Landlords know that ~70% of their tenants will renew their leases. So, if you don’t put your landlord on notice that you are considering other options, you’ve lost your negotiating leverage. The most effective way to do this is to hire a tenant representation broker to represent you on your lease renewal. Why? Because any landlord that deals directly with a tenant knows it’s a near certainty that the tenant will be renewing and the landlord has all the leverage.
Good tenant representatives will create leverage by getting market proposals that will cause the landlord to agree to the most competitive terms and conditions possible. In other words, treat you as if you were a new tenant.
Thoroughly researching your options will give you a Plan B in case you aren’t able to work out an agreement with your current landlord. There is no negotiation leverage if you aren’t willing to relocate. So, treating your renewal exactly as you would relocation will give you the negotiating leverage that a new tenant would have.