One Year or Multiple Year Lease?

One Year or Multiple Year Lease?

Whether you are a landlord or a tenant, longer leases tend to be the preference. Both sides enjoy having a commitment for a longer period of time, unless there are circumstances where the tenant may be planning on a move sooner, or the landlord may be planning to sell their rental property in the near future. Today, I bring an alternative point of view to the length of an initial lease between landlord and tenant.

A one year commitment is a great place to start over a multiple year commitment. Here’s the logic. Do you really want to committed for a longer period of time if the initial period is not working out. Imagine being a tenant committed to a landlord that doesn’t fix items for longer than one year. For landlords, having a slow paying or difficult tenant that you are committed to for a longer period of time may not the dream you thought it would be.

Neither party is usually averse to the idea of renewing a lease if the relationship is going well. That also gives the landlord the opportunity to evaluate if a monthly rental increase is in line with market value. And let’s face it, while this may be something a tenant wants to fight happening, the cost of moving is always going to be more than the cost of a slight rental increase.

Just my two cents on the subject. Ultimately, whatever my clients (tenants or landlords) decide is up to them.

Chris Ann Cleland
Associate Broker

VA License #0225089470
Long & Foster Real Estate
Call or Text: 703-402-0037
Email: ChrisAnn@LNF.com
www.UncompromisingValues.com

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of Chris Ann Cleland, not Long & Foster. All content is written by Chris Ann Cleland without the aid of artificial intelligence.

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