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Midnight Snack: $100?!?!?…How about I give you $25…
With the economy on a downward spiral for the last 3 years or so, graduates were supposedly leaving school at probably one of the worst possible economic times in recent history. There was talk about how hard it would be to find a job, and how competitive getting into graduate school would be due to the volume of people applying for very few slots. What conversations didn’t happen as often as they should have, were those about the good that would come out of this supposed “bad” time. Never fear though, because I am here to hook you up!
One of the best things about this economy is there is a lot of flexibility in negotiations. A lot of recent graduates move out on their own after school and there is no better time to do that than now. What many people don’t know is a lot of renters, landlords and management companies are willing to negotiate your rent. There is the price that they would like you to pay, but a lot of apartments have been vacant for some time and whether the apartment is vacant or not, the owner still has a mortgage to pay. A lot of times, they would rather have a responsible tenant in the apartment paying less than what the asking price is, than have it empty and collecting no rent at all.
So here is where those awesome negotiating skills you learned in undergrad come in. When you are looking for a place, keep your options open. If you see a place that you like, ask the owner or management company if there is room to negotiate the rent. You put in an offer and if they accept it, great, if not you keep it moving.
I had already been in my place for 3 years when I found out that this was an option. I thought negotiating was only possible when you are buying a place, but when my lease was up for renewal I negotiated a rate. Every year you renew your lease, it goes up a percentage. I was able to get them to keep my rent at what I had been paying without the percentage increase and that’s a win in my book!
Remember: Just ask! The worse they can say is no, but if they say yes, you get a fantastic apartment for a price that may not have been available 5 years ago.
