Tips for Renters

There are several things you can do to save money on rent.  Here are a few suggestions that might help you lower your rent expense.

·        Negotiate your rent. - Don’t just accept the landlord’s first rental price.   Landlords love good tenants and would rather receive less money than risk their property being trashed.  However, this ususally only works if you find individual landlords.  Its probably not likely if you’re trying to move into a corporately owned complex.  In that case, ask if they have move-in specials.

·       Rent in an older complex.  Usually they’re cheaper than brand new ones.

·       If you don’t have to have a large place, get a smaller one.  Rents are usually cheaper for one bedrooms or studio’s.

·       Get a roommate.  Just make sure before you do, that your potential roommate has a job and pays his/her bills.  The last thing you need is someone who won’t carry their own weight.  If you do get a roommate, make sure both your names are on the lease.  That way, you’re both responsible, not just you.  You can use roommates.com, roommateclick.com or any number of other websties to help in your search. 

·       Use the internet to help you locate an apartment.  This way you will be able to compare rents among several complexes in a targeted area very quickly. You can use a website like apartments.com to help you find a place to live.  

·       Live at home for a while, if you can do it without driving your parents crazy or them driving you crazy.  Your relationship is more important than the money, so don’t do it unless it won’t hurt the relationship.

·       Find a place to rent close to where you work, if you can.  In some cities like Los Angeles or NY, its virtually impossible to find decent rents near downtown.  But, if you can, you may save a bundle on commuting costs.  Sometimes it’s worth paying more for rent if it will reduce your transportation costs.

·       Move to a cheaper city.  If you have the kind of job or career that lets you live anywhere you want, move to a city with lower housing costs and no state tax.  I suggest either Florida or Texas.  Both have no state income tax and both are not exceedingly high cost states like California, NY or Mass. (Yes, there are expensive cities, Miami and Fort Lauderdale are expensive, but Orlando and Tampa are quite reasonable. Dallas/ Fort Worth (in general) are cheaper than Houston and Austin.    There is a good cost of living comparison calculator on http://www.bankrate.com/brm/movecalc.asp

·       Leverage your relationship with your landlord.  If you have been with the same landlord for a long time,  the landlord will be anxious to keep you.  Tell him/her that you want to pay less.  A good renter is worth their weight in gold to a homeowner.  Maybe you can offer to cut the grass/take care of the pool/ etc… in exchange for lower rent.  Or maybe you can ask the landlord to pay the utilities instead of lowering the rent.  It all amounts to savings for you.

·       Raise your credit score.  I know this is easier said than done.  I don’t like it anymore than you do, but a lot of times Apartments are rented on better terms for those who have good credit scores.