By Chris Voss’ “Never Split the Differenece”
How to Negotiate Your Rent. (p. 208)
Mishary– “At their meeting, Mishary laid out his situation. His experience in the building had been really positive, he said. And, he pointed out, he always paid on time. It would be sad for him to leave, he said, and sad for the landlord to lose a good tenant.”
Agent– The agent nodded. “Totally in agreement,” he said. “That’s why I think it will benefit both of us to agree on renewing the lease.”
Mishary– “Here Mishary pulled out his research: buildings around the neighborhood were offering “much” lower prices, he said. “Even though your building is better in terms of location and services, how am I supposed to pay $200 extra?”
Agent– “You make a good point, but this is still a good price. And as you noted, we can charge a premium.”
Mishary– Mishary then dropped an extreme anchor. “I fully understand, you do have a better location and amenities. But I’m sorry, I just can’t,” he said. “Would $1,730 a month for a year lease sound fair to you?”
Agent– Agent laughed because of the low anchor.
Mishary- ““Okay, so please help me understand: how do you price lease renewals?”
Agent– Agent talked about market rents.
Mishary– Mishary asked, wouldn’t losing 1 month rent be a loss and landlord would lose money from painting and cleaning?
Mishary– Michary offered $1790
Agent– Agent thought about it and 5 days came back with $1950
Mishary – “That is generous of you, but how am I supposed to accept it when I can move a few blocks away and stay for $1,800? A hundred and fifty dollars a month means a lot to me. You know I am a student. I don’t know, it seems like you would rather run the risk of keeping the place unrented.”
Mishary– ““Then I tell you what, I initially went up from $1,730 to $1,790,” he said, sighing. “I will bring it up to $1,810. And I think this works well for both.”
Agent– Agent said it’s still lower than the market.
Mishary– “Mishary then prepared to give the last of his Ackerman offers. He went silent for a while and then asked the agent for a pen and paper. Then he started doing fake calculations to seem like he was really pushing himself. Finally, he looked up at the agent and said, “I did some numbers, and the maximum I can afford is $1,829.”
Agent– ““Wow. $1,829,” he said. “You seem very precise. You must be an accountant. [Mishary was not.] Listen, I value you wanting to renew with us and for that I think we can make this work for a twelve-month lease.”
“Ka-ching! Notice this brilliant combination of decreasing Ackerman offers, nonround numbers, deep research, smart labeling, and saying no without saying “No”? That’s what gets you a rent discount when a landlord wanted to raise his monthly take.”