Negotiating rent costs in Tampa Bay Area
TAMPA, Fla. - For renters, a good deal can be hard to find in Florida and the Tampa Bay Area.
"Rent is really high. I'm living in a one-bedroom apartment, and our rent just went up $200 a year, per month," said Melissa Cable.
"If I didn't have a husband and also his brother living with us, there is no way I could afford to rent here by myself," shared Bianca Wolverton.
"They're a little bit high down here because it's such a populated area, and it's growing," said Joe Chambers.
"The rental market has been pretty wild over the past three years. We've seen record high rent prices. And those rent prices have finally started to normalize," said Kate Terhune with Rent., a marketplace that matches renters with homes.
She said we're heading into a leasing season.
"Because there are a lot of people looking for rents right now. We're seeing vacancy rates that are higher than they were any, you know, years, even decades in some places. And so that means that today and in the next few months, renters have much more choice when it comes to finding a place to live and negotiating rent deals", said Terhune.
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She said one way you can negotiate a deal is by working out a better leasing agreement.
"If you're like, I know I want to be here for 24 months, if I can, you know, sign a 24-month deal. What kind of options can you give me from a rent price standpoint? Because people, especially property management companies, want to make sure that they're not constantly trying to find a new renter. It's very expensive to find a new renter. So, people can negotiate longer lease terms, often for better pricing," said Terhune.
Also, size up the options that are in a close area.
"For example, if there's one property that's listing it's rent prices for $2,300, but there's a very similar property, similar in age, similar in location and amenities. It's coming in at $1,900. The renter probably is going to choose the $1,900 option. However, they can go back to the $2,300 option and say, hey, look, I've got this option for $1,900. Let's talk about what you can do from a rent rate perspective," said Terhune.
See if there are some amenities you can cut.
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"If they don't have a car, but the property comes with a parking spot, they can often say, hey, look, I don't need that parking spot. Let's negotiate that out of the rent price and give me a better deal. Sometimes there's controlled access gyms. So, if you have a gym membership already, and you don't need to use one of the apartment complexes, that could be one that you could negotiate from your list," said Terhune.
So, how much could you save?
"It could be anywhere between $100 and $500. If there are a lot of open units, you probably have some more power in terms of negotiating a better rate because they've got more work to do to fill those units," explained Terhune.
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