How to best negotiate living alone with my landlords?
January 2, 2021 8:30 AM
I currently live alone in a 3-floor townhome (the whole unit is furnished). Had a roommate for a short time previously, had no issues at all, but they moved out in late November. I've been alone since then, and don't think I want to have a roommate again. How would you recommend I negotiate this with my landlords? More details inside.
As in my past question, I chose the deaf house. I was able to negotiate the rent. I have the master bedroom, my own ensuite bathroom, and a free parking pass, should I decide to get a car. The commute to the Metro hasn't been bad at all—I've switched to working at home and will do so through the spring, so it's not been a big issue at all.
When I moved in, I had a roommate who was in another bedroom, using an adjorning bathroom. He was Deaf like me, and nice. We didn't have any issues, and got along very well. He was an ideal roommate. Unfortunately, he moved out in late November because of a job change, and I continued to live here alone. My rent wasn't changed, and I grew to love living alone. I basically have 3 floors all to myself. My landlords mentioned they would do a search for other roommates to fill both bedrooms, but it's not clear to me whether or not they actually initiated a search, as the FB group they advertised my room in originally does not have any new posts, and there seems to be nothing on Craigslist, so far anyway.
So, I was thinking about potentially negotiating with my landlords and asking them if I could continue to live alone. Here's several aspects of the situation.
-I pay $1250, which includes utilities/Wi-Fi. The whole townhouse is furnished, including all three bedrooms and living room/kitchen.
-I am on a month-to-month agreement, not a yearly lease.
-It might be hard to find a roommate, given COVID and this being generally (pre- and post-COVID) a slow time of year for moving in general.
-There does not seem to be a sense of urgency on my landlords' end so far, to find 1-2 more roommates.
-My landlords do not live here. They get mail and other items here, but they live in a neighboring state (so potential tax credits for them, which saves them money?).
-I'm seriously thinking about getting a car, which would mean monthly payments plus insurance. Keeping my rent at $1250 is the most ideal situation, but I am open to some negotiation.
The rough gist I got from my previous roommate was that my landlords had some bad experiences with previous tenants, so perhaps that's contributing to not immediately finding other tenants? That roommate lived alone in the house before I moved in for 1-2 months. I always communicate timely and pay on time, so they might favor having just one tenant, than go through the hassle of background checks, negotiating with another tenant, etc. My landlords had mentioned a couple of times how they appreciate my help/timely responses and me as a tenant in general.
So, to negotiate, I was thinking about offering to up my rent a bit (say, maybe $1400-1500 a month), to "lock in" the house for myself. I'm not sure what their monthly mortgage payments are, and I know they have a HOA bill that's around $100 per month, but it's a modern (early 2010s) "smart home" with LEDs, etc., so I assume utilities are quite reasonable, especially with just me living here currently. The other bedrooms are being offered at $700-900 each. The landlords mentioned they might move back after COVID settles down, and convert the first floor rec room into a bedroom for themselves. Would it be worth upping my rent to "lock in" living alone for the foreseeable future?
I'd really love to continue living alone. It gets lonely sometimes, but the benefits far outweigh the cons—no roommate drama or the associated anxiety that comes with it.
How would you suggest I approach and negotiate this with my landlords?
As in my past question, I chose the deaf house. I was able to negotiate the rent. I have the master bedroom, my own ensuite bathroom, and a free parking pass, should I decide to get a car. The commute to the Metro hasn't been bad at all—I've switched to working at home and will do so through the spring, so it's not been a big issue at all.
When I moved in, I had a roommate who was in another bedroom, using an adjorning bathroom. He was Deaf like me, and nice. We didn't have any issues, and got along very well. He was an ideal roommate. Unfortunately, he moved out in late November because of a job change, and I continued to live here alone. My rent wasn't changed, and I grew to love living alone. I basically have 3 floors all to myself. My landlords mentioned they would do a search for other roommates to fill both bedrooms, but it's not clear to me whether or not they actually initiated a search, as the FB group they advertised my room in originally does not have any new posts, and there seems to be nothing on Craigslist, so far anyway.
So, I was thinking about potentially negotiating with my landlords and asking them if I could continue to live alone. Here's several aspects of the situation.
-I pay $1250, which includes utilities/Wi-Fi. The whole townhouse is furnished, including all three bedrooms and living room/kitchen.
-I am on a month-to-month agreement, not a yearly lease.
-It might be hard to find a roommate, given COVID and this being generally (pre- and post-COVID) a slow time of year for moving in general.
-There does not seem to be a sense of urgency on my landlords' end so far, to find 1-2 more roommates.
-My landlords do not live here. They get mail and other items here, but they live in a neighboring state (so potential tax credits for them, which saves them money?).
-I'm seriously thinking about getting a car, which would mean monthly payments plus insurance. Keeping my rent at $1250 is the most ideal situation, but I am open to some negotiation.
The rough gist I got from my previous roommate was that my landlords had some bad experiences with previous tenants, so perhaps that's contributing to not immediately finding other tenants? That roommate lived alone in the house before I moved in for 1-2 months. I always communicate timely and pay on time, so they might favor having just one tenant, than go through the hassle of background checks, negotiating with another tenant, etc. My landlords had mentioned a couple of times how they appreciate my help/timely responses and me as a tenant in general.
So, to negotiate, I was thinking about offering to up my rent a bit (say, maybe $1400-1500 a month), to "lock in" the house for myself. I'm not sure what their monthly mortgage payments are, and I know they have a HOA bill that's around $100 per month, but it's a modern (early 2010s) "smart home" with LEDs, etc., so I assume utilities are quite reasonable, especially with just me living here currently. The other bedrooms are being offered at $700-900 each. The landlords mentioned they might move back after COVID settles down, and convert the first floor rec room into a bedroom for themselves. Would it be worth upping my rent to "lock in" living alone for the foreseeable future?
I'd really love to continue living alone. It gets lonely sometimes, but the benefits far outweigh the cons—no roommate drama or the associated anxiety that comes with it.
How would you suggest I approach and negotiate this with my landlords?
Why would your landlord care, if you're paying full rent? Why would you offer to pay more? I would simply tell them you don't want roommates right now, is that cool?
posted by tiny frying pan at 8:38 AM on January 2, 2021
posted by tiny frying pan at 8:38 AM on January 2, 2021
If each person pays for a room then I misunderstood.
posted by tiny frying pan at 8:39 AM on January 2, 2021
posted by tiny frying pan at 8:39 AM on January 2, 2021
As a former landlord, I would estimate that the value of having to deal with only one tenant vs. three separate ones would be worth 10%, maybe 15% at most. So if they could get $1,600 for the two other rooms together, you would need to pay an extra $1,360 to $1,440 per month to make them whole. You would more than double your current rent.
If you don't *need* three whole bedrooms of space, but rather you just want to live alone, I'm certain you could find a 1BR somewhere for less than $2,690!
posted by mccxxiii at 8:50 AM on January 2, 2021
If you don't *need* three whole bedrooms of space, but rather you just want to live alone, I'm certain you could find a 1BR somewhere for less than $2,690!
posted by mccxxiii at 8:50 AM on January 2, 2021
Reading your question, it sounds like these rooms are leased separately and additional roommates would be paying rent similar to what you’re currently paying.
I’m sorry, but I can’t see any reason why your landlords would be interested in negotiating with you here. Unless you’re willing to rent those extra rooms for something very close to market value, your landlord is going to want to find new tenants as quickly as possible. If you don’t want to have roommates and can’t afford to rent the entire house, I unfortunately think you need to start looking for a new place to live.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 8:50 AM on January 2, 2021
I’m sorry, but I can’t see any reason why your landlords would be interested in negotiating with you here. Unless you’re willing to rent those extra rooms for something very close to market value, your landlord is going to want to find new tenants as quickly as possible. If you don’t want to have roommates and can’t afford to rent the entire house, I unfortunately think you need to start looking for a new place to live.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 8:50 AM on January 2, 2021
There is zero chance of this happening unless you make it worth it for the landlord, which it sounds as though you can’t or wouldn’t be willing to do.
posted by slkinsey at 9:04 AM on January 2, 2021
posted by slkinsey at 9:04 AM on January 2, 2021
The best way to start this conversation is to ask them what they would need from you, in terms of rent, in order for you to continue living there alone. When they come back with a dollar amount, you can negotiate from there, as long as you don't low-ball them. So, using the $700 figure for each of the bedrooms (assuming they start low and don't immediately want $900 each for both rooms), that's $2650. Keep in mind that it is reasonable for them to want that much in rent for that townhouse. It's entirely possible that that is their monthly mortgage for the townhouse and going any lower means them losing money each month. You could counter at $2150 ($500 less than that imaginary figure) but I personally wouldn't go lower than that.
In all honesty, you're probably not going to be able to live there alone, especially not at the price you want. They might, maybe, agree to something lower than $2650 (or whatever their actual mortgage is or whatever market price for your area is) but I doubt it. There's no harm in asking that first question, you just need to be prepared for whatever their response will be.
posted by cooker girl at 9:21 AM on January 2, 2021
In all honesty, you're probably not going to be able to live there alone, especially not at the price you want. They might, maybe, agree to something lower than $2650 (or whatever their actual mortgage is or whatever market price for your area is) but I doubt it. There's no harm in asking that first question, you just need to be prepared for whatever their response will be.
posted by cooker girl at 9:21 AM on January 2, 2021
It's worth talking to them. Two data points in support: 1) As a former landlord myself, I did negotiate downward the rent for a tenant who reliably paid the rent, was not a pain in the ass, and was in a unit that was harder to rent. 2) My mom's landlord reduced her rent for her when she retired because he was so grateful to have a tenant who reliably paid the rent and was not a pain in the ass, despite that her house is easy to rent. Similar houses in her neighborhood are now renting for literally twice as much as she pays, but he still hasn't raised her rent because he likes her. Any time you're negotiating, it's worth asking for what you want. You just never know.
posted by HotToddy at 9:25 AM on January 2, 2021
posted by HotToddy at 9:25 AM on January 2, 2021
As others have pointed out above, your landlords are taking a big financial hit in keeping those rooms empty, and it would make no financial sense whatsoever for them to accept the offer you have outlined. HOWEVER...it's curious that the rooms haven't already been filled. It sounds like, for some personal reason of their own, they have been avoiding the hassle of finding additional tenants. That may give you some small amount of room to negotiate.
I would suggest starting by asking your landlords about their intentions. I'd suggest something like this: "Because of COVID risks, I have really appreciated not having another tenant for the past couple of months. I'm wondering what your plans and timeline are for those empty rooms -- are you open to leaving them empty for a while longer?" They may tell you that they're not planning to fill it anytime soon, that they're planning on doing it at some point soon, or that they've already booked someone. Depending on what you hear from them, you can make an offer or not. Be aware that, unless they're already open to leaving the rooms empty, you're unlikely to be able to offer them enough money to make it worthwhile to them to do so. You'll be offering a token amount, and they will only take it if they can afford to (and want to) do you a favor.
Be prepared to move at some point if you'd truly like to live alone. Your current house isn't set up for solo living, and will likely return to a multi-tenant situation eventually, even if you do negotiate a brief solo period.
posted by ourobouros at 9:30 AM on January 2, 2021
I would suggest starting by asking your landlords about their intentions. I'd suggest something like this: "Because of COVID risks, I have really appreciated not having another tenant for the past couple of months. I'm wondering what your plans and timeline are for those empty rooms -- are you open to leaving them empty for a while longer?" They may tell you that they're not planning to fill it anytime soon, that they're planning on doing it at some point soon, or that they've already booked someone. Depending on what you hear from them, you can make an offer or not. Be aware that, unless they're already open to leaving the rooms empty, you're unlikely to be able to offer them enough money to make it worthwhile to them to do so. You'll be offering a token amount, and they will only take it if they can afford to (and want to) do you a favor.
Be prepared to move at some point if you'd truly like to live alone. Your current house isn't set up for solo living, and will likely return to a multi-tenant situation eventually, even if you do negotiate a brief solo period.
posted by ourobouros at 9:30 AM on January 2, 2021
Personally, I would stay quiet and try to fly under the radar. They are probably too overwhelmed to deal with renting the other rooms out and are just avoiding thinking about it. If you push, and really remind them how much money they are losing, it might spur them to take action and fill the rooms. I think what you're planning to offer is going to be insulting and not do you any favors. Good luck.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 9:32 AM on January 2, 2021
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 9:32 AM on January 2, 2021
I would be careful about bringing it up, as it may just serve to focus them on how much money they're leaving on the table. But if you do, I'd ask what they think their timing will be for re-renting first. The most likely cause for delay is the landlords' possible desire to move back after COVID settles down. You wouldn't want to offer money for them to do what they're already planning to do. Or if they sound on the fence, you could offer it to try to tip them over the edge.
The other most likely reasons are that they are always slow about this or just didn't think they'd get good tenants over the holiday. If you think about it, "going through the hassle of background checks, negotiating with another tenant, etc." vs $700-900 on an ongoing basis, is not much effort, so that explanation doesn't hold water. Most likely they were just busy over the holidays or are still deciding what to do with the rooms.
posted by slidell at 9:38 AM on January 2, 2021
The other most likely reasons are that they are always slow about this or just didn't think they'd get good tenants over the holiday. If you think about it, "going through the hassle of background checks, negotiating with another tenant, etc." vs $700-900 on an ongoing basis, is not much effort, so that explanation doesn't hold water. Most likely they were just busy over the holidays or are still deciding what to do with the rooms.
posted by slidell at 9:38 AM on January 2, 2021
I wouldn't say a damn thing and just enjoy the peace and quiet while you have it. You don't want them to start dwelling on the money they're missing out on and to start taking action again e.g. potentially selling. Silence is good.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 9:45 AM on January 2, 2021
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 9:45 AM on January 2, 2021
Another vote for saying nothing, and enjoying your good fortune while you can (which based on what you've written/COVID, is likely for at least another few months). Based on your previous post, you're already getting a deal from their asking price of $1500.
One thing to add: while I don't think it's reasonable to expect to just pay an extra $150-$250 to have a whole 3br house to yourself, if/when your landlords do start actively looking for new housemates, since they like you, it can't hurting asking if they'd let you meet potential housemates and influence who gets the rooms.
posted by coffeecat at 11:34 AM on January 2, 2021
One thing to add: while I don't think it's reasonable to expect to just pay an extra $150-$250 to have a whole 3br house to yourself, if/when your landlords do start actively looking for new housemates, since they like you, it can't hurting asking if they'd let you meet potential housemates and influence who gets the rooms.
posted by coffeecat at 11:34 AM on January 2, 2021
I would take everyone else's advice to just lay low, and not talk to your LL at all.
In the meantime, I'd also make a Craigslist filter (or another apartment searching site) for what your dream living situation would be like for living totally alone; it can even mail you new listings that meet those criteria. I was starting the apartment search myself, when COVID hit - so now I get listings emailed to me every day.
That way, when something perfect comes along, you can leap at it - and not worry about the stress of possible future roommates.
posted by spinifex23 at 12:59 PM on January 2, 2021
In the meantime, I'd also make a Craigslist filter (or another apartment searching site) for what your dream living situation would be like for living totally alone; it can even mail you new listings that meet those criteria. I was starting the apartment search myself, when COVID hit - so now I get listings emailed to me every day.
That way, when something perfect comes along, you can leap at it - and not worry about the stress of possible future roommates.
posted by spinifex23 at 12:59 PM on January 2, 2021
From the perspective of a landlord with a single rental property, I might choose to let the extra rooms go empty for my own reason but I would feel offended if a tenant asked me to commit to leave them empty while paying me less than half of the total income. There is a number that would work - the benefit of a single, very reliable tenant is worth something but how much it is worth will depend in part on how much I need the income from the property. (Not just is the property covering its own expenses but do I need the income to help pay my other bills). A vote for NOT asking since an extra $250 a month comes nowhere near replace a reasonable part of the lost income and might be seen as controlling or insulting by the landlord.
posted by metahawk at 2:11 PM on January 2, 2021
posted by metahawk at 2:11 PM on January 2, 2021
Thanks for the reality check. I really appreciate all the different perspectives.
A quick note of clarification: It was never intentional on my end to offer an "insultingly" low payment; or seem controlling. I was simply trying to find a way that would work for all. I do not know their mortgage payments, but I do know they've owned this home for quite some time now, so that, combined with the general vibe of no urgency/no immediate need to fill the rooms I'm getting from them, I supposed that they might be okay with just me staying there, as long as I paid a bit higher rent. I could be completely off-base here, though.
I do agree with sm1tten that it would be best to first find out their intentions and to see what they need/want. For all I know, this could not be a concern and they're doing okay, and can continue to do okay without additional roommates. I have no way of knowing unless I ask.
With that said, I do appreciate and like the advice of just waiting and staying under the radar, so to speak. I think I'll do that. I like knowing what to expect, and being more in control of my living situation, but it might serve me better just to sit and wait, then IF they start a conversation, then I can figure out what to do from there.
posted by dubious_dude at 6:35 PM on January 2, 2021
A quick note of clarification: It was never intentional on my end to offer an "insultingly" low payment; or seem controlling. I was simply trying to find a way that would work for all. I do not know their mortgage payments, but I do know they've owned this home for quite some time now, so that, combined with the general vibe of no urgency/no immediate need to fill the rooms I'm getting from them, I supposed that they might be okay with just me staying there, as long as I paid a bit higher rent. I could be completely off-base here, though.
I do agree with sm1tten that it would be best to first find out their intentions and to see what they need/want. For all I know, this could not be a concern and they're doing okay, and can continue to do okay without additional roommates. I have no way of knowing unless I ask.
With that said, I do appreciate and like the advice of just waiting and staying under the radar, so to speak. I think I'll do that. I like knowing what to expect, and being more in control of my living situation, but it might serve me better just to sit and wait, then IF they start a conversation, then I can figure out what to do from there.
posted by dubious_dude at 6:35 PM on January 2, 2021
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posted by anansi at 8:37 AM on January 2, 2021