30% decrease in rent?

[Monica P.]

My lease will be up in November and I’m wanting to renegotiate my rent when the time comes. I currently rent an efficiency house in Midland, TX with no dishwasher, no disposal and no washer/dryer hookups for $900/month plus utilities. The only thing that’s included in the rent is water.

With everything happening and Midland being a very oil-dependent town, I’ve noticed apartment vacancies with much lower rent than what I’m paying plus better amenities. These apartments will have dishwasher, disposal and washer/dryer hookups or laundry facilities on site for $650-700/month. These are located 4-6 miles away so it’s not far from where I am.

Since these places are offering $700 for this extra stuff, would asking my landlord to lower the rent to $600-650 be unreasonable? Side note: this place is not nice by any means and there’s holes everywhere. I had the house sprayed on Monday and the exterminator said I’m getting bugs because the house is “very porous”.

I’m an excellent tenant and always pay my rent on the 1st. Never been late and the only thing I’ve asked him to fix are the two giant holes in the side of the house. Two other exterminators said those need to get fixed because squirrels can get in. The landlord acknowledged they needed to be fixed but it still hasn’t been done.

The only reason I like this house is because it’s 3 blocks away from my work. But I will move if it means I can save $200-300 a month.

Opinions/thoughts/comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[Jay Hinrichs]

you should move.. why live in a rat trap like that when you can get a nice apartment with all the amenties.. these seems like a no brainer.