What if you could turn your rent increase into a rent reduction?

FBI negotiator Chris Voss's negotiation techniques have empowered thousands to take control of such situations.

Chris Voss spent 24 years as FBI lead hostage negotiator and has gone on to train more than 100,000 people in negotiation techniques, including CEOs, entrepreneurs, and government officials.

In "Never Split the Difference," Voss shares the story of one of his student, Mishary, who successfully negotiated a rent decrease when his landlord tried to raise the rent at renewal.

Here's exactly how he did it:

Chris Voss’s Rent Negotiation Framework

According to Chris, it's crucial to have a detailed plan; and the best way to prepare is by following the Ackerman Model.

The Ackerman Model recommends starting with an extreme anchor, using calibrated questions, and making well-defined offers. Your offers should follow a decreasing raise pattern and end on a non-round number.

Choose a target price.
Offer 65% of your target price.
Offer three raises, at 85%, 95%, and finally, 100% of your target price: Offer a precise, strange number.
Use calibrated questions along the way to say "no" without saying "no".

On to the Negotiation

The landlord proposes a new rent of $2,100 per month. Let's see how Mishary handled the situation.

Step #1: Prepare Your Ackerman Plan

The Ackerman Model is a framework for preparing offers and incremental counter offers at strategic times. This strategy convinces the landlord that they are squeezing out the best possible deal from you.

Choose a target price. Mishary wanted to pay $1,830 after examining his finances and local rent prices.
Offer 65% of your target price. Determine your extreme anchor. Mishary’s extreme anchor was $1,190, which is 65% of his target price.
Offer three raises, at 85%, 95%, and finally, 100% of your target price: Offer a precise, strange number. Outline your incremental raises. Mishary planned his raises at $1,556 (85%), $1,738 (95%), and $1,829 (100% of his target price - a precise, non-round number).
Use calibrated questions along the way to say "no" without saying "no".

Step #2: Express Appreciation and Set the Stage

Start the conversation positively. When meeting with the landlord, Mishary emphasized how much he enjoyed living in the building and his wish to renew, but noted the comparable buildings in the area with lower rents.

Step #3: Make Your Extreme Anchor Offer

Then, make your initial extreme anchor offer of $1,190. The landlord is likely to reject this, but it sets the stage for negotiation.

The student asked his first calibrated question:

“How am I supposed to pay $250 extra per month?”

Step #4: Incremental Raises and Calibrated Questions

Next, move to your first incremental raise:

“I understand that you have a great building and could be charging a premium, but it’s simply outside my price range....I could go up to $1,556.”

The landlord didn’t accept this figure, which the student expected. But he wisely avoided getting pulled into a tit-for-tat. Instead, he asked another calibrated question:

“How much does it cost to refurbish an apartment after a tenant leaves?”

The landlord responded that it could cost up to $2,000 just to clean and renovate the apartment to get it ready for a new tenant.

The student knew he had an opening!

Continue with calibrated questions to keep the dialogue open and gather more information. Follow with your second raise:

He pointed out that not reaching an agreement meant that the landlord could face both the refurbishing costs and the foregone income from rent.
“Considering the market rates and my situation, how about $1,738?”

Now, the landlord was thinking in terms of loss aversion.

He then came back with an offer of $1,950.

Step #5: Use Labels to Say “No” Without Saying “No”

This time, the student used a label to say “no” without actually saying it, by telling the landlord:

“That offer is very generous, but I still can’t make that number work. It seems like you’d prefer to roll the dice and risk leaving it unrented than work this out with me.”

The landlord gave the student the “no” he was looking for by saying, “No, that’s not the case at all, we want to work out a renewal with you, we just can’t offer below market.”

Step #6: Present Your Precise Final Offer

At last, the student pulled out his final, non-round number. He told the landlord:

“All right, I see you’re being reasonable and working hard to address my concerns. After running the numbers, the highest I can manage is $1,829.”

The landlord was impressed with the precision. “You seem very precise about that figure,” he observed. “I think we can make that number work.”

And bingo. Follow this framework to turn a rent increase into a rent cut.

Facing a Rent Increase? Learn How to Pay Less Instead

Learn how to negotiate your rent renewal rate by following hostage negotiator Chris Voss's framework and the Ackerman Model. Discover a step-by-step guide with a real-life example that shows you how to effectively lower your rent.

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