Is haggling of any kind appropriate when surveying a rental property?

This is negotiable.
Absolutely.

Everything is negotiable, especially if there is more rental property available than there are renters to rent it.

However, don’t burn any bridges by being offensive.

Agreed.. absolutely acceptable, as long as you haggle nicely and aren’t overly aggressive. For example, I’ve known people to get a discount on their rent for taking care of the yard work. Or if a part of the property/condo isn’t up to snuff, you can inquire about that, too. Sometimes landlords will pay for materials if you’re willing to do the work, also, such as patching or painting a wall, or something else that would improve property value.

Absolutely. Some landlords will be receptive to negotiations, but others will look at you like you’re nuts.
Be prepared to point out the prices of similar apartments at similar locations and use it as a haggling point (“I really like this unit, but for the same price I could rent on X street and that complex has a poo/assigned parking/free coffee…”).

all great answers so far, I guess the only thing I’m unsure about is what to do if @Likeradar said happens, if I get an “absolutely not” and a grumpy face. I don’t want to burn any bridges just by bringing it up you know?

poo/assigned parking? I shudder to think!

Totally. i’ve done it before.

at the place im currently at, i suggested that if i bring my own washer/dryer in, could i have a drop in the monthly rent. they went for it. it cost me nothing – i already had a w/d – but it got me a savings equal to a utility bill a month. not too shabby.

@Darwin Come on, who wouldn’t want an apartment with poo included? stupid typo. :)

I thought it meant that parking was assigned on the basis of each tenant’s poo.

@Darwin @Likeradar eat some corn before meeting the landlord….?

You mean like this?

It’s all in the way you ask. I don’t think there’s anything you can’t suggest politely. Just be prepared that the answer might be “no.” I don’t think it would damage your relationship with a landlord as long as you don’t act as though you feel entitled to whatever it is you’re asking for.

Everything is negotiable, but some landlords are hesitant to negotiate because they are worried that they may get into some sort of fair housing trouble if they give you a better rate than they give someone who didn’t bother trying to negotiate. It is totally legal, but it just makes some landlords who have been trained to be sensitive to fair housing nervous.

Haggling is almost always appropiate. and will work in many more places than you would think, not just garage sales and what not.

spending 4k on a new tv in a shop? i bet you can get 200 bucks cut off and a free mounting bracket if you try.

time to renew your insurance? casually mention that you are going to check out the competition first.

specially at the moment with the economy in the state it is, people will take what they can get.

It’s a given, they will probably be suprised if you don’t.

of course it is, give ‘em hell.
They will screw you to a lease for every penny they can squeeze out
remember YOU are the customer, ok?

it didn’t go well guys, I threw out a number and he said No before I was done speaking, and didn’t make a counter offer. He explained that he just lowered it from a previously higher number to get someone in before he left for the winter.

Well, all they can say is no. If you liked the place enough you could still offer their asking price.

@Judi that’s what we did, it’s actually a giant mess. I’m going to bring it up in a Fluther question as soon as I get a moment to breathe.