How To Renew Your Apartment Lease
Read Your Current Lease
The first step is to read your current lease. Check the rules, terms, and possible fees to ensure you understand them and are happy with the arrangement. Confirm the rent amount and review your share of the bills. While you may have been living with this lease, it's very normal to have overlooked a few details. It's helpful to review your lease before signing on for another year, but chances are that you'll be just as satisfied with the arrangement for the second year and beyond.
Check the Lease Expiration Date
The expiration date of your current lease is when you'll need to secure the new lease. Most of the time, however, an apartment property manager will provide a lease renewal offer about a month before that date, so you don't have to worry about a gap. Some people wait for the offer. If you have any questions, reach out to your on-site management team to know what the process looks like in that community and the timeline you should expect.
Write a Renewal Letter/Email to the Property Manager
Let your apartment property manager know that you want to stay another year. As we mentioned, apartments benefit from residents who stay because it means they don't have to worry about finding a new resident. While you could wait until you receive a lease renewal offer, letting your property manager know early is quite welcome. Your property manager will likely confirm that you are staying, and within a month of your old lease's expiration date, they'll send you the new lease to sign. The new lease will pick up where the old lease left off.
Receive and Read the New Lease
When you get the new lease, look it over. It's normal for leases to change a small amount from year to year. That's just part of the real estate industry. A few terms or numbers may have changed, but the change usually isn't very much and is usually just adapting to market costs and inflation.
Check for Updated Terms
Make sure the rules haven't changed and that there's nothing new to worry about. Slight changes you might detect may include a different garbage day, a slight change in building quiet hours, and the like. But most of the time, the routine terms of the lease will stay the same.
Double-Check the Rent Rate
Take a look at the rental rate and the cost of any included services like garbage or sewer. These tend to increase very slightly with inflation.
Sign the New Lease & Enjoy Another Year
If you are satisfied with the new lease, sign it and return it to your property manager. They will sign the lease, and you will be able to enjoy another year in your apartment. It's as simple as that.
Bonus Considerations When Renewing a Lease
Renewing a lease is simple and easy. However, it is also an opportunity to take additional action as a renter that is more convenient around lease renewal time than any other time of the year. If you're ready to kick it up a notch, here are a few bonus considerations when renewing your apartment lease.
- Request Repairs
Between lease renewals is the perfect time to request any repairs that have not been urgent but have accumulated over time. A rattling window, a loose toilet base, or a finicky thermostat can be fixed in a sweep of repairs to discuss. Many maintenance teams are happy to make repairs at any time, though.
- Bring In a Roommate
If you've been thinking about bringing in a roommate, it's easier to bring them on at the beginning of a new lease than in the middle of a current lease. Just let your property manager know in your letter about a month ahead of the lease renewal.
- Adopt a Pet
The same is true of adopting a pet. You can have your pet added to the new lease more easily than adding them to a current lease. Talk to your property manager about which pets are allowed and the costs associated, like a damage deposit or pet rent.
- Change Units
Sometimes, you can even request to change units if a more desirable floorplan has become available and you want to embark on a small move in the same apartment community.
Leasing an Apartment in Gates of Rochester
Whether you are looking for an apartment in Rochester or are already a resident of our community, you are welcome to start or renew an apartment lease at the Gates of Rochester Apartments in Rochester, MN. There are many apartments and floorplans to choose from in our lovely apartment community. Let us know if you'd like to apply for an apartment or renew your current lease.