Strengthening Leverage in a Dreaded Rent Renewal for Higher End Property

[Vance Sander]

Hi -

I have a unit that rents for around 7k -  At that rate, I find renewals to be a difficult calculation where I seem to have very little upside to raise rent much, if at all. 

Let's say I can raise rent 5% - if the tenant balks, I'm looking at a broker commission of 7k + cleanup/paint + possibly new carpet + 1-3 months of downtime until a new tenant actually moves in - $30k+ range.  If tenant says ok, I've gained $4200 - seems like I've always got a huge incentive to keep the tenant, unless they're problematic for other reasons.

Is there some other strategy or analysis I could be doing to make me feel like I have more leverage?

Thanks for any input!