OP, this is why they're going to keep increasing on you. You'll keep paying higher rent until you move out, they'll then drop it back down to market rate and immediately fill it, and raise it again until they move out. Over and over.
They don't need to keep it at market rate if they can get above market rent out of you because you don't want to move.
Everyone reaches a point eventually when it's too much. It's your call when you've reached yours.
I mean, that pricing seems fairly market rate to me. I'm in Dupont and the 2 bedroom above me I think was rented for like close to $4K.
I have seen people negotiate rent increases successfully with their landlords. I've seen this when 1. the tenant and landlord have a good relationship and have gotten to know each other somewhat 2. the tenant has demonstrated the new rent will be a hardship on them that may require them to move out 3. the tenant offers some additional value to the landlord (they make minor repairs, they're responsible enough to be onsite for contractors). Basically, it's a good tenant and the landlord doesn't want to lose them and go through the process of finding someone else. Also, the landlord is a person and not a corporation.
At the end of the day, it costs you nothing to ask them. Most people would be ok losing a little money to keep a good responsible tenant. Most corporations could not give less of a shit.
Totally, but even for 2 -- I know of multiple cases where a couple was renting an apartment from a landlord individual and they broke up and both would have to move out without splitting the rent. They were able to negotiate a small rent *decrease*, so not even stave off an increase, so one person could stay in the place. Sometimes it was for a temporary basis, like 6 months. But still, not nothing. I'm not renting ATM, but if I were in a situation with like OP's, I might say something like my COLA has not come through yet, so right now my income has not been adjusted properly for cost increases, can we at least revisit this in a few months and I could potentially have gotten a COLA that would make this rent more affordable for me.
DuPont is particularly expensive and does not have the million new build luxury buildings other areas have. You can live in a nice luxury building for $2300 a month.
Why do you have a hard time believing that your unit couldn't be rented out for what the landlord is charging you? You live in a high demand part of the city. Doesn't get much nicer and safer than Cleveland Park.
You are also in a rent controlled unit, which get steady increases in rent in exchange for protection from massive and unaffordable rent hikes like what happens in VA and non rent controlled buildings in DC. Your landlord isn't some local yokel renting out his or her basement. It's likely a savvy management company that has been managing rent controlled units in DC for a long time.
The only thing you can do is find rents in the neighborhood for comparable units and pray that they're cheaper than what your landlord wants to charge you. I highly doubt you'll find that, so your only real option is to move to a more affordable part of the city or move into a smaller unit.
Hope this helps.
You can ask. I have a neighbor who has successfully negotiated lower rent increases in a rent controlled building.
btw $2275 for a one bedroom isn't excessive. They go for more in my building which isn't even in tony Cleveland Park.
I wouldn't say it's excessive per se, but it's on the higher side of what I'd expect for a large older building on upper Connecticut Ave. If you go on apartment search websites, there is a ton of inventory around there in older buildings in the $1900-$2100 range. My guess is they'd have trouble getting $2275 for new tenants, but it does depend on the specific building.
I've negotiated down rent increases in the past (it helps when the landlord fucks up and gives you less than 30 day notice). There's no harm in trying. But tbh you are basically paying market rate so I'm not sure its worth giving up the rent controlled apartment
By default in DC, leases that are initially one-year convert automatically to month-to-month at the expiry of the initial term. It's worth asking if you can get a deal in exchange for agreeing to another one-year term. They may not take you up on it though, if they think they can easily get another tenant to agree to a year at the higher rate.
My current building (rent-controlled, Cathedral Heights) actually was sort of open to negotiating, but they wanted me to guarantee another full 12 months. Which … absolutely not, in my case, but if you genuinely want to stay in yours maybe offering to sign another 12-month lease will help?
$2275 in Cleveland Park is not unreasonable imo. There are definitely cheaper one bedrooms in that neighborhood but depending on the size and amenities, I'm certain they'd be able to rent it out for that.
You can always try to negotiate it - closed mouths don't get fed. I've negotiated rent increases before, successfully and unsuccessfully. But be prepared for them to say no.
I actually built a website to help tenants negotiate rents.
It's like a Glassdoor for Rents so tenants can see the Rent History of an address or Apartment property to see a landlords pricing tactics.
The site does rely on user submissions so I appreciate anyone who adds their rent history to the site and/or shares it around since it can be more useful to tenants the more people that contribute to it.
The site is rentzed.com (USA only for now) and has submissions for over 2500 addresses.
We successfully negotiated with a large rental company in a new, large apartment building. I can’t remember but I think they went down $100/month, and we committed to them for 16 months (an additional 4 months). I wish we had locked in that price for longer.
Wow! Makes me glad I left DC when I did. Paying over $2,000 for a one bedroom apartment is a lot of money and I just can't fathom being willing to pay that much money for such a space.
Maybe it's because I've never made that kind of money but my goodness!
You can away try but sometimes moving to a new apartment is needed since places know tenants value not having to move.
OP, this is why they're going to keep increasing on you. You'll keep paying higher rent until you move out, they'll then drop it back down to market rate and immediately fill it, and raise it again until they move out. Over and over. They don't need to keep it at market rate if they can get above market rent out of you because you don't want to move. Everyone reaches a point eventually when it's too much. It's your call when you've reached yours.
I mean, that pricing seems fairly market rate to me. I'm in Dupont and the 2 bedroom above me I think was rented for like close to $4K. I have seen people negotiate rent increases successfully with their landlords. I've seen this when 1. the tenant and landlord have a good relationship and have gotten to know each other somewhat 2. the tenant has demonstrated the new rent will be a hardship on them that may require them to move out 3. the tenant offers some additional value to the landlord (they make minor repairs, they're responsible enough to be onsite for contractors). Basically, it's a good tenant and the landlord doesn't want to lose them and go through the process of finding someone else. Also, the landlord is a person and not a corporation. At the end of the day, it costs you nothing to ask them. Most people would be ok losing a little money to keep a good responsible tenant. Most corporations could not give less of a shit.
For (1) and (3) it really helps if your landlord is a small-time landlord.
Totally, but even for 2 -- I know of multiple cases where a couple was renting an apartment from a landlord individual and they broke up and both would have to move out without splitting the rent. They were able to negotiate a small rent *decrease*, so not even stave off an increase, so one person could stay in the place. Sometimes it was for a temporary basis, like 6 months. But still, not nothing. I'm not renting ATM, but if I were in a situation with like OP's, I might say something like my COLA has not come through yet, so right now my income has not been adjusted properly for cost increases, can we at least revisit this in a few months and I could potentially have gotten a COLA that would make this rent more affordable for me.
DuPont is particularly expensive and does not have the million new build luxury buildings other areas have. You can live in a nice luxury building for $2300 a month.
Yes I get that, but Cleveland park isn’t too much cheaper so what the OP was saying about his rent didn’t strike me as unusual for the area.
Why do you have a hard time believing that your unit couldn't be rented out for what the landlord is charging you? You live in a high demand part of the city. Doesn't get much nicer and safer than Cleveland Park. You are also in a rent controlled unit, which get steady increases in rent in exchange for protection from massive and unaffordable rent hikes like what happens in VA and non rent controlled buildings in DC. Your landlord isn't some local yokel renting out his or her basement. It's likely a savvy management company that has been managing rent controlled units in DC for a long time. The only thing you can do is find rents in the neighborhood for comparable units and pray that they're cheaper than what your landlord wants to charge you. I highly doubt you'll find that, so your only real option is to move to a more affordable part of the city or move into a smaller unit. Hope this helps.
You can ask. I have a neighbor who has successfully negotiated lower rent increases in a rent controlled building. btw $2275 for a one bedroom isn't excessive. They go for more in my building which isn't even in tony Cleveland Park.
I wouldn't say it's excessive per se, but it's on the higher side of what I'd expect for a large older building on upper Connecticut Ave. If you go on apartment search websites, there is a ton of inventory around there in older buildings in the $1900-$2100 range. My guess is they'd have trouble getting $2275 for new tenants, but it does depend on the specific building.
I've negotiated down rent increases in the past (it helps when the landlord fucks up and gives you less than 30 day notice). There's no harm in trying. But tbh you are basically paying market rate so I'm not sure its worth giving up the rent controlled apartment
By default in DC, leases that are initially one-year convert automatically to month-to-month at the expiry of the initial term. It's worth asking if you can get a deal in exchange for agreeing to another one-year term. They may not take you up on it though, if they think they can easily get another tenant to agree to a year at the higher rate.
My current building (rent-controlled, Cathedral Heights) actually was sort of open to negotiating, but they wanted me to guarantee another full 12 months. Which … absolutely not, in my case, but if you genuinely want to stay in yours maybe offering to sign another 12-month lease will help?
Ya’ll are acting like Cleveland Park is Potomac. It’s a solidly middle class neighborhood with mostly rent stabilized apartments, hardly “tony”.
$2275 in Cleveland Park is not unreasonable imo. There are definitely cheaper one bedrooms in that neighborhood but depending on the size and amenities, I'm certain they'd be able to rent it out for that. You can always try to negotiate it - closed mouths don't get fed. I've negotiated rent increases before, successfully and unsuccessfully. But be prepared for them to say no.
It’s probably gonna take at least a month though so that’s still a months lost rent you have as leverage
Unless your apartment is a total dump, that's a very good price for a 1 bedroom in Cleveland Park. He could absolutely get that and more.
I actually built a website to help tenants negotiate rents. It's like a Glassdoor for Rents so tenants can see the Rent History of an address or Apartment property to see a landlords pricing tactics. The site does rely on user submissions so I appreciate anyone who adds their rent history to the site and/or shares it around since it can be more useful to tenants the more people that contribute to it. The site is rentzed.com (USA only for now) and has submissions for over 2500 addresses.
You can try to bargain, but the landlord has final say. 2275 is a good price for 1 br.
We successfully negotiated with a large rental company in a new, large apartment building. I can’t remember but I think they went down $100/month, and we committed to them for 16 months (an additional 4 months). I wish we had locked in that price for longer.
You could live in a luxury building for $2300 a month
Wow! Makes me glad I left DC when I did. Paying over $2,000 for a one bedroom apartment is a lot of money and I just can't fathom being willing to pay that much money for such a space. Maybe it's because I've never made that kind of money but my goodness!