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"The ads will tell you some things about the
softness of the market or the hardness of it," says Sacks.
"Last month's rent free, pool, workout room at no extra charge,
no security deposit -- these are clues that the market is soft and
that the landlord is offering concessions."
You can also tell, if you're a
tenant who's renewing, what your landlord is thinking.
"For existing tenants, there is no rent increase
or a small rent increase," Sacks says. Those are all hints
that property management is struggling to keep the building rented.
Even if rents in your area are rising, as Sacks says
they are in Chicago, recognize that you have value as a known quantity.
"If you are a current renter, your status is
better for negotiating than as a prospective renter, regardless
of the market."
Some easing seen -- in some
places
In the San Francisco Bay area, rents are down from dot-com-craze
levels, though the price to actually buy a place continues its ascent
through the stratosphere.
Some renters in some cities might be pleasantly surprised,
and some landlords may be feeling the effects of fewer renters after
a long building boom.
"In the last month, I've talked with quite a
few landlords who are saying, 'What's going on? How come I don't
have a waiting list anymore?'" says Hunter Belagard, a landlord
user-support technician at Housing Connections, in Portland, Ore.,
a nonprofit that connects tenants with landlords offering affordable
housing.
"I get a feeling that the people I'm talking
with who are getting nervous are mom-and-pop individual investors
and not the large management companies."
For those thinking they can snag a Portland rental
bargain, that's not happening yet. "Since September 2004, things
have been pretty consistent," he says.
"I haven't seen a huge rise in rental prices,
not anything dramatic," though home-sale price tags are "definitely
rising."
Mom and pop are often better
You might want to consider who your landlord is. Sometimes, an individual
landlord is better for the tenant than a huge management company.
"In some ways, you're better off with a mom-and-pop
who's informed and savvy," says Portman. "They're in a
position, if they're hands-on managers, to know that a tenant is
good, and they know that if they lose her, they could get someone
who's not good."
It can be harder to negotiate with a huge corporation.
"The really big places -- outfits that have thousands
of units -- they have a standard lease. And the leasing agent on
the ground doesn't have the power to change the lease. They pride
themselves on having one lease for several states. It's very vanilla,"
she says.
An ad can clue you in and tell you if the landlord
is an individual or a conglomerate. Free rent often means a corporation,
because few mom-and-pops can afford that.
Many properties listed for rent in a single ad, an
office number with extensions or a corporate logo can mean less
negotiation room.
Try a rate-adjustment clause
If you do decide to negotiate, you might be able to add language
to the lease that will cushion you in a rapidly dropping market.
"If you are pretty sure that you're on the downward part of
the cycle, you probably want some assurance that your rent will
go down as market rates go down," Portman says.
"You might want a clause in your lease
saying it will adjust as rents go down. Landlords have that for
when rents escalate. That gives you the protection. A landlord would
be wise to think of that if he agrees with you that it's trending
downward," she says.
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