Doron F. Eghbali Real Estate Law Blog on Lawyers.com

How to Lower Your Rent Now

Saturday, December 12, 2009 by Doron F. Eghbali

Thinking whether you are paying a fair rent to your landlord, the following tips help you intelligently negotiate to hopefully reduce it.

RESEARCH YOUR MARKET

The most important factor is to know how much if any negotiating room you have with your landlord. This knowledge is key in getting reasonable concessions.

Craigslist.com: You could find comparable properties on Craigslist.com. While some prices might not reflect the true rental market value, by looking at several properties, you will get a realistic picture of what other people are paying for relatively comparable properties.
RentoMeter.com: This site provides you a comparative analysis of residential rental properties.

CONSIDER YOUR QUALIFICATIONS

Think about whether you have:

Paid your rent on time;
Kept the property in a good shape; and
Not had complaints from other tenants.

If that is the case, your negotiating leverage is relatively good, since your landlord wants you to stay and has an incentive to keep you reasonably satisfied.

CONSIDER YOUR ALTERNATIVES

Think about how you could move beyond only reducing your rent. Think about:

Getting more storage space;
Getting a parking space;
Reducing your security deposit;
Including utilities in your rent.
Moving out, if the price is not reasonable and you have considered costs of moving out.

LOOK AT YOUR SURROUNDINGS

Look around you. See if your building is looking more like a ghost town. Ask questions of people moving out. Your chances are much better if people are leaving. It costs money to find new tenants and maintain an empty place while money is not coming in.

Doron Eghbali is a Partner at Beverly Hills Offices of Law Advocate Group, LLP. He Primarily focuses on Business, Real Estate and Entertainment Law. For more information: www.LawAdvocateGroup.com.

Posted at 11:32 AM

Topic: Real Estate