Meh.. while corporate landlord's may be more willing to leave a place empty, it doesn't take long for that to be a losing proposition. With the exception of a

Meh.. while corporate landlord's may be more willing to leave a place empty, it doesn't take long for that to be a losing proposition. With the exception of a few US cities with rent control so strict you practically can't increase rent by more than a very small amount (San Francisco), most cities, even those with rent control allow for single digit percentage increases that can allow you to adjust rent over a relatively short period. If you refuse to drop rent by 5%, all it takes is 1 month of an empty unit to exceed the loss from taking a 5% lower rent for one and a half years. Add on top that nobody can predict the future including when rents will go back up, leaving units empty is a terrible financial decision. That said, it places with ridiculous rent control where evicting a tenant is almost impossible except the most extreme circumstances, I could see where it makes more sense, especially if a landlord is looking to sell as empty units are worth a substantial amount more than occupied units.