# Negotiating your yearly rent!



## samyb (Feb 21, 2012)

Hello Girls and Guys,

For someone that decides to pay his/her yearly rent with one payment (1 cheque payment), can you negotiate your rent? Is it something that people do here in Dubai? How much can you negotiate (10%, 20%...)? Any negotiation tactics you may share? 

Thank you for your help and guidance as always 

Samy B


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## samyb (Feb 21, 2012)

*No negotiation*

It seems that nobody negotiate their rent :confused2:
Still waiting for your comments


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## m1key (Jun 29, 2011)

It depends on demand in the area/building you are looking at and the starting price. It will also depend on the landlord (some are quite deluded!). Depending on the asking price you might get 5-10k AED off with one cheque. Always worth trying for more as the worst they can say is no. 

Look at the Guide to renting an apartment thread at the top of the 1st page in the forum. There is lots of info there that will be useful to you.


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## XDoodlebugger (Jan 24, 2012)

samyb said:


> Hello Girls and Guys,
> 
> For someone that decides to pay his/her yearly rent with one payment (1 cheque payment), can you negotiate your rent? Is it something that people do here in Dubai? How much can you negotiate (10%, 20%...)? Any negotiation tactics you may share?
> 
> ...


Didn't work for me. The landlord was asking AED120,000, one check. He turned down AED110,000 from several people including me.

I liked the view and it was covered by my company so what the heck? If I would have an allowance as opposed to the company just paying then I might have gone elsewhere.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

Some landlords would rather the property was empty for eternity, earning them zero income than appear weak by giving away as much as a 5% discount. 

I had one potential landlord who had an apartment that had been empty for months but he refused to so much as clean it until I'd paid a year's rent up front. 

And then there's the other one who upon finally getting someone to agree to pay 20k over the going market rate, and receiving the security deposit, decided he wanted even more.


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

Do many landlords ask for a years payment so they don thave to return cheques when the tenants starts to face problems because either they did not pay service charges or do not have title deeds ?


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## m1key (Jun 29, 2011)

Tropicana said:


> Do many landlords ask for a years payment so they don thave to return cheques when the tenants starts to face problems because either they did not pay service charges or do not have title deeds ?


More likely it is time for an annual change of car and they still need to pay off last years. That and to make it less worthwhile to do a runner...


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## captaindubai (Jun 6, 2012)

Anybody knows what happens if you pay a year up front and then the landlord disappears (not maintaining the property) or, even worse, gets repossessed because not paid the mortgage?

Are there insurances you can take out to guard against this?


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## workyticket (Jul 30, 2012)

captaindubai said:


> Anybody knows what happens if you pay a year up front and then the landlord disappears (not maintaining the property) or, even worse, gets repossessed because not paid the mortgage?
> 
> Are there insurances you can take out to guard against this?


I could be wrong but I understand that this isn't that common in Dubai due to the penalties for doing so i.e. a stretch in prison for not paying your mortgage. 

All depends on who your landlord is though I suppose.


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## m1key (Jun 29, 2011)

captaindubai said:


> Anybody knows what happens if you pay a year up front and then the landlord disappears (not maintaining the property) or, even worse, gets repossessed because not paid the mortgage?
> 
> Are there insurances you can take out to guard against this?


For bank repo they have to honour the tenancy.

For maintenance it is fingers crossed. Good landlords you wont have a problem with, the bad ones you can try and chase, but given the lack of rules or enforcement of them, you'll likely not get anywhere.

I'm not sure paying in multiple cheques helps much anyway. You try to withhold and the cheque bounces, you'll likely come off worse anyway. You can go to RERA and open a case, but there is a cost to this and no guarantees the right outcome will prevail...or indeed the landlord will abide by the decision.

The property market is a little more wild west than many of us have been used to back home...

Best advice is research and don't just accept what you are promised will happen. Make sure you are happy with the condition of the property before handing the cheques over. If it is in iffy condition to start with, then ask yourself why it hasn't been fixed. All common sense stuff.


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## captaindubai (Jun 6, 2012)

m1key said:


> For bank repo they have to honour the tenancy.
> 
> For maintenance it is fingers crossed. Good landlords you wont have a problem with, the bad ones you can try and chase, but given the lack of rules or enforcement of them, you'll likely not get anywhere.
> 
> ...


Thanks to both of you. Good news mainly.


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