Renting a luxury apartment can be quite a task if you don't know how to approach it right. Here is some practical advice on how to minimize your expenditure on luxury apartment rental:
Pay Several Months In Advance
This is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and it still works. By offering to pay your rent in advance, you are guaranteeing your landlord that you are there to stay for the long haul and that you won't be problematic when it comes to paying rent. Such a lump sum payment also increases your landlord's cash flow.
Due to these benefits, some landlords will give you a hefty discount when you offer to pay, say, a year's rent in advance. It's not unheard of for a landlord to give you a discount worth a month's rent if you pay a year in advance.
Negotiate Future Rent Increase
Rent is not stagnant; in fact, your current rent is almost sure to increase at the end of your current risk. It's dangerous to sign a lease if you don't know how much the rent will increase at the end of the lease; what if the landlord makes a huge increase that you did not anticipate? Will you struggle with the rent or look for a cheaper alternative? You can avoid all these by negotiating with your landlord the expected rent increase at the end of the lease. That way you are protected whether you decide to extend the lease or not.
Negotiate the Broker Fee
It's always advisable to rent luxury apartments using an agent or broker, especially if you are looking for an apartment in a competitive market. What you may not know is that the agent's fee is usually negotiable. Don't expect the agent to come right out and tell you that their fee is negotiable; that isn't how business is done. It doesn't hurt to ask, however, if the agent can accept lower than the quoted rate.
Understand and Manage Hidden Costs
Renting an apartment comes with hidden costs that you may not know about if it's not keen; examples include:
- Gardening fees
- Tips for building staff
- Pet ownership fees
- Storage fees
You need to know what these costs are and avoid those that you can avoid and minimize those that you can't avoid. For example, it might be cheaper to minimize storage fees by opting for offsite self-storage facilities instead of using the onsite one whose cost may be higher. For more information, contact a local real estate agent.
After thinking long and hard about what to do with my living situation, I finally made the decision that it was time to buy a house. I was tired of living paycheck to paycheck because of rent, so I began working with professionals to guide me in the right financial direction. I was able to find a great company that offered exactly what I wanted to learn, and they walked me through the financial aspects of home ownership. Within a few short months, I was living in a gorgeous new home that I absolutely loved. Check out this blog for great advice on home ownership.