Rental concessions while living in a place that for sale?

[gettohomes]

The owner of the condo unit I'm renting has decided to sell.

I know...renting is horrible! This is why people should buy! Blah blah blah

I found another place yesterday that I wouldn't mind moving to and is actually a better deal than what I have now...but...the owner is selling out of hardship and will still want some type of income while the place is listed as well as keep some furniture in it. The unit is in the Alexandria building and will have to compete with (currently) 6 others for sale in the building and the leftover inventory from Trio AND the new building being put up across the street that will totally block the view for both the Alexandria and Trio...in other words...it could sit on the market for a while.

Am I dreaming in thinking I could swing half price rent? Does anyone have any experience with anything like this?

Oh...and I nearly broke my phone after dropping it while laughing when they offered me first crack at buying the place I'm renting right now. Double my monthly outlay to live in the same place? Right.

[kpom]

[rose-colored-coolaid]

A couple things. First, if you have a lease I doubt you can renegotiate it now, unless the owner putting the unit up for sale somehow invalidates the agreement. Second, asking for half off is unlikely to do much for you. The owner sounds like he badly needs the cash flow, and cutting that in half would sting. Even if you threatened leaving, he might just refuse outright if he found the offer insulting.

A better move is to take the listing for the other place to him. Show him that it's X dollars less than your current place and just as nice (is it?). Explain that you dislike having an imminent move hanging over your head, and let him know that you intend to move to that other unit unless he can beat the price by some reasonable amount. Say $75 a month.

At least, that's more what I would do.

[gettohomes]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm currently month to month (so I've got until the 9th to say I'm out).

The other place I found is just as nice (and a bit larger) place and about $50 a month cheaper. I'm not sure if $150 a month is enough for me to have to deal with the constant threat that I could get a call saying "we need you to not be around for an hour tonight." And that's assuming they don't ask me to consider moving my furniture around a bit (I find gas fireplaces tacky and have my tv blocking it).

[Markor]

This is standard negotiating. Keep in mind you'll have moving costs, and/or time & effort of your own to move, and you'll have to sign a new lease at the new place. Figure out what the rent on your current place should be for you to want to stay vs. switch, call it x, subtract 10% or so (room to negotiate), and offer that with confidence & your very basic reasoning to your landlord ("after consideration, for more than this amount, I'd rather switch"). Say nothing to the landlord about what you think their reasoning should be for you to stay. If you can't agree on x or less, then switch.

[rose-colored-coolaid]

[jon]

Open the negotiations by telling the owner you are moving out. That establishes the baseline at $0/month instead of your current rent, because no one will want to move into a place with a for sale sign on it. Then you can compromise at half-way between 0 and your current rent.

[gettohomes]

That's about the stance I'm taking.

I called the property manager and said I found a place and would be making a decision to move by tomorrow afternoon. The realtor is still trying to connect with the owner to finalize their "offer" to me, but at least now they know they are close to getting nothing.

I'm not too keen on living somewhere for sale...but for half price rent...I would consider it.

[WestSideBilly]

I don't know. If I were in your shoes, I'd just let him know that I'd be moving out on the 9th and move to the other unit as soon as you have the lease signed. Half price rent doesn't seem worthwhile for the inconvenience if the unit actually were to sell.

Scenario #1: The unit closes April 25th and you have to be out by May 9th. You have 2 weeks to find a new condo. You may or may not find something comparable, at a better price, like you have now. I realize that it's unlikely the unit will sell, but time critical moveouts are the worst situation for a renter.

Scenario #2: Owner goes into foreclosure and bank shows up and tells you to be out in 48 hours.

[kpom]

BTW, here is an article from the San Francisco Chronicle called "Foreclosures leave renters in the lurch" talking about the problems renters have when their house is foreclosed upon.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... NUOE27.DTL

You want Big rent concessions to be potentially exposed to that situation.

[gettohomes]

Just as an update...I still haven't heard from the realtor what their offer to me is...but I decided to put a deposit in on another place and am planning on moving at the end of the month.

I decided my odds were pretty low of getting a significant enough rental discount to have to put up with requests to remove posters from the walls, keep the place spotless, and be told with little notice "hey, we'd like to show the place...can you get lost for an hour?". I might have considered it for half off rent since with how long the place could be on the market I could have netted a decent stack of cash. Instead...I'm just getting out of what could be an annoying situation.

If they had sold the place...I believe I would have been given 90 days to move out, and if there would have been requirements to move out quicker then there would have been cash payments. At least that's how it was hinted at when I spoke with the realtor over the phone.

[faster]

[perfectfire]

[melonleftcoast]

Just my two cents:

My husband and I turned our two-family house (duplex in PNW-speak) into condos (a VERY common practice in the Boston area). We had renters in the lower unit, and had a provision in our lease for showing the place to prospective occupants. We gave the tenants a 12% rent reduction ($150/mo) for staying while we sold the place. They ended up moving the next month anyways (they were month-to-month at that point), so maybe 12% wasn't enough of a concession.

As for your landlord being in a "hardship" situation, that is like trying to squeeze blood from a stone be reducing your rent, although it is logical that you should have a rent reduction of some sort.

Personally, I would run, not walk, to a new apartment since you may not know when the place is being foreclosed until they post it on your residence.

Also, is there anyway in Washington/Seattle for you to find out when your prospective new landlord purchased the property and what the mortgage(s) amount is? That may give you some info that will help you avoid your current situation with the owner being foreclosed, or almost foreclosed.

Good luck!

[gettohomes]

Fun update with this...

I was out of town on work travel last week and returned to find a notice of default tacked to the door. Turns out the unit owner hadn't been paying her mortgage since JULY! No wonder she decided to sell 6 weeks ago.

Thankfully I'll be moving out about 10ish days or so before the 30 days will have passed since the NOD was dated.