Our current lease expires May 31. We're thinking of buying an apartment, but due to some upcoming travel won't be able to close until around the end of June. Obviously, we don't want to extend the rental contract by another year, and are thinking of asking the landlord to let us stay for one or two months, until, say, end of July. Obviously, there are several scenarios: 1) the landlord says yes,... [more]
Our current lease expires May 31. We're thinking of buying an apartment, but due to some upcoming travel won't be able to close until around the end of June. Obviously, we don't want to extend the rental contract by another year, and are thinking of asking the landlord to let us stay for one or two months, until, say, end of July. Obviously, there are several scenarios:
1) the landlord says yes, no problem (best-case!)
2) the landlord says no, you can extend only for another year
3) the landlord says no, and I'm not extending; you need to leave by May 31
Considering that we're moving into the slow Summer, I could imagine the landlord not being too happy with us vacating the place by the end of July. On the other hand, the landlord might just be content with getting some additional months of rent before putting it back onto a slow market.
Before contacting the landlord about this, I'd love to hear any thoughts from you, the RE pros! What's the best approach?
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Response by takkyamaguchi
over 15 years ago
Posts: 45
Member since: Feb 2009
I wouldn't say it's a slower market than the previous year. Contingent upon the landlord, the extension should not be a problem, especially if you live in a rental building. It would be in the landlords best interests to have the unit vacated at the seasonal height of the market.
That being said however, if your building is a co-op, and only allows lease renewal terms of one year, it may be advised that you and the shareholder (landlord) draft up a separate rider to clear up the intention of breaking the lease after the "1 year lease extension". Depending on the house rules, some shareholders are charged an extra fee for re-newal, and it may not be in their interests to renew for just two or three extra months if they incur that surcharge.
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Response by lad
over 15 years ago
Posts: 707
Member since: Apr 2009
We're in the same boat. We asked a few brokers who were familiar with our building (big building managed by big agency), and they all said that extensions of a few months or even a few weeks are commonplace for tenants moving to a purchased apartment. You'd do well to get some information specific to your individual building/agency, though. If you found your apartment through a broker or are currently working with one or more brokers in your search for an apartment to purchase, see what they know.
Also, depending on where you are in your apartment search and what types of properties you're considering, keep in mind that co-op closings can take 90 days even when things go smoothly. End of June may be aggressive for a co-op unless you're in or about to go into contract.
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Response by marco_m
over 15 years ago
Posts: 2481
Member since: Dec 2008
ask for a one or two month notice break clause in the new lease.
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Response by anotherguy
over 15 years ago
Posts: 168
Member since: Oct 2007
fwiw, i've rented from a couple of big landlords, and they were amenable. the way it worked is that i signed a one-year lease renewal, with a rider (letter) giving me the option for a penalty-free cancellation on a specific date. the first time i did this, i wasn't sure i wanted to stay the whole year, so i had an option to exit at the 6-month mark. (think I needed to give 30 days notice to take advantage of this.) the second time, my new apartment's availability slipped by a month, so i renewed my old apartment's lease, this time with an option to exit at the 1-month mark, which i did. The wording of the rider was that if I didn't take the option at the date specified, i had to stay the length of the lease. incidentally, both buildings were relatively new so they were under rent stabilization leases -- i assume the arrangement was the least troublesome way for the landlord to have me in the unit with some sort of prevailing lease in effect the whole time.
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Response by Nypaloto
over 15 years ago
Posts: 73
Member since: Oct 2007
OK, thanks, good to hear all your thoughts. To specify, we live in a new-ish condo building, renting directly from owner. And re home purchase, we're looking into buying a condo (not co-op). Cheers!
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Response by front_porch
over 15 years ago
Posts: 5316
Member since: Mar 2008
The best rentals are on a September to September cycle, so if you ask for an extension through the end of August, and allow the landlord to show pretty freely from about mid-July on, he/she will say yes.
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I wouldn't say it's a slower market than the previous year. Contingent upon the landlord, the extension should not be a problem, especially if you live in a rental building. It would be in the landlords best interests to have the unit vacated at the seasonal height of the market.
That being said however, if your building is a co-op, and only allows lease renewal terms of one year, it may be advised that you and the shareholder (landlord) draft up a separate rider to clear up the intention of breaking the lease after the "1 year lease extension". Depending on the house rules, some shareholders are charged an extra fee for re-newal, and it may not be in their interests to renew for just two or three extra months if they incur that surcharge.
We're in the same boat. We asked a few brokers who were familiar with our building (big building managed by big agency), and they all said that extensions of a few months or even a few weeks are commonplace for tenants moving to a purchased apartment. You'd do well to get some information specific to your individual building/agency, though. If you found your apartment through a broker or are currently working with one or more brokers in your search for an apartment to purchase, see what they know.
Also, depending on where you are in your apartment search and what types of properties you're considering, keep in mind that co-op closings can take 90 days even when things go smoothly. End of June may be aggressive for a co-op unless you're in or about to go into contract.
ask for a one or two month notice break clause in the new lease.
fwiw, i've rented from a couple of big landlords, and they were amenable. the way it worked is that i signed a one-year lease renewal, with a rider (letter) giving me the option for a penalty-free cancellation on a specific date. the first time i did this, i wasn't sure i wanted to stay the whole year, so i had an option to exit at the 6-month mark. (think I needed to give 30 days notice to take advantage of this.) the second time, my new apartment's availability slipped by a month, so i renewed my old apartment's lease, this time with an option to exit at the 1-month mark, which i did. The wording of the rider was that if I didn't take the option at the date specified, i had to stay the length of the lease. incidentally, both buildings were relatively new so they were under rent stabilization leases -- i assume the arrangement was the least troublesome way for the landlord to have me in the unit with some sort of prevailing lease in effect the whole time.
OK, thanks, good to hear all your thoughts. To specify, we live in a new-ish condo building, renting directly from owner. And re home purchase, we're looking into buying a condo (not co-op). Cheers!
The best rentals are on a September to September cycle, so if you ask for an extension through the end of August, and allow the landlord to show pretty freely from about mid-July on, he/she will say yes.
ali r.
DG Neary Realty