Breaking A Lease When Buying A New Home
You’ve finally found a home that you love and want to purchase. There’s only one problem. You still have a few months left on your lease agreement. Currently having a lease for your rental property can seem like a big problem when buying a home, but don’t worry just yet! Sometimes landlords or leasing companies are open to negotiating a solution that benefits both parties. Before giving up on your dream home, here are a few tips that can help you break a lease.
Review The Terms of Your Contract
The first thing you should do is review your rental agreement to see what the terms are for contract cancelation. Your lease may give you conditions for paying the remainder of the lease or other penalties for breaking your lease early. Have a clear understanding of terms before making an appointment to negotiate with your landlord or leasing agent.
Discussing A Solution
Schedule a meeting with your landlord or leasing agent to talk about your lease agreement. Some landlords or property management companies will cut you a break if they know the details of your situation. Explain that you’ve found a home that you want to purchase, and you’re willing to come up with a mutually beneficial agreement. You could ask to pay a portion of the lease termination penalty, or you could suggest breaking the lease termination penalty into smaller payments that could be paid over a certain amount of time.
Find A New Tenant
If a mutual agreement cannot be met or the lease termination fee is greater than you can afford, look for a new tenant to take over the lease. Lease termination penalties are usually in place to discourage you from leaving and to cover the landlord from a financial loss they were not accounting for. Offering to help find a tenant can ease this concern. Agree to show the apartment or find tenants on your own. Subletting the place is an option as well. Subletting is when another person is added to your lease and takes over the payment until its expiration. Be careful with sublets because your name will remain on the contract. You can be held responsible if the person subletting does damage or doesn’t keep up with rental payments.
Get Everything in Writing
Once you’ve come to an agreement that you and your landlord are happy with, be sure to get these changes in writing. Both parties need to have a clear understanding of what the new terms are. The last thing you want to happen is to find you are still financially responsible for rent payments when making payments on a new mortgage.
Having a lease shouldn’t prevent you from searching for or purchasing a home of your own! If you’re ready to start the home buying process, reach out to a loan officer at First Ohio Home Finance to pre-qualify today! Give us a call at (888) 818-1850 or fill out an online form.
