Another Duh! Landlord Moment

It’s spring.

For a Realtor, that’s a synonym for busy.

As such, I am so focused on my career that sometimes I forget to do things in my own life.

Like renew leases.

When I realized I’d done this the other day, I panicked. I hate having a vacancy in winter, and live in fear of carrying one through the snow. So, to ease my sense of panic, I typically try to make sure my leases begin and end early in the spring.

Of course, this year, I forgot to issue the new lease. And when I realized this, I immediately had the thought, “Crap! Now their lease will begin and end in the middle of the summer!”

Summer isn’t bad. But if my tenants would move out, it would probably take me a month to get the unit turned over to a new renter, which means that lease would commence more toward fall.

That is, if it’s a one-year lease.

But the thing is, nowhere is it written that a lease has to be one year in length.

Thinking a lease has to be 6 months or one year in length is simply a mental habit I’ve gotten in to.

In fact, there’s nothing at all to keep the agreement from being any length of time I determine; like 9 months, 11 months, or, if I really want to make sure I’m covered, two years.

A lease is simply an agreement between two people. If my tenant agrees to a ten month lease, I’m right back on track for spring.

I wonder how he’d feel about a 10 year lease…