, and most market rates are rising. This will slow once new inventory comes online, but your best bet is to just act like you are moving and look around at other units like yours to see what the market looks like. And then you have to decide whether you would rather move or pay more. If you rent from an individual, you can negotiate. Doing so with a corporation is possible, but much more difficult. Sometimes if you put in your notice, they will extend specials to you a couple of weeks before your move out date, but not always. And if they rent it out from under you, they won't renew even if you want to, so it's a risky game that you can only play if demand for your unit is low. Demand for most units is not low.

Hope that helps. The rental increase game is what drives a lot of people to buy.