How can i fight a rent increase?
I don’t think there’s any sort of “technique” here. You need to call the management agency back, work your way up to someone with real authority if you can find them, and tell them (politely; be friendly about it) that given the current economic climate, a $100 increase just doesn’t work for you, and you’d like to see if that can be negotiated. Let them know that if it’s not up for discussion, you may not be able to renew. I would not give them a totally clear ultimatum, because then if they’re not going to do anything, it lets them start planning on getting a new tenant. Being just a little big vague is better, since it drags the process out. Even if they say “no, we can’t do anything for you,” don’t give them a hard answer until the very last possible day you have to respond by — this keeps them from making any sort of binding agreement with a new tenant, and might give you a little leverage if when you call them right at the last day, and ask one last time for a break. Whether you’r
Also, I really would not bother bringing up macroeconomic stats about the recession, unemployment, housing prices, etc. All that stuff is totally irrelevant to the negotiation at hand; the only thing that matters is the landlord’s perception of how easily/cheaply replaceable you are. If they think they can toss your carcass out on the street and find someone willing to pay $100 more per month within two weeks, out the door you go. Their perception is going to be based on highly localized, microeconomic factors that you probably don’t have access to: current vacancy rates, number of inquiries and showings, the number and quality of new applicants, plus a lot of soft psychological factors. It’s entirely possible that, owing to the building’s location or whatever, they’re not really feeling the recession, and that an 8% take-it-or-leave-it rent hike is totally in line with demand. I think that’s a little doubtful, but neither you or I can really know. But that’s not really a case you can
As someone who lives in NYC and has been paying intense attention to the real estate market, you should absolutely make a plea for no increase or a rent decrease. Yes, this goes against everything anyone has ever heard about NYC, but the times, they are a changin. The markets are taking a downturn, and the slide is just beginning. Here’s why you have an advantage at the moment… you are a known quantity. They can depend on you to pay $2400 a month, and you are already in the apartment. All it would take is for your apartment to stay empty for one month to blow any profit they would make on an increase should you decide to move. Have you noticed any other empty apartments in your building? If so take note. If they are taking longer to fill, then the landlord is already hurting. Let’s face it, a sixth floor walk-up is also a less than desirable situation. With more choice in the market, the type of apartment you live in will not be high on someone’s list. I was going to point you to tha
whoaali: The market is bad, now is the time to negotiate. Unfortunately, the market is different in different places, and the fact that the broker is calling anxiously wanting to know if the apartment is going to be available isn’t a good sign along those lines. She’s in NYC, I’m in NYC, I’m talking about NYC. This is the same crap a lot of brokers are pulling right now to try and get people to renew their leases asap because the market has changed since a lot of people last signed and many don’t realize that for once in NYC renters actually have some pull. Not a lot mind you, but it’s a far more even playing field. Even from 6 months ago things have changed drastically. I don’t have a job and in Sept. half the people I emailed about places never got back to me to even look at the place and I got turned down by 5 places before getting a sublet. When I moved in Jan/Feb, everyone was emailing back and I had tons of great offers and only one place turned me down for not having a job (in N
