How do I renew or terminate a lease contract?

Most of a property office’s income comes from renewals rather than new contracts, so following contracts near expiry is the most profitable thing you do in a month.

Watching expiring contracts

1. Open Property Rental → Contracts — Figure 1 — and filter by expiring soon.
2. Call the tenant well before expiry — at least a month for residential, longer for commercial.

Renewing

1. Create a new contract on the same unit with new dates and a new value — do not edit the old contract’s dates.
2. This preserves the unit’s history: what its rent was two years ago, and how many times this tenant renewed.
3. Carry the deposit over to the new contract or leave it open, according to what you agreed with the tenant.

Terminating and vacating

1. Open the contract — Figure 2 — and check the total remaining; there is no vacating before the instalments are settled.
2. Inspect the unit and settle the deposit, as a deduction or a refund.
3. Change the contract status to ended; the unit goes back to vacant and is available to offer again.

Notes

• Do not extend a contract by editing its end date; you lose the rent history and mix two years of instalments into one contract.
• A unit left as “rented” after vacating will not show among vacant units, and that is lost income for no reason.
• Review expiring contracts weekly, not monthly.
• Document the vacating with a report and photos and upload them to the contract attachments.