Question about renewing a lease

[Kelli Powell]

I have wonderful long-term tenants whose lease ends June 30th. I purposely made it this way so that it doesn't renew in the winter. The tenants informed me that they are looking for a home to purchase and would like to extend the lease until September and then month-to-month until they find something.

Does anyone have suggestions on best practices so that it is a win/win? I don't want to get stuck trying to rent out the house in winter months (upstate NY and no one wants to move in winter) but also don't want the tenants to have to leave until they are ready. TIA!

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Kelli Powell:

Your policy is to renew the lease so you don't end up with a winter vacancy. That's a solid policy and you should stick with it.

If a tenant wants to extend for less than a year, I only allow it with a 25% increase. That gives me additional income and offsets the risk of loss if I have a longer vacancy once they leave. 25% sounds like a lot, but consider what it will cost them to find another rental in the next 30 days that will allow a three-month lease, plus the cost of moving, setting up utilities, etc.

There's nothing wrong with trying to help out a good tenant, but don't hurt yourself in the process. Find a way to make it a win-win. And please, verify they are 100% good renters before you offer them anything! Don't extend them for 3-4 months and then find out after they move that they've trashed your property!!!