Thinking about negotiation?
Discover the key to successful negotiation and how to manage expectations from the outset.
Being fully prepared by making sure you have all the evidence to hand is key to good negotiation, and the inspection reports will be the most important evidence. Managing everyone’s expectations at this point is the basis to start from – does the tenant understand what their responsibilities were and what they did not do, or is the landlord looking to replace something at full cost to the tenant without considering reasonable wear and tear? These are good starting points to discuss and think about.
Wear and tear is a topic that is open to interpretation and is decided on a case-by-case basis depending on the facts. Giving your tenants good advice, managing the relationship and everyone’s expectations throughout, together with having quality evidence will reduce the likelihood of a formal resolution. Key to all of this is being prepared before starting the discussion and being prepared to listen and be open to compromise.
