A free month or two of rent sounds like a pretty sweet deal. It might even seem like landlords are desperate to rent out their units, but an expert in Kelowna said renters shouldn\u2019t be so quick to celebrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tenants can get two months of free rent at apartment complexes like Ledge on Lakeshore or Central Green right downtown. At The Rise on Dougall Road in Kelowna renters can get up to three months of free rent and free wifi. The list of deals for tenants goes on and on, and rent prices have even dipped a bit in the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Aoife O\u2019Neill with The Agency Kelowna Property Management<\/a> said it\u2019s just an advertising scheme and landlords aren\u2019t desperate to get units rented out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s more marketing,\u201d she said. \u201cI don’t see (rent prices) moving much more, demand’s already way up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n These incentives aren\u2019t new, but O\u2019Neill said they have been more common recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said offers that include a month or two of free rent, or six months of free parking are often meant to get people to accept inflated prices or rush into a decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA lot of people are really seduced by them… it’s mostly the bigger companies that are doing them, like Mission Group<\/a>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Kelowna is down by 8.1 per cent over the past year, and 4.6 per cent for two-bedroom apartments, according to the latest report from Rentals.ca<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n