Your apartment lease is coming to an end, and if you love your place and have already decided to renew, it’s time to plan your next steps. There are many misconceptions around lease renewal, but we’re here to clear them up and guide you on what to do when renewing your lease agreement.
Determine How Long You Want To Stay
If you’ve decided to renew, that must mean you like your place, or at least we hope you do. Renewing your lease agreement goes beyond determining if you want to live there for another year. It requires you to plan out the next five years of your life. If you live in Illinois but plan to live in North Carolina next year, renewing for another two years wouldn’t be wise.
Do you plan to buy a house? Will renewing your lease help you achieve that goal? Try and think about how renewing your lease will affect the next few years.
Communicate With Your Landlord
The first and most important thing to do when you want to renew your lease is to communicate with your landlord or lease manager. Although you’re ready to continue living there, they may have a different plan in mind.
Speak with your landlord and ask relevant questions like:
- “Will my rent increase throughout the new term or stay the same?”
- “Will you be performing any upgrades or renovations to my apartment?”
- “Can I add a roommate or pet?”
Communicating with your landlord before your lease ends may even sway you from renewing with them. Talking with your landlord ensures you’re not blindly walking into a new lease agreement if you decide to renew.
A common myth about renewals is that the tenant must pay an additional security deposit or other fees they paid when first moving into the apartment. When renewing your lease term, you should not have to pay additional fees.
Talk to your landlord about your renewal options and confirm what you owe at the start of your new lease term. In addition, try your best to get all agreements in writing.
Carefully Read Your Lease Agreement
Speaking with your landlord and carefully rereading your new lease agreement go in hand-in-hand. Some landlords may choose to increase the monthly rent or put new restrictions on tenants and may not communicate them effectively.
Before signing your new lease, try reading it over twice. It may be best to ask a friend or family member to read your new lease to make sure you understand all your new terms before signing your lease agreement. Who knows, you may be required to paint your walls lime green and wouldn’t know it until you read your lease!
Give Your Apartment a New Look
It’s fun to refresh your home décor every few years! Once you’ve signed the lease agreement and you and your landlord are excited about your next lease term, it’s time to give your apartment a new look for the new period.
This could include adding new décor or even something as simple as placing your current décor in new spots around your home, whatever suits your fancy.
Understanding what to do when renewing your lease agreement is crucial when entering a new lease term, but hopefully, these tips made the process a little easier for you!
