Real estate is a bunch of smoke and mirrors. Many landlords are struggling financially, giving you the upper hand as tenant. Most buildings in Mexico City are condos, so each unit is individually owned even in the new shiny buildings. Big operations are taking off like Be Grand - we recommend avoiding those properties entirely as it's you vs. a corporation when you want to get a repair done and they will not let you negotiate the lease.
Your landlord is likely going to fit one of these profiles:
- Generational wealth, owns many properties, lives in Polanco (if this is your landlord, stop reading here - they have plenty of cash)
- Family who bought a second property as an investment. They usually have their own car payments and other expenses to deal with. When they have personal financial emergencies or have to make repairs to their own home, they start to feel the squeeze and this is when they ghost you on repairs.
- Single owner who inherited the family property and never worked on their own so your rent is their only income. These are the worst on repairs and the best targets for forcing their hand on fixing that leaky toilet or anything else you need help with.
- The owner partially inherited the condo and is splitting it with 5 cousins, everyone gets pennies of your rent so they neglect building upkeep.
When your landlord is tight on cash, you are more likely to win these types of negotiations:
- Rent increases. You are paying them steady rent. Just say no! They already know something you might not - it takes about 2 months to get a new tenant. That's 16% of their annual income lost because you left in search of a better deal - and their new tenant might not be as reliable about paying rent as you. They're better off keeping you than trying to raise the rent and lose out on two months of income. If you need help try our Lease Negotiation Service.
- Repairs. This might seem counterintuitive...how can you apply pressure if they can't afford the repair? Because you have the leverage to make their situation much worse financially - you can defer your rent to the government indefinitely until they fix it. If they don't listen, try our Deferred Rent Service.