Quick - got a rental offer - what counter?

[tarheels]

Remember the house with The Tenants From Hell? Remember that Allstate called and put a family in there whose house burned down? Their house is finished now and they're vacating June 17.

I just listed the house for rent last night on a small local website. I hadn't even gotten around to posting it on the MLS yet (the usual way here), and when I got up this morning, I already had 2 emails about the house. It's listed at $2250 and, while not the most expensive listing, it is up there at the top of the market.

One of the bites sounds like a fabulous family. They'll sign a minimum of a 2 year lease and they REALLY want the house. (We've been exchanging emails all day and the wife mentioned she's been stalking listings for weeks and wants her little boy to be in our school district.) They've offered $1950 and they'll pay for all of July, even though they won't be moving to town until July 20. $1950 is the husband's housing allowance from his company.

Our break even point is $2100.

I'm having 2 opposing thoughts:

1) YAY renters!! Count the $1300 of free rent ($65/day times 20 days) as "good" for the lost rent and just be happy the house is rented.

2) The house rented in just 4 days in January. We had 2 bites today. The house has rented for $2300 for the past 3 years without any problem attracting tenants.

Do we counter back $2100? It's $150 movement each way for both of us, but it means we won't make a penny on the house for 2+ years. Do we counter back with $2200 or $2150 because we know our house will support it?

[sierramist03]

I would counter back at 2100 you shouldnt lose money on a rental and if the family gets a housing allowances wouldn't think 150 would hurt them if they really want the house that would prove it

[mrs.jacinthe]

If you think they'll be great tenants, I'd counter back at $2100 like you said. They're asking for a $300 reduction monthly and meeting them halfway would be reasonable. If they seem demanding or needy (or likely to break things), I'd feel comfortable telling them that rent is not negotiable.

I did the quick math the $1300 is good up front, but you'll still wind up a LOT in the hole at the end of two years. Nearly $6k. So its definitely worth your while to make the counteroffer.

[vanillahip]

Absolutely counter with $2200! That's fantastic that his company is giving them a housing allowance but.... rent is rent! If she wants a specific school district she'll probably have to pay for it, regardless of the landlord. And if his housing allowance is almost 2k his income MUST support an extra $200, if it doesn't they should double-check their budget for sure!

[jewel]

I'd definitely counter at $2200 and go from there. Explain to them that you think they sound like a great match and would be happy to sign a 2 year lease, but really can't afford to take that hit. If you think you'll have other offers at full price, $1950/month would be a total discount of $7200 over 2 years. Without any rental history with them (just a good feeling), that's a huge risk. You could also offer to keep them in mind, but let them know that you plan to list the house for a few weeks to see if you get any other offers.

[tarheels]

Damn damn damn! Just found out we've been zoned away from the really fabulous elementary school to a brand new one opening in August. I just checked the zoning 2 days ago and it says the right one, but you have to go to this really obscure, impossible-to-find page to find your rezoning for 2012-2013. BAH!

The family responded a million times better than I expected. They knew about the rezoning and said "all the good houses" have been rezoned to the new elementary school, so they're going to wait a couple weeks and see if a good house comes up in the old district, but that we're their #1 choice for the new elementary school.

And we told them very plainly that $2100 was our break even and they said they'd pay $2150, voluntarily giving us $50 of profit!

[sassafrass]

May 23, 2012 9:08:11 GMT -5 tarheels said:

Damn damn damn! Just found out we've been zoned away from the really fabulous elementary school to a brand new one opening in August. I just checked the zoning 2 days ago and it says the right one, but you have to go to this really obscure, impossible-to-find page to find your rezoning for 2012-2013. BAH!

The family responded a million times better than I expected. They knew about the rezoning and said "all the good houses" have been rezoned to the new elementary school, so they're going to wait a couple weeks and see if a good house comes up in the old district, but that we're their #1 choice for the new elementary school.

And we told them very plainly that $2100 was our break even and they said they'd pay $2150, voluntarily giving us $50 of profit!

That's great! I hope it works out for you.

[emoflamingo]

Unless there's going to be a huge difference in the elementary schools (there isn't here, in every district they are pretty equal to one another), she'd be silly to wait and risk you renting it out! Here's hoping she settles. I am happy they were good with the compromise. I couldn't imagine asking someone to let me rent their house for less than they have it listed for.