Meghan and I have been offered a unique opportunity by our landlord and we’re turning to the brilliant minds of the SplittingTens readers to guide us.
Here’s the Deal
There are three units in our building and we’re the top one. The bottom two are Airbnbs that our landlord rents out.
They want our unit to be an Airbnb.
Our current lease isn’t up until the end of April 2024, but they have offered us a free month’s rent ($3000) if we’re willing to move three doors over to a different apartment that they also own which is the same layout as ours. They’ve also offered to cover up to $1000 in moving costs.
The Pros
Having movers carry our goods down two flights of stairs, down the sidewalk 10 feet, then up two flights of stairs into the new space seems pretty easy. Moving is always more of a hassle than I expect, but this is as easy as it gets.
We could have everything moved over in a few hours and fully set up as it is now within a few days. You’d have a very hard time finding a legal way to make $3000 easier than that.
The Cons
It would be a huge pain in the ass to pack everything up then reconfigure the new apartment entirely. Furthermore, we aren’t renewing our lease in April, so all this just to move again in 8 months? Pretty fucking annoying.
Plus, there are pieces of furniture that may not be able to get out of this apartment. If, for example, we can’t get the couch out, that would leave us with literally no couch. I am NOT trying to buy a new couch, move it in, then move it out again.
The Kicker
If possible, we actually want to move out earlier than April. Given that they want us out as soon as possible, I’m trying to come up with something where we benefit by ending the lease early.
If I tip my hand and tell them we want to move earlier, they might say ‘great, you want to leave, we want you to leave, let’s agree to part!’.
But if we suggest “Hey, we’re not planning to renew, so maybe we can leave in December instead of April if you give us a $1500 credit“, that could be a savvy move.
Negotiators of the world, what do you recommend? I’m typically not a hard baller but this is a gift. We have clear leverage over people who are willing to throw money at a problem to make it go away. Opportunities like this don’t come knocking often!
Flip the script. Buy the building from them.
I would try the work the December lease break / $1,500 deal, or get them to pay for you to move. Don’t forget you have to change your drivers license, bills, credit cards, etc. Its such a pain in the ass, and for only 4 months, so not worth it. Throw in some free roofing tools and tell them you’ll rent all the Airbnb’s for your out of town wedding guests.
I think you’ve got the right idea!
If you are trying to get out of there before the end of the year, the move down the street doesn’t seem to be worth it.
When I was living in SF, they forced me out of my unit because they needed to do a friggin’ seismic retrofit for earthquakes. I was LIVID and told them I’d refuse to leave unless they compensated me. So, they moved me for free and gave me a free months rent (they kept me in the same building – just a different unit).
It turns out, they moved me to a much nicer unit. So, when it came time to move me BACK to my old unit, I just pulled the same stunt. I told them I simply wont leave the new unit. I like the new apartment better, and it’s their fault for making me move in the first place. They said “we can’t allow you to stay in the new unit. It’s much more rent that we’d lose.”
In the end, I got a second months rent free and they moved me back to my old, shittier unit.
Isn’t Tony like a tenant lawyer? You should ask him!
Take the deal, and then rent out the Airbnb between now and April so you don’t have to move your stuff
@Dave, useless
@Sam, great address point for added leverage! Wedding idea is interesting…
@Slade, so I need to play hardball, love the energy
@Rabs, I cannot make sense of this comment
Update is that they want us to move on November 1. I may come back saying “We’ll move out entirely on November 1 if you credit our last month. Otherwise we don’t feel like moving and have no problem staying until April.”