Lease Vs At Will

[y26]

I wanted to get some opinions on what other landlords feel is in their best interest.

I currently do leases for my tenants but have been thinking about "at will".

What are your thoughts?

[snafu]

Tenancy at Will is mostly used 1-6 months on commercial property for unspecific duration and payment with landlord and tenant able to change the situation easily. Each rental document is created with specific rights and obligations and difficult to enforce.

I wouldn't sign as either tenant or landlord, since it can be changed at whim.

[maat55]

It is common(on campuses) for landlords to establish a 6 month lease then revert to at will at a slightly higher rent.

Landlords need some upfront amount of time assurance, but allowing at will after a 6 month lease is a win win for both parties.

If I were desperate to rent, at will will provide a larger customer base, but less rent security.

[GrimJack]

A friend of mine who rented out property preferred to rent month to month because when he had a lease and a problem tenant who would pay his rent on the final day of 90 day notice. My friend said that he preferred month to month so that if a tenant was a problem he could just kick them out and not have to deal with the lease legal thing.

I guess you will have to know your local rules, so you know what your options are.

[LMA]

It really depends on the property and what kind of tenant you are dealing with. I will not consider at will at all. I rent nice properties so I want a commitment fromt he tenant that I will be getting rent for at least a year. If I had them at will they can leave whenever they want and that could mean the worst part of the year to fill a rental property.

If they give me problems that is why I have a lease, to establish ground rules. If they break the lease I can hold them responsible for it and kick them out if it came to that.

[DebbieL]

I work for a property management company. We often have people sign either a 1 year or 6 month lease to begin with (although, honestly they don't seem to mean much - people break them all the time), and after that it just automatically goes to month to month tenancy. Here we do not charge more for month to month than leases. The rent is the same either way. As a tenant (I've always been a renter), I've never signed a lease in my life, however I stayed in one rental for 8.5 years.