Feedback from Landlords & Property Management

[Ayodeji Kuponiyi]

Fellow landlords and PM, how should I respond to this text message from my tenant? My tenant texted me this morning regarding renewing his lease which ends on October. He wants to revert back to $850/month (which is what he paid on his first year)  or pay $900 on a month-to-month lease. (He paid $900/month on his 2nd year but it went up $50 more when his mother moved in the middle of the lease term.) He feels that $950 is too much for place that is "not well insulated for the winter". *SIdenote He's been renting my unit since October 2013 and I updated the windows last year December* 

I checked rentometer.com again and the $950 I'm asking is reasonable for my area for a 2 bedroom unit. I'm willing to negotiate only because he pays his rent, doesn't complain much and keeps the unit clean. What should I do?

[Edward B.]

@Ayodeji Kuponiyi ,

You have to know your market. If you are confident that you can quickly get another quality tenant in there then I would not compromise on the rent. If you are not that confident, though, then look at it from a numbers perspective. You are basically negotiating over $1200/year. That is 1.5 months rent. So if you are at all concerned that your property could sit vacant for that long then I would work with him. Maybe compromise at $900/mo, then it is only $600/year that you are giving up. In other words, less than one months vacancy.

Ed