I just got a call today from my IAC leasing office. They want us to sign our lease renewal within a week (even though it’s not up for another 2 1/2 mos.)

We have a 2 bdrm / 2 ba, approx 1100 sq ft apartment with detached garage… one year old construction with many upgrades in Portola Springs. Pay $2k/mo on our 8-month lease. (This is with a discount for electronic payment.)

Get this - the girl calling from the office told me she’s happy to announce that if we renew our lease for a 1-year term, we “won’t have to pay a rent increase!”

I laughed so hard I nearly dropped the phone.

I told her I have been keeping a close eye on the real estate and rental market here and will not hesitate to move if they do not give us a decrease. Before I could finish talking she said that is completely reasonable and they can definitely work something out. Um yeah. Thought so. And she threw in that she could do a decrease even on a short-term lease to boot. Keep it comin’, Lady.

I have read a couple things on here from other IAC renters about receiving rent reductions recently… I tried the search bar to find it again but no luck. If you have recently renegotiated your contract, please respond here with details. I want to be armed and ready. I thank you in advance!

She emailed over our official letter and it actually states if we go month-to-month they will raise our rent $350/mo. Holy Mother of God.

I am in flurry mode right now pulling up all the IAC Craig’s List ads I can find for comparable apartments. So far, so good. I have found several apartments just like mine asking around $1,740/mo. This is what I want to pay. Do you think this is reasonable? I am printing everything out including floorplans and will show it to the manager.

One other question… in these times of downward pressure on rents, does anyone think it would actually be preferable to indeed go month-to-month so that the rate could be renegotiated more frequently to keep up with current (lower) rates?

That’s all for now—SoCal

The best ammunition to get a decrease is to visit other properties and find something that you actually would move to.  It can more expensive or less expensive, but must be a better value.

A particularly productive avenue can be visiting on the new communites adjacent to Woodbury.  They have a lot of inventory and are willing to deal, and the managers of existing communites are very aware of the downward price pressure these new units are creating.

I don’t think you have to actually quote a unit and price on the value comp, but when you deal with the community manager, make it clear that you know specfics and mention the competitive community name.

Keep the tone cooperative but firm.  Make it clear you are willing to leave, and figure out the specific amount of the reduction you expect and for which you are willing to re-sign .  Don’t expect them to bid the price down alone.

My personal opinion is that a shorter term isn’t worth it, even in the downward trending market, but for others the strategy might make sense.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

SCHB

Rent is going up, because demand is going up. People are waiting to buy a house rent, foreclosed families rent, then there are people who like renting.  It’s a fact we have to live with.  The only thing that will help Irvine or san diego is massive layoffs from every sector. Sure the rents will be a tad lower, but you wont have a job.

PadreBrian - 25 October 2008 04:16 PM

Rent is going up, because demand is going up. People are waiting to buy a house rent, foreclosed families rent, then there are people who like renting.  It’s a fact we have to live with.

Home prices will never decline here in Southern California. We have a great diversified economy and fantastic weather. Everyone wants to live here but we are running out of land, so supply and demand mean that these high prices are just a fact we have to live with. Also, there are no Americans in Baghdad.

SoCal78 - 25 October 2008 03:18 AM

I just got a call today from my IAC leasing office. They want us to sign our lease renewal within a week (even though it’s not up for another 2 1/2 mos.)

We have a 2 bdrm / 2 ba, approx 1100 sq ft apartment with detached garage… one year old construction with many upgrades in Portola Springs. Pay $2k/mo on our 8-month lease. (This is with a discount for electronic payment.)

Get this - the girl calling from the office told me she’s happy to announce that if we renew our lease for a 1-year term, we “won’t have to pay a rent increase!”

I laughed so hard I nearly dropped the phone.

I told her I have been keeping a close eye on the real estate and rental market here and will not hesitate to move if they do not give us a decrease. Before I could finish talking she said that is completely reasonable and they can definitely work something out. Um yeah. Thought so. And she threw in that she could do a decrease even on a short-term lease to boot. Keep it comin’, Lady.

I have read a couple things on here from other IAC renters about receiving rent reductions recently… I tried the search bar to find it again but no luck. If you have recently renegotiated your contract, please respond here with details. I want to be armed and ready. I thank you in advance!

She emailed over our official letter and it actually states if we go month-to-month they will raise our rent $350/mo. Holy Mother of God.

I am in flurry mode right now pulling up all the IAC Craig’s List ads I can find for comparable apartments. So far, so good. I have found several apartments just like mine asking around $1,740/mo. This is what I want to pay. Do you think this is reasonable? I am printing everything out including floorplans and will show it to the manager.

One other question… in these times of downward pressure on rents, does anyone think it would actually be preferable to indeed go month-to-month so that the rate could be renegotiated more frequently to keep up with current (lower) rates?

That’s all for now—SoCal

We paid roughly $1700 in 2004 for a posh 2 BR/2B in Turtle Ridge. The IAC sent a notice for a rent increase but when we told them we were leaving, they said they would lower the price(very small decrease) or keep it the same(I can’t remember which).

The IAC lowered our from 1780 to 1610….  That was this last year.  We still have many open spots here….  I say look at the comps in your area and go in with an informed decision.  But of course be ready to move….
good luck
-bix

biscuitninja - 25 October 2008 06:55 PM

The IAC lowered our from 1780 to 1610….  That was this last year.  We still have many open spots here….  I say look at the comps in your area and go in with an informed decision.  But of course be ready to move….
good luck
-bix

Which complex do you rent in?

PadreBrian - 25 October 2008 04:16 PM

Rent is going up, because demand is going up. People are waiting to buy a house rent, foreclosed families rent, then there are people who like renting.  It’s a fact we have to live with.  The only thing that will help Irvine or san diego is massive layoffs from every sector. Sure the rents will be a tad lower, but you wont have a job.

How do I remove a thank…this doesn’t deserve a thank….I thanked the wrong person.

Let’s not forget there are people moving out of California now that jobs are disappearing….  and a glut of rentals.

SoCal, I found a place and got a price….then presented that deal to my current landlord.  He didn’t want to lose a good tenant, so he dropped it $350 a month.  I know the fact that he had 2 of 3 units vacant helped my negotiations….but the fact I had actually found a place and was ready to move actually lit a fire under his butt to make a decision, and fast.

So I’ll be staying.  Like Bix said though, be ready to move (and save $$!) 

Seems like you are doing all the proper research.  Their bad if they don’t listen to reason.

usctrojanman29 - 25 October 2008 08:22 PM

biscuitninja - 25 October 2008 06:55 PM

The IAC lowered our from 1780 to 1610….  That was this last year.  We still have many open spots here….  I say look at the comps in your area and go in with an informed decision.  But of course be ready to move….
good luck
-bix

Which complex do you rent in?

The place shall remain anon… but i’ll send ya a pm.
-bix

SoCal78, our Lease is up for renewal in mid-Jan so I’ll let you all know what happens..

I can’t give you any advice on re-negotiation I’m afraid, I failed miserably last time…

SoCal78 - 25 October 2008 03:18 AM

Get this - the girl calling from the office told me she’s happy to announce that if we renew our lease for a 1-year term, we “won’t have to pay a rent increase!”

I laughed so hard I nearly dropped the phone.

I told her I have been keeping a close eye on the real estate and rental market here and will not hesitate to move if they do not give us a decrease. Before I could finish talking she said that is completely reasonable and they can definitely work something out. Um yeah. Thought so. And she threw in that she could do a decrease even on a short-term lease to boot. Keep it comin’, Lady.

I have read a couple things on here from other IAC renters about receiving rent reductions recently… I tried the search bar to find it again but no luck. If you have recently renegotiated your contract, please respond here with details. I want to be armed and ready. I thank you in advance!

She emailed over our official letter and it actually states if we go month-to-month they will raise our rent $350/mo. Holy Mother of God.

One note I’d add, is that you’d be well-served to keep in mind that the office, in the end, can be your best friend.  There is a German proverb that translates roughly, “What the lion cannot manage to do the fox can.”  i.e. you might not need to tear someone’s head off to get your best deal, but instead maybe just giving them the opportunity to “help” with your request and keeping them on your side could be a more effective strategy. 

With that said, sometimes going for the jugular is fun too!

Good luck.

Thanks, IR2. Don’t worry - I don’t have any intention of going in with guns blazing. I have a background in customer service myself so I have an idea of what will work and what won’t. You are right, you catch more flies with honey. I’m nervous. I’m going in in a few minutes. I really, really do not want to move again so soon after having just moved four months ago. It’s unlikely I would move even if I could save a couple hundred a month elsewhere but I want a fair rate. I should find out today and will update. Thanks, all.

IrvineRealtor - 26 October 2008 05:31 PM

One note I’d add, is that you’d be well-served to keep in mind that the office, in the end, can be your best friend.  There is a German proverb that translates roughly, “What the lion cannot manage to do the fox can.”  i.e. you might not need to tear someone’s head off to get your best deal, but instead maybe just giving them the opportunity to “help” with your request and keeping them on your side could be a more effective strategy. 

Good luck.

I follow this creedo.  It is much easier to be a friend and ally than to be an opponent.  A friend will sacrifice for you, an opponent will not.
good luck
-bix

Update:

Just got back from meeting with the leasing office manager.

I went in with a pleasant, upbeat attitude and made conversation. Told her what we like about the community, complimented their helpful team, and said that if it can be a fair value, we would like to stay… however with the flood of rentals on the market including two new IAC complexes nearby, Mirasol and Palmeras, we feel like we could get a better deal by moving to an even newer apartment with more amenities, a more convenient location that is closer to our son’s school, and at a better value. I showed her my print-outs of move-in specials and Craiglist ads. She understood that there are some good deals out there and said that she’s “not supposed to do this” but that they could offer us a decrease of $100 off a month if we signed a 12-mo lease (so that would be $1,950.) She also offered us a neighboring unit that has same number of beds and baths but smaller square footage and that would be at $1,850. I told her if I was going to the trouble of moving it probably would be to another complex instead of the neighboring unit. I thanked her for the offer and asked if she couldn’t go lower with the rate, if she could at least give us a concession… such as 1/2 off the first month (i.e. $1k.) She said she can not. She said our floorplan is in demand so they have “no reason” to offer much concessions. I asked what their vacancy rate is. She said 8%. I told her she’s been so helpful… that I would have to think about it but so far I’m leaning towards not renewing. I told her that if she can find any other way to help us lower the rate or find another concession that I would be more than happy to write a glowing letter of appreciation for her service. She told me wait—she said could give us a $250 credit for renewing the lease and she also said she would talk to her boss on Monday and see what else can be approved. So I should find out sometime in the next few days what their very best offer is.

As it stands now the best offer, again, is $100/mo rent decrease on a 12-mo term and a $250 credit for renewing. I will update when I hear from her in a couple days.

UPDATE

As soon as I hit submit on the last reply… lo and behold my phone rang. It was the manager I talked with. She said got to talking with some other managers and she just found out IAC is working on a new attractive offer for all lease renewals - the details of which she doesn’t know yet and will be shared next week. She told me not to make our decision just yet and sit tight. So all of you looking to renew soon—check back to find out what this “attractive new offer on IAC lease renewals” is.

So, if you’d signed the lease on Her original terms you would have just got “No increase”..plus you would have missed out on their new incentives…

This re-confirms that IAC are, to put it politely, not very nice

I just got my letter today from San Carlo (we are up on Dec 31st).  $25/mo INCREASE per their letter, to $2,475 for the 3 bed townhome.  I called immediately and politely (as suggested above) told them to go back to the drawing board on that one.  Community manager will be contacting me later this week to review options….I’ll let you know how it goes, I’m going to follow the same tactic as suggested here.  The chance we renew is about 5% at this point anyway, as we have decided to pack up and head for Northpark and squat there until Orchard Hills comes online. 

If any one knows of any good pp rentals inside Northpark (up to $3k) give me a PM.  Any love/hate stories on the IAC at Orchard Hills also appreciated.

SoCal78 - 26 October 2008 10:09 PM

She said our floorplan is in demand so they have “no reason” to offer much concessions. I asked what their vacancy rate is. She said 8%.

As it stands now the best offer, again, is $100/mo rent decrease on a 12-mo term and a $250 credit for renewing.

They must be on drugs. There’s no way, with all the vacancies right now, that their floorplan is “in demand.” Ridiculous. If you’re a good tenant, and I’m assuming you are, they should be bending over backwards to keep you as a tenant.

Anon. - 27 October 2008 02:06 PM

SoCal78 - 26 October 2008 10:09 PM

She said our floorplan is in demand so they have “no reason” to offer much concessions. I asked what their vacancy rate is. She said 8%.

As it stands now the best offer, again, is $100/mo rent decrease on a 12-mo term and a $250 credit for renewing.

They must be on drugs. There’s no way, with all the vacancies right now, that their floorplan is “in demand.” Ridiculous. If you’re a good tenant, and I’m assuming you are, they should be bending over backwards to keep you as a tenant.

I’ve downgraded from a 1bed & 1den to a 1bed within my 30 day period and will now sign a 6-month lease instead of a 12-month lease. I have a feeling that I’ll have some amno to negotiate a decrease in rents by then.

PeterUK - 27 October 2008 05:53 AM

So, if you’d signed the lease on Her original terms you would have just got “No increase”..plus you would have missed out on their new incentives…

This re-confirms that IAC are, to put it politely, not very nice

That’s correct. Per the original renewal letter, they offered us no change in rate (and no goodies either.)

It sounds like you took the right steps to finding the best deal.

Managers are held accountable for their occupancy and availability numbers by upper management .  They are further held accountable for making sure they keep their property as close to “market rent” as possible.  So it’s a big balancing act between asking the price they are supposed to, and keeping their building full.  Dealing directy with the community manager is best because they call the shots.

Keep everything in perspective.  Sad to say, the reality is you don’t have them over a barrel - they have you.  After all, if they don’t negotiate, you are the one hiring the moving company, boxing all your worldly belongings, reasearching new homes, forfeiting a portion of your security deposit for cleaning, and losing at least a weekend of your life.  To them, if you leave, you are a number - something they need to try hard to make up for the following week.  That’s why the “guns-blazing” approach will almost never work.

That said, here’s one of the easiest ways to get what you want.

Call your property directly and act like a new move in.  The way I would put it is, “I’m interested in a [whatever your apartment type is] for move in WITHIN TWO WEEKS.”  That last part is crucial because mentioning that time frame will have them quote you vacant apartment special pricing.  Anything more than two weeks and they will likely quote you something currently occupied (where the tenant has given a 30 day notice to leave) and the special will not be nearly as appealing.  Also, make it clear that price is going to determine whether or not you will visit their property. “I have a list of places I need to call and I only have time to visit a few this weekend.  Can I get your pricing and if it’s on the better end, I’ll call you back to schedule an appointment?” Once quoted the discount rent, ask what the price is normally.  Further ask them if they are offering anything off move-in?  In MOST cases they will say, “We can offer you $200 off move in if you sign up for our auto debit program and another $100 off move in if you place your hold on your first visit.”  Those are nothing special, they ALL offer them.

So that will determine what brand new move ins are being offered.  Do NOT assume that this is what they feel their renewals are entitled to.  Landing a new move in is a NET 1 for the property.  Landing a renewal is a NET 0.  Sure there is the possibility that you may not renew, but managers/IAC know that moving…is a pain.  They also understand that there is a reason why you chose to live here in the first place (see above where SoCal relates that the manager reminded him of how close it is to the kids’ school, etc).  She went back to the whole, “building value” part of sales and more importantly she was subtly letting SoCal know, “You already like this place…you’re not likely to up and move for some unknown over $30/month.”

It wouldn’t surprise me at all to find some communties out there completely unwilling to negotiate proposed renewal rates, even in this market.  To a certain degree there’s a slippery slope fear.  Neighbors talk to neighbors.  If they renew you for a multi-hundred dollar decrease, they KNOW you are going to be so proud of yourself that you will tell everyone you know.  Tie that in with a fair housing liability fear…“You gave my neighbor John a huge decrease because he has brown hair and you won’t give me the same deal because I have blonde hair…you’re a “hair-ist” and I’m suing!”  Now their budget is blown because the entire community is in revolt over renewal rates.  Therefore, as irrational as it seems, they may see reason to take a hard line and allow you to leave, only to fill your apartment with a new someone paying less.

In the end, your goal should be to get the same deal a new move in would get.  But don’t let that be the only thing you’re willing to settle for unless you are truly willing to walk away.  Taking a signed 30 day intent to vacate notice to the office is the rental equivalent of “going all in.”  It’s the last weapon in your arsenal to find out what their true bottom line is and you should only use it if you’ve done some research on your other options.  The best method would probably be to bring it in, ask for a manager, and hand it to him/her saying, “I just want to thank you in person.  My family has really enjoyed the time we’re spent here.”  When they ask why you’re leaving, “Well we’re trying to save to buy a house and we’ve found [insert the details of the best deal you found], which will save us some money.”  In most cases they will sit you down and give you their best offers.  If they accept your 30 day notice, you should be able to rescind it a few days later. 

Finally, when it comes to renewal terms, I recommend taking the longest term possible.  Lock in that low rate you just worked hard to negotiate for if you plan on living there a while.  Shorter lease terms benefit management by allowing them to raise your rent sooner.  You’re more likely to get your discounted rent for a 6 month lease than a 16 month lease (try it, just for laughs).  Also, imagine sitting down at the table with that same manager just 5 or 6 months down the road telling them again that you want a decrease.  Before you know it, this will become a pride issue.  “Now we were able to get you that great rate last time along with the short term you wanted.  Unfortunately this time around we can’t negotaite.  You will need to renew at the proposed rate.”

Here is a little trick I found.  You can see the Vacancy Rate at any IAC Complex.
Go to   http://www.rental-living.com/
Then pick the community you want to check.
Then pick a floorplan and check availability. Click it.
Look for the bottom button that says check all floorplans for availability.
There it is. Every unit thats available for that IAC complex on one list.

Cuatro - 27 October 2008 06:46 PM

It sounds like you took the right steps to finding the best deal.

Managers are held accountable for their occupancy and availability numbers by upper management .  They are further held accountable for making sure they keep their property as close to “market rent” as possible.  So it’s a big balancing act between asking the price they are supposed to, and keeping their building full.  Dealing directy with the community manager is best because they call the shots.

Keep everything in perspective.  Sad to say, the reality is you don’t have them over a barrel - they have you.  After all, if they don’t negotiate, you are the one hiring the moving company, boxing all your worldly belongings, reasearching new homes, forfeiting a portion of your security deposit for cleaning, and losing at least a weekend of your life.  To them, if you leave, you are a number - something they need to try hard to make up for the following week.  That’s why the “guns-blazing” approach will almost never work.

That said, here’s one of the easiest ways to get what you want.

Call your property directly and act like a new move in.  The way I would put it is, “I’m interested in a [whatever your apartment type is] for move in WITHIN TWO WEEKS.”  That last part is crucial because mentioning that time frame will have them quote you vacant apartment special pricing.  Anything more than two weeks and they will likely quote you something currently occupied (where the tenant has given a 30 day notice to leave) and the special will not be nearly as appealing.  Also, make it clear that price is going to determine whether or not you will visit their property. “I have a list of places I need to call and I only have time to visit a few this weekend.  Can I get your pricing and if it’s on the better end, I’ll call you back to schedule an appointment?” Once quoted the discount rent, ask what the price is normally.  Further ask them if they are offering anything off move-in?  In MOST cases they will say, “We can offer you $200 off move in if you sign up for our auto debit program and another $100 off move in if you place your hold on your first visit.”  Those are nothing special, they ALL offer them.

So that will determine what brand new move ins are being offered.  Do NOT assume that this is what they feel their renewals are entitled to.  Landing a new move in is a NET 1 for the property.  Landing a renewal is a NET 0.  Sure there is the possibility that you may not renew, but managers/IAC know that moving…is a pain.  They also understand that there is a reason why you chose to live here in the first place (see above where SoCal relates that the manager reminded him of how close it is to the kids’ school, etc).  She went back to the whole, “building value” part of sales and more importantly she was subtly letting SoCal know, “You already like this place…you’re not likely to up and move for some unknown over $30/month.”

It wouldn’t surprise me at all to find some communties out there completely unwilling to negotiate proposed renewal rates, even in this market.  To a certain degree there’s a slippery slope fear.  Neighbors talk to neighbors.  If they renew you for a multi-hundred dollar decrease, they KNOW you are going to be so proud of yourself that you will tell everyone you know.  Tie that in with a fair housing liability fear…“You gave my neighbor John a huge decrease because he has brown hair and you won’t give me the same deal because I have blonde hair…you’re a “hair-ist” and I’m suing!”  Now their budget is blown because the entire community is in revolt over renewal rates.  Therefore, as irrational as it seems, they may see reason to take a hard line and allow you to leave, only to fill your apartment with a new someone paying less.

In the end, your goal should be to get the same deal a new move in would get.  But don’t let that be the only thing you’re willing to settle for unless you are truly willing to walk away.  Taking a signed 30 day intent to vacate notice to the office is the rental equivalent of “going all in.”  It’s the last weapon in your arsenal to find out what their true bottom line is and you should only use it if you’ve done some research on your other options.  The best method would probably be to bring it in, ask for a manager, and hand it to him/her saying, “I just want to thank you in person.  My family has really enjoyed the time we’re spent here.”  When they ask why you’re leaving, “Well we’re trying to save to buy a house and we’ve found [insert the details of the best deal you found], which will save us some money.”  In most cases they will sit you down and give you their best offers.  If they accept your 30 day notice, you should be able to rescind it a few days later. 

Finally, when it comes to renewal terms, I recommend taking the longest term possible.  Lock in that low rate you just worked hard to negotiate for if you plan on living there a while.  Shorter lease terms benefit management by allowing them to raise your rent sooner.  You’re more likely to get your discounted rent for a 6 month lease than a 16 month lease (try it, just for laughs).  Also, imagine sitting down at the table with that same manager just 5 or 6 months down the road telling them again that you want a decrease.  Before you know it, this will become a pride issue.  “Now we were able to get you that great rate last time along with the short term you wanted.  Unfortunately this time around we can’t negotaite.  You will need to renew at the proposed rate.”

Great advice.  It all comes down to how willing you are to up and move to a new place to save money.  That being said, moving is a pain in the booty even for someone like me who doesn’t have a lot of stuff and is single.  For me, if I’m not saving more than $100/month then it’s not even worth the hassle of packing up and moving.  If you like the community, be willing to meet halfway (I was considering on moving and after taking a drive-by a few other complexs I didn’t like what I saw) with the manager.

bltserv - 27 October 2008 08:26 PM

Here is a little trick I found.  You can see the Vacancy Rate at any IAC Complex.
Go to   http://www.rental-living.com/
Then pick the community you want to check.
Then pick a floorplan and check availability. Click it.
Look for the bottom button that says check all floorplans for availability.
There it is. Every unit thats available for that IAC complex on one list.

Great trick, Bltsrv.

Remember those prices on the rental-living site are what IAC considers “market prices.”  Call the communities to find out what the discounts (read “real prices”) are.

SoCal78 - 26 October 2008 10:09 PM

Update:

Just got back from meeting with the leasing office manager…

As it stands now the best offer, again, is $100/mo rent decrease on a 12-mo term and a $250 credit for renewing. I will update when I hear from her in a couple days.

This seems like quite a good deal.  I will be surprised but certainly glad for your if the “new deal” is better.

SCHB