Dave’s here to answer your questions every Wednesday, so send them to him at tenant@sfappeal.com
I signed a lease on 3-1-09 for $1425/month, but rents have dropped in my building and area. Same unit on the top floor rented for $1300, I am on the 2nd of 3 floors. How should I negotiate? Write a letter now or wait until lease renewal on 3-1-10, when it goes month to month? I love the building and I am a great tenant. Help!
We hear it all the time: The rents are falling! The rents are falling! Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that vacancies were at an all time high and rents had dropped 3% nationwide. As of October 2009 rents in San Francisco had supposedly declined 7.5%.
Should tenants rejoice? Hardly. I think that would be akin to celebrating when Capital One lowers your interest rate from 29.9% to 27.9%. Whoopeee! I talk to many tenants who are searching for apartments. Anecdotally, I just don’t perceive that rents are going down that much, more vacancies for sure, but the rents still seem to be sky high.
