Small scale landlord here, own and operate 8 rental units remotely. We have a candid conversation with any tenants up front that we issue lease terms, but they aren't hard and fast. Sometimes life happens and people need to move out abruptly. I tell tenants if that's the case to notify me as soon as they know or as much advanced notice as possible, and we will make reasonable effort to get the unit rented to the next tenants without charging lease break fees or forcing people to stay out a lease term in a situation they're unhappy with. It also means the residents need to be reasonably acommodating when it comes to showings, allowing access and being generally helpful so the place can get rented again.
That's the way we handle it. Just have an open conversation, keeping everything reasonable and transparent. Brief phone call: 'Hey John, how's your house search going? *shoot the breeze about the local RE market*. I know it's a tight market out there and sometimes you need to move quickly. If you need to break your lease or move out for any reason, let me know as soon as you can, and we will work together to get a plan in place.'
Here's a recent real example:
Tenant of 3 years wrote to me on 12/17/24 saying they have a house under contract and wish to move out on 1/31/25. Their lease doesn't end until July 2025. They say they expect to close and be moved out by January 31st. I congratulate them and ask if they have anyone to refer who might want to fill their vacancy. They answer back no, so I tell them I'm going to start advertising. I list the apartment the next day. A week goes by with 100+ inquiries and 20+ applications. I have it narrowed down to 3 applicants that are all qualified (I conduct the pre-qualifications remotely). I give the 3 applicants each a phone call, introduce myself, talk about the unit and allow them to ask any questions. I give them the phone number of current resident to allow them to share their living experience at the unit (with permission of course).
I gather showing times and notify the current residents when the showings will be. I either conduct the showings remotely or have the applicants coordinate directly with the current residents, allowing the residents to do the showing for me. Again, these applicants are not random strangers. They are all vetted people that pass qualifications and I have spoken to personally.
New residents are happy & willing to help, and they also speak highly about the apartment. New resident is chosen. Lease is signed remotely beginning February 1st, lease break document is signed remotely, let current & new residents coordinate which furniture they want to leave behind. New residents move in. No cleaning needed in between since prior residents do a good job cleaning after moving out. New residents make a list of small repairs. I fix them a couple weeks later when I'm in the area.
Everyone is happy. No lease break fees. No stressful timelines. Just people being reasonable and working together. That's really all it comes down to.
Another thing we do is offer referral credits for residents that refer another qualified tenant to us. This is often how we lease apartments without ever bringing them to market. Good residents naturally tend to bring in more/other good residents.
Obviously for all of this to work you need to have good relationships with your tenants. That's why landlording is a people business.
