The 4-step guide to negotiate a lease renewal.
April 23, 2025
Dear friends,
Last spring, one of my fave clients, Mrs. Dow Jones, the Zillenial Finance Expert, invited me to guest-write her newsletter after I helped her successfully negotiate with her landlord for a 2-year lease renewal with ZERO rent increase.
I shared with her subscribers,
My exact 4-step guide to negotiate a lease renewal with your landlord.
Here’s what I said at the time (reprinted with her blessing, of course!):
#1. Know the rental market in your neighborhood
The first step in any negotiation is knowing the market. So search your building on StreetEasy & see what similar units are going for. This will give you a sense of whether the proposed increase is them trying to bring your unit to market value or if they are shooting high.
#2. Know your options for renewing your lease
The key to negotiating is being able to walk away. But… how much exactly would that cost? Calculate how expensive moving would be (include moving company fees, possible broker fees, other building fees, etc.)
How does that number compare to your current apartment's proposed new rent?
This will allow you to come up with a counteroffer, and help you know how much you're willing (and not willing) to spend on your current place.
#3. Explain how lease renewal benefits your landlord
Similar to when you negotiate a raise and highlight your accomplishments in the workplace, when you negotiate rent you should highlight your accomplishments as a tenant.
- Have you always paid your rent on time?
- Have you taken good care of the apartment?
- No neighbor complaints?
All this will be worth mentioning. Also - remind your landlord that it costs them money to turn over the apartment (re-paint, clean etc.), and the vacancy between tenants will also cost them money.
This helped with Haley's [Mrs. Dow Jones] case SO much! He was lazy & folded. And you can ask them: do they really want to gamble with an unknown future tenant, when they already know you? Be warm and positive here and tell them you have lived here for x years, have always enjoyed a good relationship, etc. etc.
#4. Make your lease renewal case
Do NOT email your landlord. The most effective way to influence someone is in person, and the second-best way is on a phone call. If it's a building with an on-site leasing team, go to the leasing office. If you have an individual landlord (for a condo/co-op apartment), call the landlord, and start by asking these questions:
Have they enjoyed having you as a tenant?
Do they plan to continue being a landlord in the long term, or have they thought about selling it at some point in the future or moving back in?
Then bring up the comps for 3-4 similar units' market prices and how you believe the proposed new rent is too high. If moving to a new place would save you money, share that too.
Then bring up Step 3 (The Carrot.) You don't want to leave, you love it here, and you hope you can work something out so it's win-win, and the landlord gets to have ZERO vacancy and keep collecting that on-time rent payment.
You will likely not get an immediate response on your initial call/meeting but don't give up. If the landlord doesn't tell you a straight up “no”, progress has been made!
Keep following up, and not by email! You got this!