How do I find a good deal on rent?

June 28, 2009 4:47 PM

How do I find a good deal on rent?

I'm currently looking for a new apartment for an early August move. I understand that a lot of the apartment buildings in the area (northern Virgina/DC) are giving people rent deals, like a cut in price or a month or two free. How do I find out if I can get a deal when I go see a place -- should I wait for the leasing office to make an offer? Do I have to seem interested in the building, but then say it's too much? Or can I ask straight out if they're having any deals? I have limited experience renting, and I don't know how to play it! Any advice would be much appreciated.

posted by katopotato to home & garden (6 comments total)

Don't be afraid to ask. "Are there any move-in specials?" "Would the rent be lower if I were to sign a long-term lease?" "Would you consider lowering the rent for someone with excellent credit [or some other desirable quality you have]?"

Also, look carefully through the classified ads or craigslist, and go look at lots of different places so you can get a sense of what's out there. You can use that knowledge as a negotiating tool. "You know, I saw a place a couple of blocks away that was comparable to this one, but the monthly rent was $X lower."
posted by kitty teeth at 5:43 PM on June 28

Do some phone research first so you know before you go: call them up and ask what incentives they have (and don't forget to ask the conditions: how long must the lease be to get the incentive. Is there a bigger incentive with a longer lease, smaller with a shorter lease?) Also check their web site for specials. Remember to check the expiration date, as these incentives are often like coupons and expire.

Just like when you buy a car, hold back what you know as long as you can, like not mentioning you have a trade in. Wait until they offer the lease and say you're only interested if incentive x applies. If they ask how you know, say you spoke with them on the telephone.

In fact, do as much as you can remotely. Download the lease, fax it, use telephone. The less face time they have with you, the better. They do this all day everyday, so when you're sitting in front of them, you're body language will give away more than what you say. Don't give them access to you in person until the very end. In fact, if you can get everything but the signature (and maybe even that) done before you ever meet them, all the better.

Always be willing to walk away, and to the extent possible, play different places off of each other: "This apartment is my preference, but this other place (don't be too specific, as they can call and verify your claim) is offering x, y, and z." When I negotiate a lease, I'm usually juggling 5-7 different rental offices. Don't worry too much about paying the $30-45 application fee 10 times over. That's money well spent in finding the best place for the best possible price.

When you do go to the leasing office, bring a "bad guy" with you and use the classic good guy-bad guy routine. The bad guy is the one that pushes back, he's the foil, the one you look to for approval when they say this or that. Better yet, use the phone and call the foil: "That sounds OK to me, but I need to talk it over with X." Be in the decision seat, but pretend you can't make the final decision without someone else's approval. Then use the approver to drive as hard a bargain as you can. This is the tactic that car dealers use all the time when negotiating price, "I need to go to my manager for that, I'll be back in one second." The manager is the bad guy, but you can be certain they're talking sports scores and not price.

Make an effort to remember that it's a negotiation. It's business. They're not your friends, so don't worry about driving as hard a bargain as you can.

Here's my best tip: Look for places that are brand spanking new, even still in construction; likewise, avoid places that have been opened for a long time. Why? It's a supply-demand issue. The more supply they have, the more willing they'll be to negotiate and offer incentives. New places go through something called a "lease up" to get the new property fully leased as fast as possible. That's when you'll find your best deal. Don't worry about the kinks in a new property. Those are seldom much worse than construction and move in noise.

I just got 3 months free (and the rest of my first month free) by doing all of the above.

I tried to get them to go for a 2-year lease at the same rate, but they wouldn't go for it. When you get a good deal (and plan to be there for a while), do your best to get that deal for as long as you can.

Read the lease, read the lease, read the lease. Make certain that everything you agreed to is in writing. Nothing they say to you is binding unless it's in the contract. In fact, there will probably be a clause in the contract saying just that (i.e. our word is not our bond unless explicitly stated herein).

Also be careful on the move in date. They might do something like they did to me: They let me move in on the 15th and said the rest of the first month would be free, but when I looked at the contract, I'm also moving out on the 15th. Those free two weeks (hundreds of dollars of promised concession) just went up in smoke.

One thing to look out for re:incentives is how they account for the incentive. They might say 2-months free, but they may do something like: "Two months free is a $2400 concession (let's say the rent is $1200), so each month of a 12-month lease, we will reduce your rent by $200. Your rent will be $1000. That's fine and dandy, until it comes to lease renewal. That's when they say, "The market tate for your until was $1200 before concession and we would like to offer you a lease renewal for $1320 (market rate + 10%)." They will use the market rate (preconcession) for the renewal + a rent increase, often a significant one. They know how much it costs to move out and they will fleece you, mark my word. That's why it's best to get any deal for as long as you can, else plan to pay or move. I assure you, a $320 increase has an impact.

I'll think of other stuff later.
posted by foooooogasm at 5:52 PM on June 28 [2 favorites]

Are you willing to rent an apartment from an owner rather than from a rental community? If you're willing to rent from the owner (or from a property manager representing the individual owner), I would go through a realtor (you can find rentals on realtor.com just to see what's on the market), establish a relationship with your realtor, and when you find some things you like, ask the realtor to negotiate for you. This saves you the awkwardness and provides the benefit of someone who has some experience negotiating these things.

I just went through this process in the NOVA/DC area (actually ended up finding the right thing in MD) and it's frustrating. I found that rent prices and quality for those prices are better on owner's units than rental communities.

I also agree with fooooogasm's points. When I lived in texas, I rented a beautiful apartment and thought I got a great deal. I was young and unwise and obviously wasn't great at forward thinking. Two months free on a 14 month lease, and the monthly rent amount was a prorated rate based on the free months. So beautiful, brand new, affordable.... then the year came to an end, I got my renewal contract. Not only was it hundreds more than I was paying with the prorated rent, there was also the typical annual increase, I cant remember the % now, but whatever it was, it was based on the original, non-prorated amount. Eeek! It was so expensive. Fortunately, I was moving out of state anyway, but if I wasn't, I would have had to spend a ton to move or, well, I'm not sure what. I certainly couldn't afford to stay in that apartment!

Good luck!
posted by necessitas at 7:10 PM on June 28

Nth-ing just go ahead and ask. Although, I was just looking at apts in the Philly area earlier this month and many of the places told me their move-in specials before I even had a chance to ask. I ended up getting a apt with a 13 month lease, with a month for free.

Also, depending on where you are looking in Northern VA (I don't know much about DC prices), it could be expensive no matter what. I loved my apartment in Arlington but had to move because I couldn't afford $1500 for a 1 bedroom. I was able to save $500 a month by moving to Maryland. This was a little over a year and a half ago, so I don't exactly know what the market is like now.

On a side note, the privately owned condo I rent in MD will be available on Sept 1 (if you can wait that long). I don't know what the owners are asking but I could give you the realtor info if you want.
posted by Nolechick11 at 8:10 AM on June 29

This was a little over a year and a half ago, so I don't exactly know what the market is like now.

I just moved from VA to MD a couple months ago, and I'm paying $550 less for much, much more and closer to DC/Metro. I don't think the specific VA location matters, I was paying a ridiculous amount before and was all the way out in sterling!
posted by necessitas at 4:23 PM on June 29

Thank you all!!
posted by katopotato at 5:42 PM on July 6