Every market is different. Some markets have rental prices that have taken into consideration haggling and negotiation. In Sweden, the majority of the landlords actually set the price that they can accept and don't build in margins for haggling and negotiation.
We often see a disconnect between the expats that come to look at properties and the landlords. It is important to only look at properties that actually fit your budget. If your budget is 25.000 SEK per month, only look at properties up to 25.000 SEK per month. If you see a property that is marketed at 27.000 SEK for instance, ask the owner prior to the showing of the property if it is acceptable for you to come and look with a budget at 25.000 SEK per month. As we have a limited rental market, it is crucial to get off on the right foot.
Swedish landlords generally do not appreciate potential tenants looking at properties that do not fit their budgets nor are they open to getting a bid 30% less than their asking price. The market simply is not that elastic. Some Swedish landlords may actually take offense and decide that they do not want to rent their property to that tenant all together, even after they return with a bid reflecting the asking price. At that point, the damage is already done.
To those expats that have a relocation agent, we cannot stress the importance enough of heeding their advice when it comes to putting in a bid for a property. They generally have a very good sense of what is possible and what is not. These are cultural differences that are hard to decipher as a newcomer to a country. Swedes as a whole are not good negotiators and perhaps that is why we easily get offended when the shoe is on the other foot as well. On the plus side what you see is what you get, price wise. On the selling market, it is a whole different ballgame all together and another equation is applied, there asking prices generally are 30% less than what the seller is willing to accept.
-Thank you FreeDigitalPhotos.net for the photo used in this post.
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