There’s a saying that everything and everyone is for sale, and everything and everyone has their price. With that in mind, making sure you get a fair price on real estate, whether buying or renting, is a critical part of your financial future.
Anyone who has looked for properties for rent in Adelaide can tell you it’s a landlord’s market. But don’t be discouraged, you can still find cheap rentals in Perth if you look enough.
In today’s article, let’s examine how rent can be negotiated in Adelaide and what the law says regarding rental properties in South Australia.
Everything Is Negotiable
Anyone who has purchased anything outside of a Woolworths can tell you that prices are negotiable. Our market is one of supply and demand, and if there is a high supply and a low demand, you can expect to negotiate a lower price. Even with cheap units for rent in Adelaide, your landlord might still be willing to lower the price. Of course, the opposite is true, as well.
Negotiating rent isn’t much different from negotiating anything else—it all comes down to who’s willing to budge first. An old adage in the negotiation game says that he who speaks first, loses. That is to say, if my car is for sale for $5,000, nobody will come to me and offer six grand for it. The same is true for rental properties–if the landlord says the rental price is $350 per week, then it’s your prerogative to offer him $325 if you can find the justification.
Tips for Negotiating
There are a thousand and one ways to negotiate the rental price of a property. A lot of it starts with the motivations of the landlord—if you can assess that a landlord hasn’t had luck finding a renter, you’re in a stronger position to ask for a better rate.
Alternatively, in high-demand markets, you may be able to negotiate the rent down by offering to pay several weeks or months in advance if you have the financial means to do so.
Renting in Adelaide is relatively expensive and negotiating isn’t always easy, but if you’re creative, you can find some ways forward. For example, maybe you have a trade skill–are you a carpenter, or do you have experience with landscaping? In exchange for lower rent, you can offer to help fix up and improve the property which can increase the property’s value and marketability.
Do you have another skill that you could assist the landlord with, thereby reducing their need to worry about these things? Unless you’re dealing with a faceless corporation, it never hurts to tug at the heart strings a bit, as well. Are you a college grad who’s just entered the job market, but your fiancé has six months until graduation? It doesn’t hurt to explain these personal situations to see if you can find some wiggle room in your rental costs.
What Does the Law Say?
The law is relatively straightforward—a landlord can charge what anyone is willing to pay. Investing in rental real estate in Adelaide is, after all, done to make money, so you really can’t blame the landlord for trying to get the highest possible price.
However, there are some laws protecting tenants from increases in rent. Landlords must provide you with sixty days notice before rent can be increased. Furthermore, the landlord may not attempt to increase the rent for a minimum of twelve months from the date the original rental agreement was signed. After the first year, the landlord may increase the rent no more than every twelve months and, once again, only with sixty days of notice.
While it’s never fun to end up in court with your landlord, it should be understood that a rental agreement is a binding legal document and there are requirements that both parties must fulfil. Failure to meet any of these conditions constitutes a breach of that contract, and you should understand your rights fully before signing on the dotted line.
Be sure to read over each line of the rental agreement and have an honest talk with your landlord about both your intentions–this establishes trust between you and makes any future dealings much easier.
