The tenants who have been renting from us since before COVID just informed us that they have bought a house and will be moving out. So now we begin planning for new tenants. There is some work that needs to be completed. The kitchen counters need to be replaced, pest control, painting, landscaping updates, and other maintenance items need get taken care of.
They haven’t given us a date for the move out yet, but wanted to give us a heads up. They were guessing that they will be moving out a month or two early. Depending on how early, I may or may not hold them to the early termination clause in the lease. We will almost certainly work something out, because they have been there for nearly four years and have always been on time with the rent. (The only time they were late was my fault, so I don’t count that one. I screwed up the electronic billing.)
The flip side is that we have been renewing the lease for about 10 percent less than market because I wanted to encourage the current renters to stay. We will adjust the price so that we are getting close to market, which means a 10% increase in rent. I hope that the place won’t be empty for more than a month or two.
4 Comments
boneman · September 14, 2023 at 5:24 am
Best of luck. Sounds like they are / were GOOD tenants. I recall you’re in Florida and I presume the rental property is located in the state as well. I have friends that rent here and have been struggling to keep up with their year over year increases as it has been formidable. They get a bit upset with the landlord but as a homeowner here that has seen their insurance company attempt to up the premium from $7K to $14K post Ian, I explain to them it’s not necessarily all the landlord’s doing. Cost increases have to be passes along. Landlords do their best, but some things are simply unavoidable.
That said, it sounds to me like you’ve been MORE than fair and anyone that were to have you as a landlord would be VERY fortunate.
EN2 SS · September 14, 2023 at 6:56 am
Good luck to you and your tenants plans. I planned on selling my house, had the Inspection and Appraisal happen with no problems. Then an underwriter at the bank decided hesheit is more qualified than the inspector and appraiser are, so put a stop to the buyers loan, because the hesheit didn’t like something in a photo of the detached garage. What is that saying? The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry? And then the clowns show up with monkey wrenches.
Birdog357 · September 14, 2023 at 7:22 am
4 years and it’s still an annual lease? They’ve been good renters, you get to up the rent on the next one earlier than expected. Just let them go without the penalty.
Elrod · September 15, 2023 at 3:22 am
Sounds like it’s also a good time to review / change / correct the lease terms and provisions, both for “own financial” reasons as well as “governmental interference,” aka “new laws.”
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