Comments on: Rental Secrets – Getting More Value from Your Housing Dollars

By: Debbie

Debbie — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 11:26:41 +0000

In reply to Joel. Yes we sold everything we owned & retired early to another country. It's quite liberating not owning all that "stuff" anymore. Renting a small but comfortable space is great after renovating 4 homes in 16 years in the USA . No more home maintenance for us! Now we can move anytime by just packing up our 3 suitcases of clothes & 2 small dogs.

By: Joel

Joel — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 15:43:58 +0000

In reply to Debbie. Debbie you seem like the ideal tenant. A true win/win and I'm happy you seem to have a great landlord too!

By: Joel

Joel — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 15:42:48 +0000

In reply to Angie. Hi Angie, me too. I'd way rather have a steady tenant at a slightly lower rate than charge maximum and have constant turnarounds.

By: Angie

Angie — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 14:32:45 +0000

I think with COVID, our monthly rent is $4k/mo in a pretty great neighborhood in Manhattan. But due to the market situation and the landlord’s desperation, we were able to get 2 month’s free after their concessions.

I think one of the main things to keep in mind is that landlords are human beings too. They don’t want vacancy, nor do they want to throw a bunch of capex in to turn a unit. As a former landlord myself, I’d much rather if the tenants had stayed and I’d be glad to give up a few hundred bucks / month in rent for it, because it works out better both financially and mentally if a tenant stays for the long-term as opposed to flipping tenants every year.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 16:22:14 +0000

Our landlord advertised our duplex for $850 a month. We negotiated $800 per month with a one year signed lease. We pay the rent early every month in cash or depositing into the landlord’s bank account. We hang our laundry outside to dry which saves energy costs which the landlord pays (our rent includes all utilities) & we keep lights on only when needed. When the toilet broke down, we fixed it ourselves & took the $17 part we bought off our next months’ rent. Our lease expired 11/1 & our landlord didn’t raise the rent. In fact we didn’t even sign a new lease. We’re now on a month to month lease. Comparable rents are now $900 here but we remain at $800. We would like to think the landlord values us as tenants & for this reason decided not to raise the rent or have us sign another lease.