Terminating a Lease Early

[Joel S.]

Hi BP Community-

I have a rental property in Houston, Texas and I have a question about terminating a lease early in order to sell. When terminating a lease early to sell a house, is an early termination clause required in the lease agreement? What is the worst that could happen if it's not? The tenants lease is up in a few months, but I'd like to sell before that if possible. The property manager is moving, so not looking to go through that process again. I would give 30 days or whatever the requirement and probably pay him as well for the inconvenience.

In addition - I don't really want to sell to another landlord because the return most likely won't be as high.

Any advice is much appreciated! 

Best,

Joel

[Will Stafford]

New owner will have to honor the lease that's in place. Only way to do what you're asking is to get the tenant to mutually agree to terminate early. You'll likely have to pay them to do that. If they refuse, you won't be able to terminate the lease until its term is up.