Do You Want A Lease To Expire In The Winter Or Summer?
So It is December and if I rent out a new rental tomorrow and have them sign a lease I would not do a 12, 24 or 36 month lease, but a lease that ends their rental term favorably to me.
This is December so I could give them the option of a 6 or 18 month lease so it would end up in June so that if they decide to leave, I am not stuck in the middle of winter trying to find a renter when nobody wants to move, but instead in the summer when it is easier to find renters.
On the other hand are you smarter to end their lease in the winter so they won't want to move either?
December thru Febuary are bad months to find tenants unless you do lower income (HUD). They seem to always be around once you have a good name as a great landlord.
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I don't think a winter timeframe would help people to resign. Another thing to consider is keeping the lease ending dates spread out. If all of your leases expire in the same month, it may be harder to fill them all. It could also add a little more risk because, in theory, all of the rentals could vacate at one time.
I own rentals in a college town. The goal is generally to structure the leases around the beginning of a new semester (Aug 1). Structuring the lease around the end of the spring semester usually works too, because you can catch people moving out of the dorms that don't want to move home for the summer.
If I had my choice, I would have the lease expire in the spring. That way you had the warm months to re-rent the property.
I don't really think you will see much difference altering the term of the lease. I've heard people say they had trouble renting during some time periods but it hasn't been consistent. Some will say it's easier to rent after the first of the year, some say after people get tax returns, some say when the weather warms up, some say when it's time for school to start, etc., etc,. I have not seen any pattern that seems reliable. There are too many other factors that come in to play.