You’ve heard it before: Rent stabilized tenants sometimes get offered cash to vacate when owners are anxious to turn their balance sheets around; they’re giving up their homes, but they might be taking a sizable nest egg with them.

Buyouts may seem like a gift, but they’re often a much better deal for a landlord who could bring in much more on a new condo sale or a tenant who’s willing to pay sky-high market rates. A few classic rent-to-riches stories: When local punk rocker and club owner (Niagara, Bowery Electric) Jesse Malin was a decade younger, he escaped sub-urban Queens for a suitably grungy East Village flat. He poured whatever cash he had into his music and was frequently broke. In 2001, his landlord sold the building and the new owner offered him $25,000 to move out. Malin bought some studio time, brought pal Ryan Adams on board and the rest is (modest) rock’n’roll history (SFGate). Filmmaker Bette Gordon lived in Tribeca when it was still a “fringe neighborhood,” and tells a similar tale of how she was able to use her buyout to buy a stake in her neighborhood (NY Post).

The stakes were higher last year at 220 Central Park South (via CurbedNY), where a developer’s desire to move future condo units resulted in the creation of a lucky few newly-minted millionaires: At least fifteen residents received buyouts above $1 million. A more recent buyout bonus sweetened the demise of East Village dive Mars Bar and the displacement of longtime tenants of the building it occupied. The 1920s tenement is being scrapped to make way for new condos, but the building’s tenants—nine in total—will be able to purchase new units for $10 each (Crain’s New York Business). Tenant buyouts are a real possibility. If you’re one of the city’s remaining few tenants with a stabilized apartment and think the owner has big plans for the building that don’t include you, get a lawyer’s advice (New York Magazine). You may be able to negotiate and hold out for a buyout. One caveat: don’t forget to find out about taxes you may owe for any windfall that blows your way.