Short Term Lease Help?

Hey Guys!

Just have a quick question which i hope can be answered for me on here.

My wife and i signed a 6 month lease with our local real estate agent about 4 months ago. Everything was very standard and straight forward. We are great tenants, our rent is 1 month ahead and we maintain the property impeccably.

We established great friendships with our surrounding neighbors, and discovered about a week after we moved in that our landlords were planning to move in upon the lease ending. Further to that, our next door neighbor had a chat to the landlord the other day (inconspicuously) to which the landlord stated they planned to move in the day after our lease ends...

My question is, does a landlord or real estate agent have to disclose a short term rental? Nothing was mentioned upon signing the lease and our understanding was that they were offering an initial 6 months to begin with... obviously to see weather or not we were a good tenant. If we had of known that it was only a 6 month lease we wouldn’t have applied for the house. And they probably would have struggled to find a tenant for such a short period if it were disclosed. I’m relieved that the neighbors told us this, but in the beginning it was disappointing because we knew nothing about it, and it wasn’t something that crossed my mind to double check.

I totally understand that it’s a rental at the end of the day, and rentals aren’t secure in any way. It’s their house, they can do as they wish. I just think its slightly unfair and a bit rude that we weren’t notified this upon signing the lease.

I guess the reason why its a little frustrating is my Wife and I are building our new home at the moment which is 12 months from completion and its disheartening to have to go through the process of moving all over again in 2 months while we still wait for our keys.

Any help would be great. Thankyou!

 

Sounds perfectly legitimate to me. 6 month lease = 6 months at property. I understand moving can be a pain in the bum as I've done it many times, but i think the onus is on the tenant to find something that suits their needs.

 

Thanks for the reply D.T! Yep, totally understand as i said in the post. I was just curious as to know if a short term rental (given the owner knew from the minute they rented it that they were moving in, in 6 months time) was to be disclosed to a perspective tenant?

You just said yourself, the onus is on the tenant to find a property to suit their needs, but if a short term rental isn’t disclosed when advertising or signing a lease then your not really finding a property that suits. I think 90% of people who rent a home, have the intention to live there for at least longer than 6 months...

There’s a website for short term rentals... its called AirBnb lol

 

@JustinS93 - unfortunately the owner holds the cards in this sense. If they are only offering 6 months, you can ask for a 12 month or longer lease however many are reluctant to offer a longer initial lease term - nothing you can do about it.

I have previously made it known to prospective tenants that a property is only available for 6 months as a DA had been submitted and the property was to be levelled however if the agent hasn't been advised of the situation, then they can't give you more tenure than the owner has agreed.

 

Thanks Scott, I see your point. I guess it just would have been courteous for the agent to mention it upon signing the lease but like you say, if the owner never mentioned it to them, then they were just as unaware as i am. Take care!

 

@JustinS93 I'd suggest you approach them now for an extension of lease. Citing your lovely experience there and wish to stay longer. They might not give you 6 months, probably 5 or 8. But hopefully going direct will clear a lot of doubts for you. This will force them in making some firm decisions.

That said, would you tell them that you are building?

 

Hey pumpkin! Thanks for your comment. I was thinking the same thing, I think I will approach them and just ask for a little extra time, even a month or two would be great!

And yes great point, when we signed the lease the build was 18 months away which we did in fact mention it to the real estate agent to which they replied was fine.

It’s just good to be in the loop with things I guess. Take care!

 

Communication is the key! Ask and you shall be given.
Cheers!

 

Or, if you don't ask, you won't be given.

"What questions aren't you asking of other people, that if you did would get you the results you are looking for?"

 

From a Property Management side of things it's actually a really hard question. You're usually not acting in the lessors best interest by doing the courteous thing and disclosing the short term, because as you say, it makes it hard to rent. In many situations I've also found landlords who think they're moving back in a certain period of time (i.e. six or twelve months) end up changing their plans (probably more than half).

 

Thanks for the reply Tom! Great comment

Just an update for everyone, we contacted the owner (through the agent obviously) and explained the circumstances and they were very flexible and allowed us to move out early without any charges or penalty’s. I guess this just shows that communication is key and most people are very willing and accepting. Thanks again to everyone for their comments! Much appreciated.

 

Or just read the lease?