End of Lease - When do you advertise?

Question

We have tenants that have been really great but we have not raised the rent in 2 years. They started renting in Covid lockdowns.

They now have a new baby and have been paying rent a few days late each month but within the non- penalty period.

After receiving the lease renewal and rental increase, they “needed time to think about it”.

The property is $300 under market. If they leave, how do people manage showings? Or does that happen after they move out?

Will Kenner · Answer

@Sandra Regnell Does the lease state by when the tenants need to give you notice of renewing? If so, and they are past that window, then they have missed their opportunity to renew and will need to vacate by the end of the lease term. Or, if the lease states it reverts to a MTM term, then you will need to give them the appropriate notice of lease termination. I assume your property is in WA, so you will need to ensure you've given the tenants the required time for termination, which may mean they will have an additional 30 days after the expiration of their current lease. Regarding listing the unit, as mentioned by @Bruce Woodruff, first impressions are everything. I generally stay away from showing a unit while the current tenants are in place as this creates a headache with coordinating showings, opens up risk for claims that tenant items are "missing", and most of all, the condition of the unit will most likely be far from where it needs to be for commanding the rent you want. I would wait until the tenants have vacated and get a thorough assessment of the condition of the unit. If it's in good condition and requires only minimal repair, then you'll be able to flip the unit and get it listed as soon as possible. Possibly taking listing photos the day you do the walk through, or at least after having it professionally cleaned. Your tenant screening process should take such time that it would allow for the minor repairs before the unit is shown for the first time. If it requires more renovation to command that higher rate however, then I would complete the repairs/upgrades, and get the unit looking pristine before taking the listing photos. Or at least, show general photos of the unit and state in the listing that it would be available "next month" or at what ever date you can get the unit turned by, and then prospective tenants can see the unit once it's done. Having the unit vacant for several weeks to a month would be a small price to pay for getting the right tenants at the highest market rate possible. Rushing the process can cost you far more in the long run.

John Morgan · Answer

Wait til they leave. I list them on Zillow manager while my crew is getting them ready.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

$300 below market is $3,600 per year. This is not money you're losing. It's money you are paying the Tenant to subsidize their housing needs! You're enabling them to live in something they ordinarily couldn't afford.Rescind the offer. Give them 30-60 days to find a new place and rent yours at market rate. If you want to build a business, you need to treat it like a business.

Mike Dymski · Answer

When I was self-managing, I would show units prior to move out and have new residents move in almost immediately. I sure wish my 3rd party PM would operate that way.

Chris Seveney · Answer

@Sandra RegnellWe have our pm coordinate with the tenants as in our leases we have language that allow it to be shown.

Colleen F. · Answer

@Sandra Regnell is it still $300 under market with the rent raise? If that is the case I would just give them a notice of non renewal. Even if you remarket after they leave and lose a month you will make up that difference. Unless rent is greater than $3600 a month

Peter Tverdov · Answer

Depends on how long tenants have lived there. If we know the apartment or house needs updating we will wait until vacant, repair it and then re-rent it at market. If they have only lived there 1-2 years you can place someone immediately. 60 days notice is when we reach out to the tenants for lease renewals (student rentals that we have it's like 8 months lol).

Theresa Harris · Answer

Depends on the state of the home. If it is in good shape, I'd start advertizing half way through the month they are leaving. You should be able to do a quick turn around and avoid a vacancy. Group showings to reduce disruption to the current tenants.Give them a hard, but reasonable, deadline to make a decision. So if you gave them 30 days' notice, tell them they have until the 10th to decide.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

You don't say if you have a PM, but if you are self-managing, I'd advertise in advance to line up some prospective new tenants. How and/or if you show it is up to you. I'd wait until it was empty and clean because first impressions are critical.

Adam Martin · Answer

I wait until they leave and schedule showings after there are gone. I post a couple days before they leave and schedule showings for the weekend after to give me time to make small repairs. The This site is riddled with posts on what to do it the tenant doesn’t vacate and you have another lined up and it is an avoidable problem I choose not to risk. I have had several tenants leave later than they thought as well as it has taken longer to complete a turn than I planned so I feel this is best. I do have 2-4 weeks of vacancy but my tenants tend to stay at least a couple years or more so this doesn’t affect me much. I really don’t understand how some of us can turn a unit in under a day but I do everything myself and this may be one of those cases where I loose money trying to save it. If I were a tenant I wouldn’t like people touring my home while I wasn’t there and I really wouldn’t make a huge effort to make the house ready to show if you forced it.