Your renewal letter is an opening offer. Counter it.
Replacing you costs your office weeks of free rent to a stranger. In this market, a prepared tenant asking one precise question has real leverage.
The renewal letter is an opening offer, not a verdict
Most renters read the renewal quote, sigh, and sign. Offices count on it — replacing you costs them a make-ready, vacancy days, and (this year especially) 6–8 weeks of free rent to the next tenant. In a concession-heavy market, a good current tenant asking a reasonable question has real leverage. Here is how to use it without burning anything down.
The five-step counter
1. Time it: respond 45–60 days out. Early enough that both sides have options; late enough that your office is thinking about fall vacancy. If your notice period is 60 days, your decision window is now — this is exactly what early-list timing exists for.
2. Pull the market table. What are comparable units nearby advertising — including their free weeks? This month’s Willow Park table and the full specials guide are your exhibits. Compute the competitors’ effective rent (total cost ÷ 12).
3. Ask one precise question. Not “can you do better?” but: “[Comparable] is advertising [X weeks free], which works out to $[Y] effective. I’d like to stay — can you meet $[Y], or apply a renewal concession that gets close?” Precision signals you’ve done the work; offices respond to tenants who clearly have a real alternative.
4. Trade term for rate. A 14- or 15-month renewal at a lower rate is often sayable-yes for a manager who cannot discount a 12-month. You bank savings; they bank occupancy through next summer.
5. Get any yes in writing before your notice deadline passes. A verbal “we’ll work with you” that arrives after your notice window closes is worth exactly nothing.
If they will not move
Then the market table becomes your moving plan instead of your leverage — and with a third of area properties paying people to move in, “no” from your office is not the worst outcome this year. Run your two best alternatives through the fine-print check, and if your renewal quote crossed $1,500, spend thirty seconds on the buy math first — some renewal letters are really a message that it’s time to stop renting.