The power of the renter

New data out on rentals in the United States shows that the number of empty apartments is the highest it's been in a generation. You have to go back into the mid 1980's to find a time that this many rental units were empty. This is completely upside down and backwards from what people in the apartment industry expected.

There are a great number of people who own condos, or single-family homes that have stuck to them like glue. They can't sell them, and they have become a shadow rental market. That has created direct competition because every rental unit that exists is a competitor of a traditional apartment complex, whether it's a traditional apartment complex, condominium, or a house. Second, a large number of people in their 20's, who would be at a point in their lives where they may be out renting an apartment, have moved back home with family.

So there's all these different factors all wrapped up and opportunity for the roughly one-third Americans who are renters. But it's opportunity that you only get if you choose to seize it.

Are you a renter who wants to benefit? How do you do it?

You should do a very active survey and search of traditional apartments that are near you. Then use the information that you have collected and go to the rental agent or landlord or management office and you lay it out. Give them a copy of your survey. What are they going to offer you? They need to see that you are really serious and you've done your work and these are the alternatives in the market place. You may be very surprised at the offer that your landlord will come back with to keep you.

Because for them, even if they have to give you considerable rental concessions to keep that apartment occupied, the reverse is this: The apartment goes empty. There's no rental income coming from that apartment. And they then have significant expense finding a new tenant to take that place. So you have all the power if you choose to use it. The ultimate power though is you have to be willing to walk!

Clark Howard airs Saturdays and Sundays at noon and 4 p.m. ET on HLN.