Apartment lease renewal - is this rate increase normal?
"Should you negotiate? Yes, what harm can it possibly do? The landlord is unlikely to come back and say ""Because you tried to negotiate, I'm putting the rent up by 10% instead."", or to evict a paying tenant merely because they tried to negotiate. Is the proposed rent increase ""normal""? Yes. Landlords will generally try to get as high a rent as they can." There could be a number of reasons for a rent increase. The only information I can offer is how I calculate what rent I will charge. The minimum I would ever charge per unit (Mortgage payment + Water) / Number of units This number is the minimum because it's what I need to keep afloat.  Keep in mind these are ballpark numbers The target rent ((Mortgage payment + Water) / Number of units)*1.60 I mark up the price 60% for a few reasons. First, the building needs a repair budget. That money has to come from somewhere. Second, I want to put away for my next acquisition and third I want to make a profit. These get me close to my rental price but ultimately it depends on your location and the comparables in the area. If my target rent is 600 a month but the neighbors are getting 700-800 for the same exact unit I might ask more. It also depends on the types of units. Some of my buildings, all of the units are identical. Other buildings half of the units are bigger than the other half so clearly I wouldn't charge a equal amount for them. Ultimately you have to remember we're not in the game to lose money. I know what my renters are going to pay before I even put an offer in on a building because that's how I stay in business. It might go up over the years but it will always outpace my expenses for that property. "There has been almost no inflation during 2014-2015. do you mean rental price inflation or overall inflation? Housing price and by extension rental price inflation is usually much higher than the ""basket of goods"" CPI or RPI numbers. The low levels of these two indicators are mostly caused by technology, oil and food price deflation (at least in the US, UK, and Europe) outweighing other inflation. My slightly biased (I've just moved to a new rental property) and entirely London-centric empirical evidence suggests that 5% is quite a low figure for house price inflation and therefore also rental inflation. Your landlord will also try to get as much for the property as he can so look around for similar properties and work out what a market rate might be (within tolerances of course) and negotiate based on that. For the new asked price I could get a similar apartment in similar condos with gym and pool (this one doesn't have anything) or in a way better area (closer to supermarkets, restaurants, etc). suggests that you have already started on this and that the landlord is trying to artificially inflate rents. If you can afford the extra 5% and these similar but better appointed places are at that price why not move? It sounds like the reason that you are looking to stay on in this apartment is either familiarity or loyalty to the landlord so it may be time to benefit from a move." Yes, automatic rate increases are typical in my experience (and I think it's very greedy, when it's based on nothing except that your lease is up for renewal, which is the situation you are describing). Yes, you should negotiate. I've had success going to the apartment manager and having this conversation:  Make these points: Conclude: I am not open to a rate increase, though I will sign a renewal at the same rate I am paying now. This conversation makes me very uncomfortable, but I try not to show it. I was able to negotiate a lease renewal at the same rate this way (in a large complex in Sacramento, CA).  If you are talking to a manager and not an owner, they will probably have to delay responding until they can check with the owner. The key really is that they want to keep units rented, especially when units are staying empty. Empty units are lost income for the owner. It is the other empty units that are staying empty that are the huge point in your favor. What happened in the past, the rent you paid last year, is in the past.  You shouldn't be concerned with the percentage increase, but with whether you want that apartment at the new rent for the coming year.  If your rent had been half what it was last year and the new proposal were to double it, you would be outraged at the doubling, but really you got a steal last year.   Going forward, you have three options.  You can accept the new rent, you can decline it and move, or you can try to negotiate a better rate.  It sounds like the landlord is hoping you will find the hassle of moving enough to accept the new rent.  If you do negotiate, you should know what your preferred alternative is, which you should use to set your walkaway point.  If you make a counterproposal, it is often useful to show what a comparable apartment is renting for to justify the rent you suggest. "If it is true that for the same price, you could get a better place (or that for a lower price you could get an equivalent place), you should do some soul-searching to decide what monetary value you would place on the hassle of moving to such an alternative.  You should then negotiate aggressively for a rent that is no more than the rent of the alternative place plus your hassle costs, and if the landlord does not meet your price, you should refuse to renew your lease, and instead move out to an alternative.  (Of course, you might also want to double-check your research to ensure you really can get such a good alternative, and that your new landlords won't try a similar bait-and-switch and force you to move again in a year.) Barring local ordinances such as rent control laws, I don't think it's worth it to worry about whether the increase is ""normal"".  If you can get a better deal somewhere else, then what your landlords are asking is too much.  If you have a good relationship with them on a personal level you may be able to tell them this in a nice way and thus get them to make a more reasonable offer.  Otherwise, the landlords will learn that their expectations are unreasonable when all their tenants move out to cheaper places." I think people are missing the most obvious thing.  The yearly rate increases are just part of the landlord schtick and it is good business for them.  My grandmother owned several large apartment complexes.  She would raise rates for any resident that had been there between 1-5 years by 5-7% a year.  Even when she had vacancies and property values didn't go up.  For the following reasons: So yes it is not only normal but just part of the business.  If there are better apartments for less money I suggest you move there.  Soon those other apartments will even out and if they are better they will be much more.  So if you see a gap take advantage of it.  If you would rather stay, then simply say you will not pay the increase.  There is no use arguing about why.  The landlord will either be OK with it or say no.  Probably the biggest factors include whether you will tell other tenants (or their perception if you would) and how good of a tenant/risk they feel you are. Absolutely yes. Just because a lease provides an option for renewal does not mean that a tenant cannot try to re-negotiate for better terms. You should always negotiate the rent. And start this conversation as soon as possible. Offer to pay three months’ rent in advance (of course, if you have enough means).
A Lease is an entirely different way of getting a car. In two situations it makes sense, in all other scenarios it generally doesn't make sense to lease. In the case of always wanting a new car every 2 or 3 years it can make sense to lease. Of course if you drive more the allowed miles you will pay extra at the end of the lease. If you can take the monthly lease as a business expense leasing makes sense. Otherwise you want to pay cash, or get financing. Does zero percent make sense? Sometimes. The only way to make sense of the numbers is to start with your bank, have them approve of the loan first. Then armed with the maximum loan amount they will give you and the rate and the length of the loan, then visit the dealer. You have to run the numbers for your situation. It depends on your income, your other expenses, your credit score, your bank, what deal the dealership is running, how much you have for a down payment. Here is an example. For a recent loan situation I saw: 36 months, 1.49% rate, 20K loan, total interest paid: ~$466. Armed with that information can the person get a better deal at the dealership? There was only one way to find out. In that case the credit union was better. The rebate was larger than the interest paid. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) have different end of term dates but by less than a month.  Both have summer sessions, but most students do not stay over the summer.  You can rent over the summer, but prices fall by a lot.  Thirty to forty thousand students leave over the summer between the two.  Only ten to twenty thousand remain throughout the year and not all of those are in Oakland (the neighborhood in Pittsburgh where the universities are located).  So many of the landlords in Oakland have the same problem.  Your competitors will cut their rates to try to get some rent for the summer months.   This also means that you have to handle eight, nine, and three month leases rather than year long and certainly not multiyear leases.  You're right that you don't have to buy the latest appliances or the best finishes, but you still have to replace broken windows and doors.  Also, the appliances and plumbing need to mostly work.  The furnace needs to produce heat and distribute it.  If there is mold or mildew, you will have to take care of it.  You can't rely on the students doing so.  So you have to thoroughly clean the premises between tenants.   Students may leave over winter break.  If there are problems, the pipes may freeze and burst, etc.  Since they're not there, they won't let you know when things break.   Students drop out during the term and move out.  You probably won't be able to replace them when that happens.  If you have three people in two bedrooms, two of them may be in a romantic relationship.  Romantic relationships among twenty-year olds end frequently.  Your three people drops back to two.  Your recourse in that case is to evict the remaining tenants and sue for breach of contract.  But if you do that, you may not replace the tenants until a new term starts.  Better might be to sue the one who left and accept the lower rent from the other two.  But you likely won't get the entire rent amount for the remainder of the lease.  Suing an impoverished student is not the road to riches.   Pittsburgh is expected to have a 6.1% increase in house prices which almost all of it is going to be pure profit. I don't know specifically about Pittsburgh, but in the national market, housing prices are about where they were in 2004.  Prices were flat to increasing from 2004 to 2007 and then fell sharply from 2007 to 2009, were flat to decreasing from 2009 to 2012, and have increased the last few years.  Price to rent ratios are as high now as in 2003 and higher than they were the twenty years before that.  Maybe prices do increase.  Or maybe we hit a new 20% decrease.  I would not rely on this for profit.  It's great if you get it, but unreliable.   I wouldn't rely on estimates for middle class homes to apply to what are essentially slum apartments.  A 6% average may be a 15% increase in one place and a 3% decrease in another.  The nice homes with the new appliances and the fancy finishes may get the 15% increase.  The rundown houses in a block where students party past 2 AM may get no increase.   Both the city of Pittsburgh and the county of Allegheny charge property taxes.  Schools and libraries charge separate taxes.  The city provides a worksheet that estimates $2860 in taxes on a $125,000 property.  It doesn't sound like you would be eligible for homestead or senior tax relief.  Realtors should be able to tell you the current assessment and taxes on the properties that they are selling you.   You should be able to call a local insurance agent to find out what kinds of insurance are available to landlords.  There is also renter's insurance which is paid by the tenant.  Some landlords require that tenants show proof of insurance before renting.  Not sure how common that is in student housing. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-q2-loss-narrower-estimates-113042878.html  &gt;Including the impact of Model S revenues deferred due to lease accounting, top line jumped 89.9% to $769.3 million in the quarter from $405.1 million a year ago. Revenues, however, lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $802 million.  &gt;The year-over-year revenue growth was driven by higher vehicle deliveries. Tesla delivered 7,579 cars in the second quarter, surpassing the guidance of 7,500 deliveries and increasing more than 17% over the first quarter of 2014. The automaker also benefited from initiation of the delivery of powertrains to Daimler AG (DDAIF) for the Mercedes-Benz B Class Electric Drive, although the winding down of electric powertrain components sales to Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) for the RAV4 EV is hurting revenues.  &gt;Gross profit, including the impact of Model S gross profit deferred due to lease accounting and stock-based compensation expenses, amounted to $213.0 million in second-quarter 2014, against $100.5 million in the year-ago quarter.  &gt;Revenues (on a reported basis) from Automotive sales, jumped to $768.2 million in the quarter from $401.5 million a year ago. Reported revenues from Development services (producing electric vehicle powertrain components and systems for other automobile manufacturers) slumped to $1.1 million from $3.6 million a year ago.  &gt;Financial Position  &gt;Tesla had cash and cash equivalents of $2.7 billion as of Jun 30, 2014, compared with $845.9 million as Dec 31, 2013. Long-term debt was $2.4 billion as of Jun 30, 2014, versus $586.3 million as of Dec 31, 2013.  &gt;Cash flow from operating activities amounted to $57.1 million in the first half of 2014, compared with $28.8 million in the year-ago period. Capital expenditures increased to $317.0 million from $98.2 million in the first half of 2013.  &gt;Gigafactory Update  &gt;Tesla has signed a formal agreement with Panasonic Corp. (PCRFY) for partnership in the Gigafactory. Under the agreement, Panasonic will invest in production equipment for the manufacture of lithium-ion battery cells, while Tesla will invest in land, buildings and utilities for the Gigafactory as well as production equipment for battery module and pack production. Moreover, Tesla will be responsible for the management of the Gigafactory. Other partners will also be involved in the Gigafactory for manufacture of the required precursor materials.  &gt;In June, Tesla broke ground for the potential construction of the Gigafactory near Reno, NV. While the location of the Gigafactory has not been decided yet, Tesla is planning to hold ground-breaking ceremony for the factory at three sites to avoid any delay in construction. Construction work will begin at one of the three sites by the end of the year and will be wrapped up by 2017.  &gt;Outlook  &gt;Tesla expects to record a marginal adjusted profit in the third quarter of 2014. Production volume in the third quarter of 2014 is expected to be 9,000 cars, up 2.7% from 8,763 cars produced in the second quarter of 2014. This includes the impact of the two-week production shutdown at the Fremont factory for the transition to the new final assembly line, which is expected to result in production loss of about 2,000 cars in the third quarter. However, due to the enhanced factory capacity, Tesla expects production volume to increase to an average of 1,000 cars per week in the fourth quarter of 2014 from 800 cars at present.  &gt;Further, vehicle deliveries are expected to increase to 7,800 in the third quarter of 2014 from 7,579 cars in the second quarter. However, deliveries are expected to be lower than production due to increase in the number of vehicles in transit. Tesla also plans to lease about 300 vehicles in North America in the third quarter, which is expected to increase further in the fourth quarter. Further, the automaker anticipates to deliver more than 35,000 vehicles globally in 2014, up 55% over 2013.  &gt;Adjusted automotive gross margin, excluding ZEV credits, is expected to increase to 28% by the end of 2014. The company believes that declining parts prices and economies of scale will benefit its gross margin.  &gt;Operating expenses are expected to increase in the third quarter of 2014. The company believes that research and development expenses will increase 20% sequentially in the quarter. Selling, general and administrative (SG&amp;A) expenses are projected to rise 15%.  &gt;Capital expenses for the year are expected to range between $750 million and $950 million, up from the previous projection of $650–$850 million. Tesla is investing heavily in increasing production capacity, development of Model S and Model X, the Gigafactory construction and expansion of sales, service and Supercharger infrastructure.   Increasing revenue, increasing sales, increasing gross profits, increasing margins = increasing investments into the company for exponential growth.   Baby you've never been risk taking in your life before? "This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/22/feds-williams-sees-a-calm-market-reaction-to-reducing-its-huge-balance-sheet.html) reduced by 81%. (I'm a bot) ***** &gt; Williams said the Fed could indeed increase rates again this year and three more times next year, but the exact timing was not important, with a gradual increase in interest rates now under way.  &gt; Provided the U.S. economy continues to progress and inflation was on track to reach the Fed&amp;#039;s 2 percent goal, &amp;quot;I would ascribe to a gradual pace of rate increases, which assuming all that&amp;#039;s happening, could have another rate increase this year and three next year,&amp;quot; Williams said.  &gt; Eventually, the Fed would reach a &amp;quot;New normal&amp;quot; of a Fed Funds rate of 2.5 percent, Williams said.   ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/71wsak/feds_williams_sees_a_calm_market_reaction_to/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ ""Version 1.65, ~215089 tl;drs so far."") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr ""PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome."") | *Top* *keywords*: **Fed**^#1 **rate**^#2 **Williams**^#3 **year**^#4 **next**^#5" Your credit rating will rise once the loan is repaid or paid regularly (in time). It will not get back to normal instantly. If the property is dead weight you may want to sell it so your credit score will increase in the medium term. Just to add: the 20% APR is the annualized interest rate, but applied monthly. So you'd be charged $0.50 of interest on your $30 balance, which gets capitalized on the next month. So if you were to miss the next payment for some reason, your new interest charge would be on $30.50 instead of $30 (actually, it'd be much more since there would be a fee for the late payment, but discounting that to illustrate the point). I don't know enough about taxes and real-state in the Netherlands to be super helpful in determining whether or not a rental property is a good investment. One thing for certain is that there's some risk in spending everything on a rental property. It's wise to have some buffer, an emergency fund of 3-6 months expenses. If things got dire, you'd still need to live somewhere until your tenant was gone, and you'd want to be able to handle any major repairs that crop up. So, even if it is a good idea to buy a rental property, you should probably wait until doing so doesn't leave you without a healthy buffer. As for owning a rental, you described a scenario where you'd get 6% income on your investment each year if there were zero expenses associated with owning the property. Are there property taxes? Is there a monthly cost to maintain the building the apartment is in? Are rental incomes taxed more heavily than other investment income? Just be aware of the full financial picture before deciding if it's a worthwhile investment. I have coworker who reported that he leased a Nissan Leaf from 2013-2016 and was offered $4000 off the contracted purchase price at the end of the lease due to a glut of other lessees turning in for a lease on the newest model with greater range.  It's not clear that this experience will be repeated by others three years from now, but there is enough uncertainty in the future electric car market that it's quite possible to have faster depreciation on a new vehicle than you might otherwise expect based on experience with conventional internal combustion powered vehicles. Leasing will remove that uncertainty. Purchasing a lease-return can also offer great value. I looked at the price for a lease return + a new battery with the extended range, and it was still significantly cheaper than buying a completely new vehicle.