Methodology

1. What you tell us

The analysis starts from your renewal: your current rent, the proposed rent and any fee changes, your address, and your unit's bedrooms, bathrooms, size and property type. You can type these in or upload your renewal notice; figures read from a notice are only used after you confirm them. The more accurately you describe the unit, the better the comparison.

2. Finding comparable rentals

CounterRent retrieves rental listings and rent estimates for homes near your address from a third-party rental data provider. It then ranks them by how closely they match your unit:

• units in your own building, where available, first;
• the same bedroom count, then similar size and property type;
• distance from your address;
• how recently the listing appeared.

Listings that would not survive a skeptical landlord's reading, such as a different bedroom count, a unit too far away, or a listing from a noticeably different part of the market, are excluded rather than kept to pad the list.

3. Deciding whether the evidence is good enough

Before anything is offered for sale, the analysis rates how far it trusts the comparable set: how many strong matches there are, how consistent their rents are, and whether they genuinely describe your part of the market. The result is shown to you in plain terms as a strong match, a reasonable match, or not enough data.

If there is not enough data, CounterRent does not produce a counteroffer and does not offer the paid negotiation. Some addresses simply have too few comparable listings, and a confident-looking number built on weak evidence would do you more harm than good.

4. Your position and the numbers

For a qualifying renewal, CounterRent assesses your negotiating position from factors such as how far the proposed rent sits above comparable units, the size of the increase, how long similar units are taking to rent, how many listings support your case, and how much time remains before your lease ends.

From the comparable set and that position, the application calculates a recommended opening counter and a target settlement range. These figures are computed by deterministic rules in our own code. The same inputs always produce the same numbers.

5. Where AI is used

CounterRent uses an AI language model for three tasks: reading figures from an uploaded renewal notice, interpreting a landlord's reply, and drafting the messages you send. The model works from figures the application has already calculated. It does not decide your counter, your target range or any other number, and drafted messages are checked so they do not introduce figures that were not supplied to them. You should still read every message before you send it.

6. Limits you should know about

• Asking rents are not signed rents. Listing data shows what landlords are asking. Final lease prices and concessions such as free weeks are not always visible.
• Coverage varies. Data is richer in some cities and neighborhoods than others, and can lag behind a fast-moving market.
• Your unit is unique. Renovations, views, floor level, noise and building amenities matter and are only partly captured by the data.
• Landlords decide. A well-supported counter improves your position. It does not guarantee a result.

For the step-by-step product flow, see how it works. To learn how to judge comparables yourself, read how to use rental comps.