Negotiating with Landlord/Neighbor/Friend

Hi folks, I'm curious how other people have dealt with negotiations in landlord-tenant relationships like ours. My partner and I have been in our brownstone apartment for three years, and our landlord and his wife and two young kids live below us. We've become reasonably neighborly with them - eating dinner together from time to time, watching their kids when they run out, baked goods going up and... [more]

Hi folks, I'm curious how other people have dealt with negotiations in landlord-tenant relationships like ours. My partner and I have been in our brownstone apartment for three years, and our landlord and his wife and two young kids live below us. We've become reasonably neighborly with them - eating dinner together from time to time, watching their kids when they run out, baked goods going up and down the stairs, etc. Whenever we have to negotiate costs (a sanitation bill and the installation of a ceiling fan come to mind), it gets awkward because we have a personal and business relationship. After we'd been in the unit for 9 months we renewed for two years, so the last time we renewed our lease we weren't yet friends really. How do others negotiate with landlords who have become good neighborly friends? [less]