Column · Apartment-hunting tips · No.57

How to find your next home when your current lease requires two months' notice

If your current lease requires two months' notice, timing is crucial when looking for your next home. This article explains how to reduce double rent, when to give notice, and why giving notice too early can be risky.

If you look at your current lease, it may say that you must give two months' notice before moving out.

In this case, finding your next room will be a little more difficult. This is because you will need to pay two months' worth of rent from the time you cancel your current apartment until you move out, so the period will likely overlap with the rent due date for your next property.

First, check the cancellation notice for your current contract.

The first thing you should check is the notice period for cancellation of the room you are currently living in.

Is it one month in advance, two months in advance, monthly or daily? If you make a mistake here, you may end up paying more in rent than you expected.

Also check how to notify the management company of cancellation. In addition to phone calls, you may also need to complete procedures in writing, via a web form, or using the tenant app.

If you cancel your contract 2 months in advance, you are likely to be charged double rent.

For leases that require two months' notice, if you give notice only after your next home is decided, the period of double rent can become long.

For example, if the contract for your next property starts on July 1st, and you give notice to cancel your current room on June 20th, your move-out date may be after August 20th. In this case, the rent will overlap for part of July and August.

Although it may be difficult to completely eliminate double rent, understanding how it works can reduce the burden.

It may be dangerous to give notice of cancellation in advance.

In order to reduce double rent, some people may want to cancel their current apartment before deciding on a new one.

However, this is risky. There is a possibility that you will not be able to find a property that meets your desired conditions, that the screening process will take time, that you will receive too many applications, or that the contract start date will not match.

If you only have a move-out date set and you don't know where you'll live next, you'll feel really anxious. If you decide to cancel your contract first, think about whether you can expand the terms and whether you can arrange temporary housing.

Recommended: ``Look at the candidates and count back the cancellation date.''

If your lease requires two months' notice, it is better to first watch how listings move in your desired area, then work backward from a realistic move-out date instead of giving notice suddenly.

Check how many properties are available that meet your desired conditions, whether there are many properties that you can move in immediately, whether there are many properties that you plan to move out of, and how much you can negotiate about the rent start date.

Then, decide how much double rent you can tolerate, and your move will become more realistic.

Also include properties you plan to move out of.

If you want to reduce double rent, it is a good idea to include not only vacant properties that you can move in immediately, but also properties that you plan to move out of.

The move-in date for properties you plan to move out of is a little later, so it may be easier to match it with your current move-out date.

However, applications may be received before you can view the property. Look at the photos, floor plan, and conditions and decide whether or not to apply in advance, taking into account the risks involved.

Discuss the date when rent will be due

Once you have decided on your next property, let's talk about how far you can adjust the rent start date.

This may be difficult for popular properties, but depending on the lender or management company, you may be able to adjust the start date by a few days to a few weeks.

It will be easier to talk to them if you specifically tell them, ``My current lease requires two months' notice, so would it be possible to set the rent start date a little later?''

realistic schedule example

If your lease requires two months' notice, it is easier to start gathering information about two and a half to three months before your desired move-in date.

In the first few weeks, we will check the market price and property trends and adjust the conditions. After that, once we have found candidate properties, we will proceed with the application and adjust the overlap between the contract start date and move-out date.

You may not have a perfect schedule, but moving early will give you more options.

summary

If you are moving from a property that requires two months' notice, it can be difficult to completely avoid double rent.

The important thing is to check the terms of your current contract, understand the risks of canceling the contract first, and adjust the rent start date and move-out date for your next property. If you start collecting information early and discuss the property you plan to move out of and the date on which rent will be due, it will be easier to relocate without difficulty.

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