Hack My Lease!

September 18, 2010 2:23 PM

NYC rental filter: I'm looking into subletting an apartment in a co-op building. The landlords, looking for rental income while they wait for a better time to sell, added something to the lease that sketches me out.

The apt. is great-- and the rent is reasonable. Not a steal, but manageable.

My prospective landlords built into the lease something to the effect of "Tenant will allow apartment to be shown to potential buyers, no more than 5 times per month, with 24 hours notice, from March 2011 onward." My lease is will run Oct 2010-Oct.2011. Seven months of strangers wandering around my apt. seems insane to me. I'm in a similar situation now-- for the last month my apt. has been shown, and it's a pain to have to constantly think about hiding valuables, etc.

What should I do? What can I do?

posted by enzymatic to Home & Garden (12 answers total)

You're going into this knowing that your landlord is trying to sell the place. These demands seem quite reasonable, given that fact.

If you don't want to have to deal with that, rent a place from a landlord who's not planning on selling.
posted by alms at 2:26 PM on September 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

It sounds reasonable If it's a term you can't live with, find another apartment.
posted by HuronBob at 2:27 PM on September 18, 2010

Presumably you haven't signed the lease yet. Therefore, it's still negotiable. Advise your prospective landlords that seven months of having your apartment shown is too much, and suggest a lesser amount of time. If they are willing to negotiate this issue, and you can come to an agreement, then it's all good. Otherwise, you find somewhere else or agree to the seven months.

Realize that showing a place to prospective buyers is different from showing it to prospective renters. Bidding and closing and all that can take months, and they don't want to be stuck with an empty apartment.
posted by amro at 2:28 PM on September 18, 2010

Or, tell them that while you absolutely understand that they will be putting this apartment on the market, you are very sorry but you cannot sign a lease that obligates you to seven months of viewing. Three months, perhaps, but certainly not seven.

If they are not willing to make that deal, you will need to rent somewhere else.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:31 PM on September 18, 2010

I'm surprised your landlord is that generous. Every lease I've signed (albeit not in NYC) has indicated the landlord has the right to show the unit for sale at any time for the entire duration of the lease with 24 hours notice. The fact that they're restricting it at all seems like a concession that I've never seen before.

What can you do? Sign the lease or move.

What should you do? Make a decision about the annoyance of moving/finding a new place versus accepting the agreement. Moving out is your best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) and is the basis for any discussion with your landlord. Be willing to move out if the landlord isn't willing to make any concession to you. This is just like any other lease negotiation - it's no different than talking about price or utility payment responsibility.
posted by saeculorum at 2:59 PM on September 18, 2010

I'm the landlord in a similar situation (yes, NYC). The lease I signed allows me (unlimited) showings but only 3 months ahead of time. The limit of 5 w/24h notice doesn't sound that bad.
posted by cestmoi15 at 3:04 PM on September 18, 2010

I don't know about the legal side, but I can give you an idea of what it's like to endure being the tenant in a house on the market: It sucks. Big-time. You will have entire families looking at every square inch of your house on a regular basis. These people are buying a home and don't settle for a breezy walkthrough in-and-out in 5. I've had some of these people want to move my furniture around to get a better look at floorboards, etc. You'll also have appraisers coming and going and measuring things like you wouldn't believe. You will also end up with a new landlord when it sells, and have no control over who that ends up being.

I would keep looking.
posted by cj_ at 3:20 PM on September 18, 2010

If you'd already been living there when they decided to sell, that would be one thing. Going into a lease with that kind of catch sounds like a pain in the arse. Negotiate a lower rent or a shorter show window (like three months.)
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 3:46 PM on September 18, 2010

You'll also have appraisers coming and going and measuring things like you wouldn't believe. You will also end up with a new landlord when it sells, and have no control over who that ends up being.

It being a co-op building, chances are OP wouldn't be getting new landlords but a non-renewal on the lease. Most people don't buy co-ops with the intent to be landlords.
posted by Sara C. at 8:52 PM on September 18, 2010

Ah good catch, I missed it was a co-op. That actually sounds worse.

In my case, I got a cool landlord in the end, but I put up with months of strangers in my home at all hours of the day. It was very stressful. I wouldn't willingly walk into that situation again unless I were desperate for a place to live.
posted by cj_ at 1:22 AM on September 19, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks, all. Those of you with real estate know-how, would it seem reasonable to offer that they could show the place, say, april-may and then sept-october, giving us the summer off? Would that be useful for *them* in terms of selling it?

Also, what fraction of a rent deduction for the inconvenience seems reasonable?
And who's liable if something gets stolen during an open house?

Thanks.
posted by enzymatic at 6:56 AM on September 19, 2010

I'm thinking a 10% to $15% reduction so $1,000 rent becomes $900 or $850. The "taking the summer off thing will not fly. That is effectively taking it off the market for the summer. I do think the "no more than 5 times a month" showings is decent of them. That's only being inconvenienced about once a week.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 8:22 AM on September 19, 2010