Calling IAC Renters - help me renegotiate

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
[quote author="SoCal78" date=1225757685]"If they are advertising market rents on craigslist then that probably means that your complex has a relatively high occupancy rate. I know that my complex is 93% leased (or maybe even lower) which is probably why I got 9% off the market rate. "



The manager said the vacancy rate here is 8%.</blockquote>
With that kind of vacancy, they should be offering 6-9% off the market rate for new movins. For example, my complex is about 93% occupied and my rent of $1,445 is about an 8% discount to the market rate of $1,575 of the unit I rent. I'm sure that renewals won't get the best deals, but at least you have an idea of what the bottom of the barrel pricing is.
 
[quote author="bltserv" date=1225764299]SoCal78



I too was able to get about $100.00 off my IAC after trying every angle I could think of back in May.

Been at my IAC just over 2 years now. I signed a 12 month for that $ 100.00 off. Its better

than nothing and moving.



One item to be careful of. Watch your conratct for the Lease Break Fee. They will try and up it to $ 3000.00. When I renegotiated I specifically asked "any other changes or ammendments"?. The agent said. "No other changes" then low and behold the lease break fee doubles.

Needless to say they fixed it back down but gave the lame excuse that the IAC wants to try

and change that fee by default.



Think of it this way. At least we didnt lose $ 100K in equity this year like my GF did

on her house.</blockquote>
Were you already paying under the market rate for your apt when they offered you the $100/month off for your renewal?
 
Bltsrv,



I'm surprised you were able to negotiate the lease break fee back to what it was originally. Several months back IAC did an across the board increase on lease break fees for all their properties that were supposedly non negotiable. I'm guessing the fact that you got the consultant to spcifically quote "no other changes" helped your cause. But I would be shocked if anyone else pulled this off.



SoCal, a $100 decrease is nothing to be disappointed about. If I had to guess you're likely in the 95th percentile of IAC's best lease renewal deals if you take advantage of it.
 
[quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1225766489][quote author="bltserv" date=1225764299]SoCal78



I too was able to get about $100.00 off my IAC after trying every angle I could think of back in May.

Been at my IAC just over 2 years now. I signed a 12 month for that $ 100.00 off. Its better

than nothing and moving.



One item to be careful of. Watch your conratct for the Lease Break Fee. They will try and up it to $ 3000.00. When I renegotiated I specifically asked "any other changes or ammendments"?. The agent said. "No other changes" then low and behold the lease break fee doubles.

Needless to say they fixed it back down but gave the lame excuse that the IAC wants to try

and change that fee by default.



Think of it this way. At least we didnt lose $ 100K in equity this year like my GF did

on her house.</blockquote>
Were you already paying under the market rate for your apt when they offered you the $100/month off for your renewal?</blockquote>


Yes, I was under market rate when I moved in. We came to see another, smaller, apartment and they offered us this one for $25 more than the one we came to visit. But since then, market rate on my apartment has dropped $60 (this is since May.)
 
SoCal thank you for keeping us up to date, my lease expires in 2 months so I'm going to take a serious look at private rentals if our renewal price doesn't make sense.



Sure there are pitfalls in renting from a private party but they are still worth considering because they're very competitively priced compared to IAC rates...

These private properties should deffinately be taken into account when calculating rental values, not just IAC's "market value"
 
ABSOLUTELY. Great point, Peter. I would strongly encourage any future renters to seriously consider a private rental. At first, I had decided not to consider them after the horror stories of rent-skimming... but now I think we have enough information to do our homework and know what to look for. So far from what I'm experiencing, the "premium" you pay to live in an IAC is not worth it. The over-crowded parking lots, the small garages and lack of storage, the neighbors stacked three-high... I am having regrets. Unless they can make it a better value, I'm not so sure I am going to stay. I think TIC should probably start coming to terms with reality. There are just so many other rentals out there right now to take advantage of. The leasing office manager made it a point to talk down the other management companies by saying "they don't care about their tenants" -- yeah, well does IAC? I didn't mention it earlier but she also tried to snow me with TIC having financial problems too, not being able to finish out P.S., having to lay people off, and therefore not offering much concessions. It's timing, not hardship. They must think we have "stupid" written across our foreheads.



Edited to add: WTH are they thinking. I just realized that there are SIX new IAC complexes all near the Woodbury Town Center (Mirasol, Palmeras, Esperanza, the one in Woodbury, and 2 behind the Home Depot.) Seven if you count mine. So they have an 8% vacancy rate here and what do they do? Keep building.
 
Well SoCal, I think the managers and LA's are good people working in a horrible economy but we are in the same Boat as they are...except they are tied to IAC, we're not...



The other thing that bothers me is the increased lease break charge, in an economy such as this we need to be mobile, if I get laid off I want to beable to give my Ikea furniture away and leave to wherever I get offered a job! That's going to take a great deal of the advantage of renting away...



But anyway, I took a quick look on Craigs with Irvine and $1800-2000 as the criteria...once I'd plowed through all the hundreds of IAC ads I was stunned by how much more I can get for less rent..



I'm wondering if IAC has a whole dept of people who's job it is to flood CL with Ads?
 
I agree, they are good people and just doing as they're told. I just tried that search criteria you mentioned - $1800-$2k, and a minimum of 2 bedrooms. Craig's yields <em>1,096 results</em> in the Irvine area. Even when you take out the IAC properties, that's a lot of competition.
 
Either post here or PM me and some of the regular IHBers before you consider renting from a private LL. We will get you the full background check you deserve before you pay rent to skimmer. Most LLs in good shape would be happy to have you as tenants. I know I would, but Costa Mesa isn't so much an option for you, and being a good LL who keeps his tenants happy, I have no vacancies. Although... I would have to charge Petah a wanker fee if he ever did rent from me. :cheese:
 
Here's an example, for $70 less than what I'm paying now I could rent <a href="http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/apa/900710241.html">this one</a>.

It's 200 sq ft bigger than my place, it has an extra Garage plus, -now get this - it's a Gated community!! I could post a Pic of Graph in the Guard Shack and order them to keep him out!!



Woohoo!! :coolgrin:
 
[quote author="Cuatro" date=1225766853]Bltsrv,



I'm surprised you were able to negotiate the lease break fee back to what it was originally. Several months back IAC did an across the board increase on lease break fees for all their properties that were supposedly non negotiable. I'm guessing the fact that you got the consultant to specifically quote "no other changes" helped your cause. But I would be shocked if anyone else pulled this off.



SoCal, a $100 decrease is nothing to be disappointed about. If I had to guess you're likely in the 95th percentile of IAC's best lease renewal deals if you take advantage of it.</blockquote>


Cuatro.



Thats exactly what happen. I specifically asked about any changes after we agreed on the price of the new lease. I was paying a little above market. And I was willing to move into a next door unit that was priced lower on Craigslist. Just a little bit larger floorplan but less windows. I think the IAC is going to need to keep in touch with the market. Especially with all those new units in Woodbury. I just dont see the job market in this economy supporting all this growth right now. If anything it may be a couple years for these new IAC complex`s to reach full occupancy. And as I have mentioned before. In my 2 years in Quail.

It really seems like its getting more and more seasonal. Nobody is staying very long at all.

So either people are braking a whole bunch of leases or they are all getting the expensive month to month rates.
 
Not sure if this will help, but my friend at Sonoma Aisle said the vacancy rate is at 12 % including tenants who have not responded to renewals.
 
The lease on our 3 bed townhome at San Carlo is up Dec 31st, we got the letter last week that indicated they were laying a $25 increase on us --- from $2450 to $2475. I called back and told them to try again. The following day the Community Manager left me a VM say that she had "GREAT NEWS!!" --- they could give us the same $2450 for a 12 month lease....But that we needed to sign in 3 days. Whatever. They post lower prices than that for our model on Craigslist, and we have been here for 3 years. Talk about insulting to our intelligence.



I didn't even call her back. I'll wait until 31 days before my lease is up, and then give my notice. We have already found a pp SFR to rent in West Irvine from friends that we trust. Glad to be done with IAC.
 
[quote author="CK" date=1225849200] and we have been here for 3 years. Talk about insulting to our intelligence.</blockquote>


They should have offered you the longevity discount! If you've been in the same unit for at least 3 years then you qualify.
 
[quote author="SoCal78" date=1225851771][quote author="CK" date=1225849200] and we have been here for 3 years. Talk about insulting to our intelligence.</blockquote>


They should have offered you the longevity discount! If you've been in the same unit for at least 3 years then you qualify.</blockquote>


I mentioned the discount in my conversation. They said "but market rent on your unit is $2580" so we are giving you a 5% discount from market. When I pointed out that they were advertising on Craigslist for $2380-$2400 she said "well, you know that you always get better deals when you first move in, and then we increase you to market in subsequent years". I then asked when was the last time they assesed the "market", because I thought they were out of touch with it. She said that is done at "corporate" and she didn't know.



Right on. That's all I needed to hear.
 
Keep us updated CK. Even though it sounds like you are going to that private rental, please let us know what the IAC tries to do in December to keep you when you are getting ready to move.
 
If you all just boycotted or moved out of IAC properties for the next 12-months maybe you'd get a better rate in Nov 2009, if you were so inclinded to move back.
 
[quote author="norcaljeff" date=1225882089]If you all just boycotted or moved out of IAC properties for the next 12-months maybe you'd get a better rate in Nov 2009, if you were so inclinded to move back.</blockquote>


Well, I think all we all want is a fair deal, like I said, we're in the same economy as IAC but we will see what happens.
 
Just wanted to let everyone know that we're currently renting in Woodbury and our lease is coming up in a few months. We received a letter stating a $35 a month increase with a 1 year lease extension. Emailed them back and told them that I saw that there was over 30+ units available, the economy was weak, and brand new places across the street were renting for $75 less than what we were paying. Within an hour of opening up they agreed to keep our rent the same and offered us shorter lease terms if we wanted. Win win deal.
 
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