Help with renting tips to get the best price.

[urbanartist]

My husband and I are now in the position that we need to rent a new place quick. We have been renting the same house for 10+ years and took care of it for an elderly landlord that lived out of state. Now a relative wants the place and we have 30 days to move to a new place. The rents are crazy in the North Seattle area but we sort of need to be here for our child's school. The place we have to leave we heard of word of mouth and it has been so long since we looked for a place we are totally overwhelmed. I have read other posts and they mentioned they got great deals on their rentals. Are there really people out there paying 2K+ rents? If so are they crazy. Even if I had tons of money to pay those rents I wouldn't because that is such a waste. I am looking for any tips on how to negotiate a good rental price. Is it possible to negotiate with Property Management companies? We have a great rental history to negotiate with so that is in our favor. Any renting wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

[Markor]

I think it's standard negotiating. Look on craigslist and drive around the neighborhood to find rentals. If it looks like a good deal compared to other rentals, that's probably the best price. If you like a place that seems priced too high, demand a discount, if only based on your excellent rental history. For example, say the place is $1500. Say, "My references will show that I've paid on time and been a great tenant for the past 10 years. Will you take $1300?" Landlord says "I'd take $1450". You say "I'd pay $1350". And so on.

I prefer landlords that don't have many properties and want to be a landlord (not just renting because they can't sell). These people seem to appreciate a good tenant the most.

You can negotiate with property management companies; they may need to refer to the owner. In this economy you can negotiate for sneakers at the mall (I've seen it done).

I wouldn't expect to pay $2K in North Seattle, but I'm not sure. I've read that it's best to rent in the middle of the month. That's when landlords fear that they'll be vacant for another month, and the month-end competition isn't there.

[urbanartist]

Thank you for the good advice. So far we have seen a couple of decent places. I have come across several scams where the owner is in Africa on mission work ....not likely. I have also seen a few places that are being rented by greedy real estate people that just want to make easy cash (on complete dumps) until the market rebounds and they can make a killing. Then there are the fantasy rentals that people over extended themselves and expect renters to pay their mortgage.