What’s an “Annoyance Increase”? Let’s talk rent strategy. If you’ve got tenants already paying close to market rent and you don’t want them shopping around, here’s the move:
You raise the rent just enough that they’re a little annoyed… but not enough to start browsing Zillow.
Why do this? Two big reasons:
- Your costs go up every year.
Property taxes, insurance, maintenance – none of it stands still. You can’t run rentals like a charity. - Avoid the “angry catch-up” problem.
I learned this the hard way: if you skip rent increases for the first couple of renewals and then suddenly start raising rent to catch up to market, tenants get real mad. And they get madder each year as you keep playing catch-up.
Even a small increase, around $20 a year, sets the expectation that there will always be a yearly increase of some kind. Tenants won’t move over twenty bucks, but it prevents resentment later and keeps your income aligned with reality. If I’m doing an annoyance increase, it’s going to be something like $19 or $22, not a round number, so it looks like there’s math behind it. 🤫
So yes, go ahead and make those annoyance increases.
Future you will be glad you did.
And trust me… I’m dreading sending out two big increase letters this week. Those are not going to be just annoyance increases! Stay on top of your rent increases.
When an Annoyance Increase Makes Sense
This strategy is only for properties that are already at or near market rent. I wouldn’t do a $20/month increase on a house that still needs to be brought up to market rent. Annoyance increases make sense on lease renewals for houses you’ve already rehabbed and priced correctly.
So go on and have no fear! Raise the rent by $20 at the next renewal. Your tenant will thank you later when you don’t have to increase it $100 a month all at once in a few years. Okay, they won’t actually thank you, but you get the idea. 😉
Coming soon: The Real Estate Investor Progression Ladder – See where you fit in!
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