Perhaps your financial situation changed after an unexpected event happens like COVID-19. Things change with your job, and you were furloughed, laid off, or received a pay cut. Now you can no longer afford your current lifestyle or are looking for ways to free up additional cash. Most people do not realize, but you can negotiate your rent after you signed your lease as long as you frame the negotiation right. You should never feel worried or nervous to negotiate the rent with your landlord. It’s in everyone’s interest to reach an agreement since the landlord does not want to lose you as a tenant.

Prior to COVID-19 happening, my roommates and I had to make a decision on renewing our lease. Since we loved our apartment and living with each other, we opted to renew it for another year with an increase in rent. We were not expecting the New York rental market to take a massive decline.

Months passed after renewing our lease and we noticed rental values going down in our building and the neighborhood. To make matters worse, we received pay cuts. We quickly realized that our current rent was putting a strain on our budgets.

Collectively we decided that it would best to reach out to our landlord to see if he would be willing to work with us. Before we sent the email, we did our research. We used current rental values coupled with our salary cuts to frame our negotiation. Our landlord was more than willing to work with us since it is in his best interest to keep us as tenants.

Initially, we asked if he would be willing to decrease our monthly rent. He rejected this option but proposed a counter offer. Our landlord proposed that if we keep on paying our current rent, he would give us $300 a month in credit that would reduce our finals month rent. While we may not be saving much currently, this deal gave us more than 50% off our final month’s rent.

Always remember to come prepared to the negotiation table. A solid foundation for the negotiation will get the negotiation going in the right step. Always research current values in your apartment and neighborhood. The more data, the better. Once you have a solid foundation of comparables, you should have luck negotiating.

Always have an offer and be prepared for counteroffers. Think about what your landlord would want in return. Some ideas that your landlord could like are,

• Reducing the monthly rent in exchange for a longer lease;
• Can you prepay the next few months so they don’t have to chase you for payments;
• Finishing out your current lease, but a certain amount acts as a credit towards your final month’s rent.

These are just basic ideas to get you on the right track; there are hundreds of possibilities. As long as you approach the table with something your landlord will want in return, then you will be in good shape to reduce your rent.

While results will vary from person to person, you have to decide if it’s worth pursuing. Negotiating can be tricky, but I believe it’s worth pursuing. Just remember, always be confident and have a realistic expectation. A deal where everyone wins will give you higher chances to get what you want.