I am moving out of my current apartment at the end of this month. I voluntarily showed it to a young couple whose ad I saw on my local Craigslist (Chicago).
This is a one bedroom apartment. They want to rent it and have a roommate to cut costs. Understandable, but the realty agency that owns this building wants to charge them more than I pay ($700/mo. incl. steam heat and water). On the basis of this I assume that the couple has told the agency their roommate intentions.
Back when I moved in the agency stressed very sternly that it was being rented only to me, no roommates. That said, the landlord and landlady (employees of the agency) told me when I was having trouble making rent that I could get a roomie. Also, the apartment across the hall from me has been rented by families of four.
This is a good starter apartment, but it is not without its flaws. The building has a flat roof and the apartment has a top floor; consequently there are occasional leak/moisture problems. Haven't had any drips but I have had the ceiling peel and there are cracks and water stains.
There is a rear porch, but it's not well insulated or winterized. I had a space heater in there, and my power bills went to well over $100 (they're normally well under $100). There is no thermostat in the apartment, so heat comes on when it comes on.
Also the water pressure can be problematic. I could be taking a shower and if too many other residents are also showering, no more water for me. This was allegedly worked on during my first week here (three years ago) as evidenced by these pics taken by my old phone cam: Text Text but it was never really fully fixed.
In fairness I should have bugged them about it some more, but I got lazy and gave up. Regardless, that's not the issue here; read on for the big question.
Tonight the couple emailed me and asked me to send them a list of flaws with this place so they could negotiate a lower rent.
I could do this, or I could tell the agency what needs to be looked at.
My feeling is that it would be more right of me to tell the agency what needs attention first. I don't think I'd tell them that their new tenants want to use the conditions as leverage, nor would I keep the list of flaws from the couple.
What would you do? Tell the agency first? Tell the couple first? Not tell one or the other? Just curious as to the ATOT perspective on this.
Cliffs
- moving out of this apartment at the end of this month
- showed it to a couple who want to use it for three people
- agency wants to charge them more than what I've been paying
- couple wants to negotiate on basis of apartment's flaws
- couple has asked me to send them list of flaws
- should I send the list to the couple first, or the agency first?
- what would you do?
Feel free to ask questions if I've left anything out.
This is a one bedroom apartment. They want to rent it and have a roommate to cut costs. Understandable, but the realty agency that owns this building wants to charge them more than I pay ($700/mo. incl. steam heat and water). On the basis of this I assume that the couple has told the agency their roommate intentions.
Back when I moved in the agency stressed very sternly that it was being rented only to me, no roommates. That said, the landlord and landlady (employees of the agency) told me when I was having trouble making rent that I could get a roomie. Also, the apartment across the hall from me has been rented by families of four.
This is a good starter apartment, but it is not without its flaws. The building has a flat roof and the apartment has a top floor; consequently there are occasional leak/moisture problems. Haven't had any drips but I have had the ceiling peel and there are cracks and water stains.
There is a rear porch, but it's not well insulated or winterized. I had a space heater in there, and my power bills went to well over $100 (they're normally well under $100). There is no thermostat in the apartment, so heat comes on when it comes on.
Also the water pressure can be problematic. I could be taking a shower and if too many other residents are also showering, no more water for me. This was allegedly worked on during my first week here (three years ago) as evidenced by these pics taken by my old phone cam: Text Text but it was never really fully fixed.
In fairness I should have bugged them about it some more, but I got lazy and gave up. Regardless, that's not the issue here; read on for the big question.
Tonight the couple emailed me and asked me to send them a list of flaws with this place so they could negotiate a lower rent.
I could do this, or I could tell the agency what needs to be looked at.
My feeling is that it would be more right of me to tell the agency what needs attention first. I don't think I'd tell them that their new tenants want to use the conditions as leverage, nor would I keep the list of flaws from the couple.
What would you do? Tell the agency first? Tell the couple first? Not tell one or the other? Just curious as to the ATOT perspective on this.
Cliffs
- moving out of this apartment at the end of this month
- showed it to a couple who want to use it for three people
- agency wants to charge them more than what I've been paying
- couple wants to negotiate on basis of apartment's flaws
- couple has asked me to send them list of flaws
- should I send the list to the couple first, or the agency first?
- what would you do?
Feel free to ask questions if I've left anything out.