4 Simple Tricks To Win Over Your Landlord And Avoid Rent Increases

One of the worst parts about renting is the months leading up to the end of your lease.

This is especially true if you enjoy where you live.

Those few months before your lease is up is a mix of emotions because you don’t know if your rent is going up and if so, by how much money. And with the average rent increase of 2%, it will have an impact on most everyone’s budget.

If your rent does go up too much, you suddenly are thrust into the process of looking for a new apartment to rent, packing and unpacking, and trying to figure out how to move your belongings without breaking the bank.

Stressful times for sure.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. If you are proactive, you may be able to avoid a rent increase completely and still have your landlord on your side.

And I am going to show you how.I’ve used these tricks myself when renting an apartment to keep my rent the same for 3 years. And then when I was a landlord, my tenant used them on me to keep her rent steady for 2 straight years before relocating for a job.

In both cases, the parties involved were more than happy with the arrangement.

Here are the tricks you need to start using to have a shot at keeping your annual rent steady.

4 Tricks To Stop Your Rent From Increasing

1. Pay On Time

This one isn’t earth shattering.

But it has to be mentioned because if you are late with your payment on a regular basis none of these tricks will work in getting your rent kept steady.

So if you are guilty of any of these, you need to clean up your act now.

• You tell your landlord they will have the rent tomorrow
• Your rent is due on the 1^st of the month but you mail it in or pay it on the 5^th 
• Your landlord has to find you to get your rent payment

In all these cases, you are making more work for your landlord. The goal is to be the least needy tenant possible. To do this when it comes to your rent is to make sure the rent is paid on time. 

If your rent is due on the 1^st of the month, don’t mail the check the day before. Make sure your landlord has the check on the 1^st. Once you have a history of paying on time, then you can move on to the next trick.

2. Be A Model Tenant

I mentioned above you need to be the least needy tenant possible.

In fact, you need to be a model tenant. Don’t hound your landlord for every single issue in your apartment. Only reach out for the big issues.

For example, if a light bulb goes out, replace it yourself. If the garbage disposal is acting up, see if you can figure it out yourself first. This doesn’t mean you need to pay for a plumber to come, but take some initiative and see if you can solve the problem.

When I rented my apartment, I called my landlord once because the air conditioner stopped working.

When I was a landlord, my tenant never called me. I would get my check every month on the 1^st and would stop in from time to time to make sure things were OK, but she never bothered me.

Again, I am not saying you never call your landlord. You can and should if the problem is serious, but being the least needy tenant pays off when it comes to your rent.

3. Plant Seeds

After you start paying your rent on time and become less dependent on your landlord, it is time to plant some seeds. I’m not talking about planting a garden here.

I am talking about stealthily reminding your landlord how good they have it. When you see them, mention stories you’ve heard about a landlord who has problem tenants or talk about the headaches and stress of finding new tenants. 

Then ask if your landlord has to deal with tough tenants too. End the conversation by saying how nice it must be to have tenants who pay on time and don’t have a new problem that needs fixing every week. 

4. Talk To Your Landlord

The last step in this process is to talk to your landlord before it is time to renew your lease.

Make the conversation about how great of a landlord they are and how much you enjoy living there. Then mention how your lease is coming up and you were working on your budget.

You want to renew but want to make sure your rent isn’t going up. Then see what they say. If you followed the tricks from above, you should get away with no rent increase or a small increase.

If you end up having a large increase or even a small one, keep talking. Tell them how great of a tenant you are and you want to stay but was hoping to keep the rent the same. Be sure to mention that you understand his costs increase, but you were hoping for some flexibility.

This usually does the trick.

If it still doesn’t, ask if there is anything you could do to keep your rent steady. For example, could you sign a longer lease?

The catch here is to only offer this if you intend to stay for the entire term of the lease. Otherwise, you could end up costing yourself a lot of money.

By having this conversation ahead of time, it gives you both plenty of time to think through the advantages and disadvantages and come to an agreement.

Wrapping Up

At the end of the day, you can keep your rent steady or only see a small increase by following these tricks. They work because it costs a lot of time, energy and money to find tenants for a vacant apartment.

In addition to this, it is harder to find high quality tenants. Because of this, if you pay on time and are a model tenant, you have more leverage than you think. Any smart landlord would keep a quality tenant and their steady income over a couple extra hundred dollars by raising the rent.