Are Madison Apartment Rents Negotiable?
Though it seems that the going rent for a Madison WI apartment or rental
home is a fixed, non negotiable rate… its not. The truth is- is that all
Madison apartment rental rates are completely negotiable (that is if the
landlord is willing to negotiate). Though there is no law or stipulation in
the law here in Madison Wisconsin which states that a landlord is forced
into a rent negotiation with you, the age old rule of “it never hurts to
ask” can always be applied.In my experiences as a Madison WI renter, I have found that there are typically three things which play into the negotiation factor of a Madison WI rent. If you can get at least one of these three factors in your favor, then the chances of the landlord negotiating the rent price of your Madison WI apartment or rental unit will likely increase.
---The Negotiation Factors---
1.The Type of Madison WI Rental
The type of Madison WI rental you are looking at can affect a landlord’s willingness to negotiate rent with you (i.e. a Madison apartment or a Madison house). The more rental units the landlord has available (or sitting empty), the more they are probably willing to negotiate on rent. For example if you are looking at a Madison WI apartment in a complex with multiple units, you could assume that the unit you are looking at is not the only one that is available within that Madison rental property. Landlords would often times rather take a cut in their rental asking price than leave a rental unit sit empty. So if you are looking at Madison WI apartment or house which you think has been sitting empty for a longer period of time, or has multiple other empty rental units within the property, go ahead and try to negotiate the rent!
2.The Location in Madison WI
(i.e. downtown or campus Madison WI, Westside Madison WI, etc…) The location of the Madison WI apartment or rental will often times play a part in how willing the landlord will be to negotiate rent. Madison WI holds a different rental market than perhaps other cities, because of the fact that we have a big ten, aggressively sought after university in the heart of our city. The size of the University of Wisconsin makes Madison apartments and houses in the downtown area of Madison extremely desirable. In an area of Madison WI, such as the downtown and campus area rental turn over is often times excellent (meaning that empty Madison apartments and rentals do not stay empty for long!).
Where there is no real need to negotiate rent (such as downtown Madison), it is doubtful that any negotiation will take place. The demand for apartments and rentals in downtown Madison is so high; the odds are it won’t be hard to find a renter willing to pay the full asking rent. In places such as suburbs of Madison WI or areas where the rental demand in lower or not as competitive, your chances of getting a landlord to negotiate on the rental price began to climb.
3.The Time of Year
The time of year can also be a factor when trying to negotiate rent on a Madison apartment or rental. In winter for example (when many in Madison do not even want to think about moving from on apartment to another) you may have a better chance at scoring a lower rent price for a Madison apartment, simply do to the fact that there are not a lot of renters in the market for an apartment or rental at that particular time. If a landlord has an empty unit in the dead of a Wisconsin winter, chances could be that he or she is not receiving a heavy tenant prospect flow at that time, so he or she may be more willing to negotiate rent with you.
Another thing to keep in mind when looking for apartments in downtown or campus Madison is that the timing of school semesters can play to your benefit or disadvantage. When school lets out for the summer, many Madison students leave, creating a lull in the Madison downtown rental market. If you are looking for a Madison apartment or rental in the downtown or campus area of Madison WI at this time (summer season) you actually have a couple of options to lower your monthly rent. You could always negotiate with the land lord over an empty summer rental or apartment, or better yet you could look into a summer sublease with the option to renew the lease. Negotiation on a sublease is so easy it’s almost a given, and with the rent money you save from the summer months, you can use to offset the rent for the remainder of the lease.
The bottom line is that rent negotiation in Madison WI is always an option, and always well worth the try!
