Yeah I’ve done that before. The pandemic has created an unprecedented amount of these opportunities though. There are examples of non-collectible cars appreciating which is insane.
I couldn’t find a similar comparison.
The car also had several mechanical issues and didn’t drive that great in my opinion. Part of the reason is that we ordered a new car about 8 months ago and we didn’t do any maintenance on it or get any suggested repairs during that time because we knew that we were getting a new car. The problem is that car we ordered took a very long time to get here so I assume things have been deteriorating (although we didn’t really notice much while driving it). The interior was also pretty funky as my kids absolutely destroyed it. The back seat was just a giant trash can. I cleaned it pretty superficially, but didn’t pay for professional cleaning. I was pretty happy to get what I got.
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Sold one yesterday. Carvana offered 25% more than I paid 2 years and 30k miles ago. Traded it in for a bit less instead but that dealer was super thirsty too. Just aren’t enough cars atm, won’t be for another year, probably 2. Good time to sell a car you don’t need.
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Mrs. JordanIB recently enrolled in a new employer’s 403(b) with TIAA-CREF. Just got like 30-40 pages of documents via snail mail - Annuity Certificates, Supplement to Annuity Certificate, Endorsement of Annuity Certificate, etc.
I’m normally pretty good at this stuff, but I have no idea what any of this is, and if we need to read/keep it. Feels like legal mumbo jumbo (like an SPD for a 401k or health plan) which I can probably always track down if I really need it. The weird part is I can’t seem to find the docs online. I really don’t want to have to scan all this stuff. My gut says I can just trash it all?
Any advice on renegotiating rent down?
We’ve been in our place for 3 years. Rental prices have dropped 15 to 20%.
We are currently month to month. Plan is to email the letting agent and basically say. “We want to sign a 12 month contract, but rent prices have gone down 15 to 20%. For example, a similar condo in our building is on the market for x (20% less than we are paying) we would like a rent decrease”
And then leave it to them.
Otherwise is it better to open with a price?
If your description of market conditions is correct, I’d go with something like “We’ve seen some nicer apartments for less rent than what we’re paying now, so we’re considering moving. If you are able to reduce the rent to X, then we would stay.” Presumably they will counter with something between current and X and then you can go from there.
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I read Ramit Sethi’s personal finance book like 10 years ago and always thought he had a pretty good approach and style to negotiations. This article hits on a lot of the different angles and considerations that will be helpful to think about. Particularly rule 2 with regard to different bargaining chips and rule 4 for an actual script, which isn’t too far off from the examples you and Melkerson provided. The one thing he adds that I think is valuable is mentioning how you’ve been an ideal tenant for the last 3 years, assuming that is true 
I’ve personally had success dropping the rent ~5-10% by prepaying 6 months in advance. Not a huge win, but better than nothing in a rental market that has been pretty hot.
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Thoughts?
Hi Felicity.
We wanted to discuss a possible lease renewal.
However, we’ve been looking around. It’s clear that rent prices in the area have gone down considerably in the last 2 years.
The link below suggests they dropped 15% to july
-LINK-
And from what I’ve seen, they have dropped further since then.
Additionally. We’ve just seen that a similar 2 bed in the building, has been advertised for a long time at $600 pw.
- LINK-
We like our apartment, and would prefer to stay where we are.
I also believe we’ve been good, reliable tenants for the last 3 years.
Could you please ask the landlord whether we could reduce rent to 650 if we were to sign a 12 month lease?
Thanks
Rugby
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Post #2 itt was the start of a long attempt to do this.
Might be worth following the story.
Sounds good. But if there’s a similar unit for 600, why don’t you offer that price? Or closer to it?
Sure, you can probably settle for higher because you don’t want to deal with the hassle of moving and all that, but it would give more negotiation room.
Yeah, didn’t work out so well there. So you do need to decide if you’re prepared to move if they just tell you no.
Yeah, if that 2 BR unit is comparable to yours, and not markedly lesser, then I’m coming in with an offer of 600.
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Anecdotally, I’ve had more success asking for a free month’s rent than a lower rate. It makes it easier for the landlord if they can say that your apartment rents for $750 rather than $600 - even if effectively it is about the same. Of course, if you want to stay beyond your lease, it makes it harder for you when renewing.
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Is it better to put out a price or just ask them to name one?
The other apartment has a couple of differences. They could go either way, its perhaps marginally worse.
You don’t want to name a number when you don’t know the market all that well, but I think coming in with a number at their floor when you basically already know their floor.
Pretty sure it’s more the incidental kind you mentioned.
The landlords last name is the same as some of the post we were getting. So either the landlord or one of their relatives was living here before us.
The challenge is it’s all managed by the letting agent, so we dont deal with the landlord directly at all. That letting agent has a different set of incentives.
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Okay. That’s great insight.
Okay. Going to go with asking for 650. Seems fair to me and a $100 reduction is really worth having.
It’s also work for them to find a new tenant, and I don’t think they get paid extra for that. So I’d think their incentive would be heavily to keep the current tenant as that way they keep getting their cut for almost no work.
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I have a bonus with a 36 month cliff vesting schedule that is going into a non qualified investment account. From what I gather at the end of 36 months this money will be available for me to do whatever I want with including depositing into a checking account and will be taxed as normal income (right?). I believe I’m also able to invest this money starting immediately. Would you guys keep this in a low risk fund in case I have to forfeit the initial amount if I were to be fired or leave? Or just go with my standard 95% stocks 5% bonds?
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You lose the money if they fire you?
Just go ham. Maybe you make enough to pay them not to fire you in 35 months. Put it all on Dogecoin.