Tenant requesting lower lease

[Steve Fitzgerald]

I have a single family house with an in-law apartment. There are five bedrooms, three bathrooms, two kitchens, and two living rooms. I'm giving background on the house because it's not a typical SFH. I have a renter that has been living in the house for three years now. She's been a pretty good tenant. Her initial lease was $2500 per month and that included lawn care. Last year I opted to reduce the lease by $100 a month and drop lawn care. It was costing me more than $1200 a year and I didn't want to be responsible for it. Her lease is up at the end of August and she is asking for a rent reduction because she's decided to have the lawn mowed every 10 days plus other yard maintenance. Her choices. She also mentioned that the lease was initially advertised at $2000 a month before she originally signed and was increased to $2500. That's true. I'm considering a slight reduction in exchange for a multi-year lease. What would you do in my position? I have a property management company, but I do the leasing and renewals to save some money.

[Marc Winter]

@Steve Fitzgerald, 

Your statement, "I have a property management company, but I do the leasing and renewals to save some money" is telling. 

If you have a management company taking care of the unit, why are you getting involved?  You now have no distance from the tenant, no third-party to check with, making it much more difficult to negotiate.  Focus on the big picture and let the pros (if they are indeed good managers) do their job.  Sounds like you are stepping over dollars to pick up nickles.