Adventures in Rental Real Estate, Part 2: Packing Up and Moving Out

In my previous post, I had mentioned that I will be moving because rent negotiations with the landlord fell apart. He wanted $2000 a month, a $200 increase for the 2 bedroom 1 bath in Alameda, and I had counteroffered $1,900 per month for a 1 year lease, or $2,000 a month for a 6 month lease starting in December. The offers were refused and the landlord asked to have us out, and my little family found new digs and are in the midst of readying our move to the new apartment.

I ended up cruising Craigslist yesterday as I normally do from time to time and found our current residence listed for rental. In case the link stops working, I have taken a screenshot of it for posterity — click on the image below to see the details.

Note the asking rent price is $1,900 a month, exactly the offer he refused from me. Ha! Do I feel vindicated that I was making him a very reasonable offer? YES! I made him a very reason able offer that was based on hours of doing my research on the rental market in the Bay Area, even beyond Alameda. The landlord is just plain greedy wanting the place as is for $2,000 a month at 1 year lease.

Now that the economy has taken another dive as the unemployment numbers keep climbing in the Bay Area, I don’t even know if it is reasonable to believe that the landlord will get $1,900 for a 2 bedroom 1 bath with no dishwasher, no disposal, and old electric wiring (which forces me to dry my hair in the kitchen instead of the bathroom). It is an old victorian without certain modern amenities, after all. Even if you are fond of Victorian architecture (which I was), there are better deals to be had.

Here’s a quick search on Craigslist for cat-friendly 2 bedrooms in Alameda.

The first listing is a 2 bedroom 2 bath Victorian which appears to be in better shape (according to the photos) and also comes with new stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and dishwasher, priced at $1,795 a month (slightly cheaper than what I am currently paying the current landlord). Compare that to a 2 bedroom 1 bath with none of those amenities at $1,900? Having seen this, I am more confident than ever that my offer was plenty reasonable. I think our landlord will either lose money or have to lower their price, and either way they won’t get a better offer than what they refused from us. Ha!

Lesson for landlords: don’t be too greedy — if you have a good tenant, don’t be unreasonable when raising the rent!