SevenT's Profile

I have lived in apartments in both Nasvhille and Washington, D.C. and it is indeed possible to negotiate rent or fees with large corporate renters (as opposed to an individual who is renting a place to you). And I'm probably one of the least aggressive people about even approaching such things. But I've been renting for 20 years, since my early 20s, and it works best in the context of renewing leases -- especially if you have a history of paying in full and on time every month. When I was younger and let that slide, pfffft. But now, often, just to keep someone who pays on time and in full in the apartment they'll offer -- without me even having to ask -- to waive the amenities fee, for example, or to at the least keep the rent for another year at the same rate instead of increasing it. And one year they actually DECREASED my rent to below what I was paying when I first signed on five years earlier if I'd stay, though I did have to ask. Yes, these are urban areas and presumably the apartment complexes could have turned over those apartments very fast. But it's so much less expensive to keep a tenant already there -- especially if that tenant is good.