....can you help him out?
My question is: "My lease is about up. My first year I got free parking and 3 months free rent. What can I expect for my renewal? Do the leasing agents have any ability to negotiate a lease or do they simply pass along corporate dictates?"
I would call and pretend that you are a prospective new resident. See what deals they are offering, and I believe they have to offer you the same terms that they offer others. I doubt the people in the office have any authority to negotiate, but I know it's more expensive for them to get a new tenant so you might make them a take-it-or-leave-it offer if it comes to that.
ReplyDeleteThere's no negoiation, it's not a used car. It's take or leave it...as is any other apartment building I've ever lived in.
ReplyDeleteVoice of Reason, I have heard that some people asking for the same deal (or something similar) and received it, and others have not. I'm not sure what the trick is to ensure you get the same deal. One of the renewals I heard of that was able to strike the same deal as when they originally signed up is friendly with one of the leasing agents.
ReplyDeleteAnony at 9:22 has a good idea. Also the web features the specials (or at least it did before).
CR,
ReplyDeleteBy law, they have to give everyone the same deal. We just renewed and received the same 'special' that everyone else renewing or leasing a new apartment is getting. If someone is claiming that they didn't receive the same discount, I'd be very, very suspicious of that claim, as that would be housing discrimination and is against the law. Melanie and the leasing staff may be off-base on some things, but they're not stupid enough to offer different people different leasing terms/rates.
From someone who renewed his lease*,
ReplyDeleteI was nominally offered some free rent + some concession on parking for a 13 month lease renewal. The consequence is that my rent would have gone up by ~150 or so. For complicated (work-related) reasons, a 13 month lease wasn't going to be good. So I asked the leasing office about a slightly (emphasis on *slightly*) shorter lease. They asked the higher-ups who agreed to do this, although the rent went up more (though still below market rate). Maybe others are more picky, but I called this good and signed the lease.
So the long and the short of it is: the leasing office doesn't make the rules, the central management does, but at least in my case they seemed reasonable.
*Yes, I completely believe that some people's experiences at JACY haven't been the best, but I really like it here. Maybe I just lucked out.
Each month has a different deal, so it is based on whatever your renewal month's deal is. However, everyone renewing in that month gets offered the same deal...regardless of the terms of their contract when initially signing up.
ReplyDeleteI just renewed and received the same deal as incoming residents do. Its not as good as the original that I had, but its not too bad. I had free parking and 3 months free. Now I have 2.5 months and $125 off parking. You'll likely get the same deal as that.
ReplyDelete@JSM3 ...
ReplyDeleteyeah, that's the same baseline deal I was offered, so it's probably their default policy.