I sent a straightforward text message to my landlord to negotiate my rent down, and it worked for 3 reasons

• When my friend gave his landlord notice he was moving out, the landlord offered a rent reduction.
• This indicated an oversupply of homes in our area, so I started researching rent prices.
• I found apartments like mine priced lower, then used that as a starting point to get a 15% reduction.

A lot of personal finance talk lately has revolved around the pervasive effects of inflation. Not all prices are going up, though, and if you can identify where they aren’t, you can get the same sort of results that I did: permanently negotiating my rent down by 15%. 

Here’s how it happened.

First, a friend told me that his landlord offered him a rent reduction when he notified her that he’d be moving out. This caught my attention, since it suggested an oversupply of homes in our neighborhood was driving prices down. 

Next, I scoured the web to better understand the market. In line with what my friend had said, I found more than a few apartments similar to mine available at lower prices. 

Armed with this information, I sent my landlord this text message:

Hi [landlord], I notice that rent prices in our neighborhood have dropped quite a bit over the past few months. For example, there are several newer, larger apartments close by available at lower rents (see [link] and [link]). COVID-19 is also placing downward pressure on long-term prices for renters. 

With these things in mind, I’d like to request a 25% reduction in my rent. If you aren’t able to offer that, I understand, though I may have to make other arrangements. Thank you.

Before you call me crazy, let me say this: I know asking for a 25% rent reduction seems ridiculous at the outset. In a world where prices only seem to go up, most of us don’t even consider asking to pay less.

The thing is, I knew full well that my landlord wouldn’t accept the 25% drop. But I also knew that whatever number I suggested, he would either reject outright or come back with a counteroffer, so I decided to aim high.

An hour later, he sent me a message back offering a 15% reduction instead. I accepted it on the spot, and my rent has been 15% lower ever since.

Here are three things I did right to pull this off.

1. I timed my request correctly

Timing is everything in negotiations: I knew that if I asked at the wrong time, I would get a quick ‘No.’ Instead, I made my request when the market was flooded with available homes, giving me plenty of leverage. 

Even if the broader market isn’t moving in your favor, here are a few indicators that suggest it might be the right time to ask:

• Your building has an above-average number of vacancies
• A nearby construction project will make it difficult to find a replacement tenant 
• Large-scale financial, employment, or medical events (i.e., COVID-19) are changing moving patterns 

2. I gathered supporting data

Having data to support my stance was essential to my success; if I hadn’t sent links to similar homes for rent, my landlord might have just dismissed my request.

I specifically sought out apartments similar to mine in as many ways as possible — square footage, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, building amenities, etc. — while also being less expensive. I made sure to find places close to me so my landlord couldn’t argue that my “prime location” justified the higher rent.  

3. I offered value in other ways

Despite what you may think, you can offer value to your landlord in ways that don’t involve paying more. 

In my case, I offered to start paying my rent a few days in advance moving ahead. To make an even stronger case, you could offer to give back something like an unused parking space in exchange for a rent adjustment.

On the whole, landlords are risk-averse and like their cash flows to be guaranteed. Having a tenant move out at an inconvenient time creates a big hassle for them, and they’ll do what they can to avoid it, even if it means lowering your rent.

According to research from SmartMove, one month of vacancy costs landlords an average of $1,750, so the power is in your hands. If you get the timing right, make a compelling case with hard data, and offer additional value to your landlord in other ways, you’ve got a great shot at reducing your rent, too.