If renting an apartment or a home, your rental payment may be one of your largest expenses. It may seem as if that payment is fixed and nonnegotiable. However, with a little creativity, you may be able to save money on your rent payment. Look for opportunities when first considering a place to live, as well as opportunities in a place you are already renting.

Do Your Homework on the Neighborhood Rental Market

How is the rental market in the neighborhood you are considering? Are there many other buildings and units for rent? Is rental demand in the neighborhood down? If so, you may have some room for negotiations.

Look for some of the following signs that it may be a renter’s market rather than a landlord’s market:

- The neighborhood has many “for rent” signs.

- The neighborhood has “for sale” signs that have been up a long time. Perhaps the owner is willing to negotiate with a possible renter, if the home cannot be sold.

- The neighborhood contains offers for rental units with “one month’s rent free” or “two bedroom rental for the price of a one bedroom apartment.” These are clues that demand may be way down in the neighborhood.

Also, factor in other aspects of the neighborhood. Are there an abundance of rental units empty only because rental demand is down? Are other factors influencing rental demand – is the neighborhood undesirable or in decline? If you do decide that you want to live in the neighborhood, you can then prepare to negotiate with the landlord for a lower rental price.

Negotiate for Lower Rent

Hold off on negotiating immediately. Tour the apartment, apply to rent, and wait for the landlord to check your application and your credit rating. Then negotiate.

Tips for negotiating successfully include:

- Present yourself well during the initial meeting with the landlord, and any following meetings – first impressions matter, especially when landlords are meeting a new tenant.

- Keep it neutral. If you love the apartment, keep it to yourself and do not act too enthusiastic, yet.

- Delay discussing rent price until you have filled out an application and been approved for rental.

- After approval, begin negotiations by stating that you would love to move into the apartment, with lower rent.

- State your desired price, but base it on what the market will bear in the neighborhood.

- Be prepared for a counter offer. Decide ahead of time what you can afford. Identify your bottom line and stick to it.

The following two Web sites, www.how-to-negotiate.com and www.essortment.com, have good resources for learning the nuances of negotiation.

Offer to be a Caretaker for a Break on Rent

Are you:

- Handy?

- A good problem solver?

- Responsive and responsible?

- Good with people?

- Able to be onsite a great deal of the time if you are renting in an apartment complex?

If your landlord has need of a responsible caretaker on site, you may be able to get a break on rent or live rent free, in exchange for caretaking duties.

This works well for apartment complex situations, where many units need to be maintained and the landlord may not live on site. However, the arrangement may also work well if you are renting a home or single residence.

The Web site www.caretaker.org lists caretaking opportunities across the country.

Offer to Do Maintenance for a Break on Rent

While an ongoing caretaker position may not be available, there may be maintenance that needs to be done on your unit or other units. Offer to perform maintenance on your unit, or inquire if other units need maintenance. Not handy? Some maintenance needs are quite simple, and require little experience.

Potential opportunities include:

- Painting. Units often need fresh paint, sometimes between tenants.

- Deep cleaning. Is there pet damage? Has a tenant moved and the apartment needs to be cleaned?

- Plumbing repairs

- Door repairs

- Wall plaster patching

- Carpet vacuuming or shampooing

- Window washing

- Carpet replacement

- Hallway cleaning and/or vacuuming

The Web site www.doityourself.com is full of information on typical home repairs.

Sign a Short Lease Agreement

If your landlord requires you to sign a lease, commit to the shortest term possible. While this may seem like it prevents you from locking in an agreed-upon rent figure for a long period of time, short lease agreements can also work in your favor:

- Your opportunity to renegotiate comes up sooner. If telling your landlord you will be moving when the lease is up, the landlord may be willing to renegotiate the rent price for a new lease. This works well in a renters market, when empty rental units exceed the demand of available renters.

This Wall Street Journal article (“Finally, Renters Have Some Pull”) at http://online.wsj.com talks about the effects of a renter’s market, and how renters may be able to bargain for lower rent.