When Should I Start My Leases?

Question

Hello fellow Bigger Pockets members. I am a beginning investor in Minnesota and will soon be coming to a point where I need to find new tenants in my property - When is the best time to start / end a lease in Minnesota? I understand that Fall and Spring seem to be when everyone is looking for move out / move in, but are there specific months? Should I start a lease in the Spring and end it in the Spring, or start in the Fall and end in the Fall? Are there any reasons WHY people like to move in the Spring / Fall in Minnesota? Does anyone have any prior experience / experimentation with this that they would be willing to lend? Thank you in advance for your replies.

Tim Swierczek · Answer

@Kyle Baron I'm in MN and have 13 leases in place right now.  They all start either 6/1 or 9/1.  They are great times to find renters.  You don't want renters from Dec-March in MN.  They are moving because they have to and are in general both desperate and low quality.  April through September are ideal.  If you start a lease 7/1 it usually will affect your July 4th weekend so avoid that start if possible.

Jerry W. · Answer

My optimum is June through August.  My houses are multiple bedrooms so most have kids.  Parents want to move after school is out and rent before school begins.  While folks can move at other times those are best for me.  I also get new school teachers moving in.  Those are great prequalified and will rent until they get tenure and buy or until they don't get renewed and move on.

James W. · Answer

We like to move people in/out between spring-fall so we don't need to worry about dealing with the snow (shoveling/plowing) and slop being tracked in and out in the move process.  Also, I would prefer to have a renter cover expenses during the cold months and make sure there are no issues with pipes freezing.  You can essentially let a home sit from spring to fall without any major issues coming up due to the weather.

Michael Tempel · Answer

We don't follow a set lease schedule - probably should, but I agree with everything that states pushing leases to end  between April and September.   We have a lot of units, so even though it is an advantageous way to schedule leases, I like having some movement in the winter so we don't get stuck with 50+ 24 hour turns in May when labor is in a shorter supply due the how busy the market gets.   I have a few owners that will block out winter months Nov-Jan, but again am not sure if I recommend this is you have more than 100 units.

Always try to structure lease-ups for April-May if at all possible so you have 3-4 great months to fill a building.

JD Martin · Answer

Same here. We are in a college town and don't get too many people with kids, but we do get a ton of college students and most of the responsible ones want their housing settled by the end of July. We schedule all leases to end during the late spring/early summer. You might want to consider staggering within a window, which is what we started doing after experiencing an unusual crush of 5 houses going vacant at the same time, with several people leaving to buy homes, a couple moving out of state and another moving on to a bigger house.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

I'm in NW Wyoming with cold winters and few people moving during that time. I try to start/stop all leases March - September. October - February can be difficult.

Jennifer Rysdam · Answer

I've learned so far in my first year that it's best to have leases end in spring and early summer. That way you have all summer to do repairs and get them filled. I had one that moved out Sep. 1st and it was a bear to get filled by the time I cleaned got the repairs done. I had another that moved out Dec. 1st and it's still empty. I'm definitely going to start staggering the leases for summer months.

Kyle Baron · Answer

It looks like my new lease should start when I fill my vacancy, and end in the Early Fall, with the option to sign them to a 12-month lease after that. Great! I will do this, thanks so much everyone!

@Amber Gonion, "almost all of the major management companies only do leases that end between March and October" - What are some of the major management companies? Do you use any? Would there be any that you would suggest / refer?

When Should I Start My Leases?

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