Renew Lease or Month to Month?

[Bruce L.]

Hi guys / gals,

Just wondering from your landlording experience that when your tenant's lease is up (1 year), is it better to have them go month to month or have them sign a new one year contract?

My goal is to keep my tenants in place. I kind of feel that when you ask them to sign another year contract, they would be force to start looking and comparing other properties to yours, but when you do a month to month, most people are too busy and end up put off house hunting.

Your thoughts?

[Cheryl C.]

I renew for a year. I find most of my tenants prefer this. Some even contact me when the lease is coming up - some want to lock the rent, but most don't want to worry about having to move. I'd definitely go higher rent on a mos. to mos. renewal. My longest is 12yrs and average is 4. My average would be higher, but I've purchased a number of properties over the past 3 yrs.

I understand the arguments for month to month; getting rid of a bad tenant, flexibilty to sell, etc. I'd evict a bad tenant or not renew. I can be a tough person in dealing with a bad tenant - luckily, it's doesn't happen often. I target "lifer's" as turnover is a killer. I tell my prospects that I am a long-term LL and have no intention of selling in the next 5 or 10 yrs (a truthful statement).