Hi there!  Are you interested in the apartment?
I've been looking at it. Why did the last tennant leave?
The last tenant left because they bought a home of their own.  We are actually running a special today.  You can secure the apartment for the discounted price of $1800 if you sign the lease today.  Are you interested?
I am interested, but that price is too much for my family. We have budgeted for $1000 monthy rent. We can pay our deposit today if that monthly price will work for you.
We cannot afford to rent for $1000.  What is the absolute highest rent you can afford?  If you cannot afford more, then we cannot rent to you.  
We really like the home, and would hate to lose out on this offer. If you can include water and electric I can pay a total of $1500. The extra $500 will more than cover what we use, and would allow us to rework our budget to afford the higher rent.
I wish I could agree to that.  How about if I waive your security deposit and have you sign a 3-year lease.  This way you go into the rental with a bit of extra cash to allow you to reorganize your budget.  I can lower the rent to $1750 if you are willing to do this.  Water is included, but not electric at this price.  Deal?
That is much appreciated. We can almost fit that into our budget. If you can take an extra $50 off, bringing the total to $1700 per month, we have a deal.