[Monket]

Just after some opinions....

We have a rental property that we have just put on the market. We have tenants that have about 7 weeks to go on their lease. The property has been on the market for 1 week and our tenants have just asked if they can break the lease as they have found another property they would like to move into. Would you let them break the lease? We have been model landlords and have fixed everything when asked, accommodated their dog and their repeat requests for trees to be chopped down despite the mature trees being very important to us. We have provided fortnightly pool cleans so they didn't have to touch it at all and we are charging under market rent.

We are happy to reduce the rent by $70 a week for the remainder of the lease but really don't want to break the lease. What would you do in this situation? I feel mean making them stay there but as a renter, I understand that this could happen to me at any time. Gah, I don't know what to do!

[beccaj]

I would let them break lease under the conditions of the lease. They would be leaving in 7 weeks anyway,

Are you not wanting to show the home as a vacant property? Its really the tenants choice if they wish to leave before the lease is up.



This post has been edited by beccaj: 25/02/2013, 11:31 AM

[meljb]

How soon do they want to move? I'd be inclined to let them break it, you don't really want disgruntled tenants causing difficulties for open homes etc
Hopefully the property will sell quickly and it wont be an issue long term.

[Carmen02]

How soon do they want to move? I'd be inclined to let them break it, you don't really want disgruntled tenants causing difficulties for open homes etc
Hopefully the property will sell quickly and it wont be an issue long term.

that would be my worry if you dont let them break lease. We hated timing end of one lease to finding another house was a pain!

[emnut]

yes I would - I think it is incredibly unfair to make a tenant suffer through opens etc for only 7 weeks if they have found somewhere else when you are the ones who have decided to sell & that is the likely reason they have even looked for another property.

[Bodacious Prime]

I've been both landlord and tenant.
I would let them break.

[HGL]

As a tenant I would find it quite uncomfortable having to maintain the house in display like conditions and having strangers looking at your things. There's also the risk of theft which often isn't covered by contents insurance. RE agents can also expect both owners and tenants to drop everything to show the house with just 15 minutes notice.

As a potential buyer, I'd much prefer to view a house that is vacant.

Personally, I think it's win win that they're offering to move out early. Finding rental properties can be very difficult and they might miss out on their new lease if they have to postpone 7 weeks.

[lucky 2]

From a tenants perspective, did they know that after the lease was up you would be selling?
Or did you decide more recently?
Maybe they were wanting to lease your property longer and now have to change plans.
If I didn't know you wanted to sell when I signed the lease I'd want to get out ASAP, ie to stay is to hold off moving on with life combined with the inconvenience of viewings.
If this is the case I'd let them go and give let them give you 14 days notice so they can move on with their lives.

[HurryUpAlready]

I'm in two minds as I can see it from both sides.

We own a home in Sydney that we currently have rented out as we are living interstate, where we rent. The house we had been living in (renting) in Perth was put on the market when we had 3-4 months left on our lease.

I hated the weekly open (and occasional mid week) inspections and would have given anything to break the lease & leave early rather than putting up with inspections, pest & building inspections, the new owners wanting another look, pre-settlement inspection etc etc etc. Our lease expired on 20 Jan which was such a hard time to look for a new rental (nothing came up prior to Xmas which meant that by early Jan, I had about 16 days to find a property, get accepted in a property (not easy with a dog!), pack, move and clean up the old rental. And all with an 12 month old and morning sickness with #2! It was absolutely horrid, but of course the owners wouldn't let us out early. God forbid that they should have been inconvenienced!! (yes, I'm bitter).

As a landlord though, I understand that you obviously don't want to lose rent.

Can I ask though, if they only have 7 weeks left on the lease, why couldn't you have put the property in the market then, rather than inconveniencing the tenant now?

In regards as to whether I'd let them break the lease, perhaps you can offer to split the difference (ie let them out as at x date). It probably won't work for them as they'll be up for double rent but at least you will have tried to meet them half way.

[Monket]

Thanks for the responses. We decided to put it on the market after the recent storms. We live a long way from the house and it has been incredibly stressful wondering if the house still has a roof or sustained damage etc. We selfishly put it on the market straight away as we had been approached by an agent and we ideally don't want the house to be vacant for long due to insurance issues (our home insurance cuts out after twelve weeks of being vacant).

We will only allow weekly open houses as I understand how disruptive this can be and we don't expect the house to be pristine, in fact I don't expect them to do anything to make the house presentable. Our listing agent is different from our managing agent which has also brought a bit of negativity but we did give the managing agent notice of our intentions and ample opportunity to contact us to discuss.

Mixed responses but food for thought.