Renter changes mind and stay at low rent?

Question

My tenant of 2 years gave notice to vacate , so I offered her a lease at 900 a month , which is $200 less than her current rent. ( she’s alone now, and I was afraid of a vacancy. ,) but She said no renewal .
So i advertised the house and got many people interested for $1100 .
but now because of Covid , she wants to stay for 900 .
she’s a great tenant , but I’ll lose

$ 2400 a year in rent with her lower rate

Would it be unreasonable to ask her for more , maybe 1000, even though I sent her the new lease for 900? Nothing signed yet .
Thanks

$ 2400 a year  in rent with her lower rate

Would it be unreasonable to ask her for more , maybe 1000, even though I sent her the new lease for 900? Nothing signed yet . Thanks

Robert Crowley · Answer

She said "No" to your offer of reduced rent. I don't think you owe her anything after that, legally or ethically. Explain that after that, you advertised the place and have interest from people at her current rent. She can rent at the current rate and save the time, labor, and expense of moving.

Diane Sibilia · Answer

just a thought , you are not losing 2400, just a potential, how much for move out , reprep property time and cost,  and lookers are not keepers, you know her history, offer m2m for now and screen lookers, how much of loss can be written off? due to disaster?, just a month of tenant overturn negates loss,if rerent at 1000/m, how much could you loose if bad tenant comes in

Marci Stein · Answer

Update - She can’t pay more than 900 and is planning to move. I am fine with that she’s not worth losing 2400 a year . Thanks to everyone who helped me see that

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Any time you present an offer, I recommend a deadline. You offered, the tenant rejected it, so move on and find a new renter that will pay you market rate.

You need to save up a reserve so you can stop making decisions based on fear.

Your new tenant will pay $200 more than your current tenant was paying. That's an extra $2,400 a year. Save up that extra amount and you'll have a reserve capable of sustaining you for two months of vacancy.

Mary M. · Answer

Offer her the place at 1k/mo. This will keep this good tenant and increase the rent.

Remember that vacancy is the killer of profit.  Plus you have no idea what the next tenant may bring.

Stephen J Davis · Answer

You made a decision based on fear. "I was afraid of vacancy." Please do not ever do that again. Fear leads to the dark side. LOL. I would not let her stay. Get her out and get someone in there that will pay full rent. This will eliminate your fear when you see how easy it is to lease your property at full price. Good luck.

Michael Robbins · Answer

Did she provide a written notice to vacate?  If so, then I believe you are in a strong negotiating position because you can state that you already placed the home on the market at the $1100 rate.  You may not be able to require her (or not want to in order to be reasonable during this difficult time) to move due to covid but maybe keep her on month to month.

Marci Stein · Answer

Thanks everyone for your insight-  it’s so helpful and that’s why I love bigger pockets!

Mark F. · Answer

@Marci Stein I'd compromise, let her know that since she declined you had listed the property for $1100 a month and you have several people interested in it at that rate, even show her the listing/responses if you'd like to show her you're not bluffing. Tell her at this point you'd come down from that rate and she can stay but rent will be $1000 a month, she will accept it or not and move. You will save the turn over costs (paint, cleaning, minor repairs, carpet cleaned, etc) and will most likely be a wash for the year all said and done plus you already know the tenant, how she pays, how she takes care of he property and more times then not that is better then the unknown....

Just my thoughts.

Mark

Jhon Restrepo · Answer

Go for 1k , better devil u know that the one u dont know, especially in a rough area.

Renter changes mind and stay at low rent?

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