My first clients when I started my accidental business two years ago were JC and Carlie. They wanted to rent and quickly found out they had no negotiating power whatsoever. In the end they signed a two year lease for a very adorable three bedroom townhome. They have lived there, treating it as if it was their own. The rent is on time. The landlord didn't squawk when they got a 13 pound dog. The landord also put on a new garage door for them. So, win-win, right?
JC called me yesterday. He just got a notice his rent was going up $55 next month with a new lease, which is the exact amount the property taxes went up this past year. He is livid and has decided he and Carlie need to move ASAP.
And here is why I am the world's worst salesperson.
No. They don't need to move to another rental. They will spend more than $660 (the price of the yearly rental increase) in moving expenses alone. Please couple that with application fees, credit check fees, deposits and whatever else necessary to secure a new house. And by the way, it will be for a smaller home and not nearly as charming as what they have now. Plus, now they have a dog, so they will be competing for homes with people who don't have pets. Besides, they are currently paying market rent at the new rental rate so it isn't like there are super-awesome bargains out there for them to snatch. And if there were, 26 other soon-to-be-homeless folks (who probably don't have pets) will be vying for the exact same house. But what do I know?
Anyway, I set them up on an E-mail drip, letting them see all the grand and available rental homes in the East Valley. I found a whopping 8--which is 7 more than I expected. They were all smaller and in uglier parts of town--not that I can pick their neighborhood for them, but all they need to do is pay attention to see for themselves.
I suspect I won't hear back, with them begrudgingly signing another lease. They were annoyed with me last time for not going to bat for them--they got the house! And I can't imagine they will be terribly excited this time either. But they have a roof over their head and a super-cute place to call home.
You can read their tale, here: https://adventureswithrealestate.blogspot.com/2018/01/jc-master-negotiator.html
and this one too where they ripped my head off:
https://adventureswithrealestate.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-rental-lottery.html
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