Differing Opinions
Offering our tenants some incentive upon lease renewal has become a more explored policy in the last few years. However, landlords sit on both sides of the fence on this policy. Some landlords who see themselves to be fair, responsible, and kind to their tenants believe that offering an incentive to tenants as a bonus upon renewing the lease is a waste of time and money. Instead, they feel the tenant should appreciate their relationship and be grateful they are not dealing with a nightmare landlord. They even will go so far as to believe that if the tenant were to move out, it would be an opportunity for them to raise the rent higher. That certainly can be true in rent-controlled areas, but a view of “take it or leave it” is not uncommon for many landlords.
The other school of thought on incentives in exchange for lease renewals is that landlords will do what they can to retain a good tenant instead of losing income due to a vacancy. Their issue is the time it takes to flip a unit to get it ready for a new tenant. Meeting for the pre-move-out inspection, after move-out inspection, dealing with accounting for security deposit returns or losses the security deposit must cover are seen as a pain. These items do not even consider ALL the other typical maintenance issues: replacing/cleaning carpet, painting the unit, repairing broken blinds, replacing run-down appliances, marketing the property, and then going through all the rigamarole of the application process to place the new tenant.
The adage that time is money runs very true for our family. We have hectic lives and honestly will do what we can to avoid a vacancy.