Step 14 to Buying a Home: Give Notice To Your Landlord

If you’re currently renting, you need to give notice to your landlord that you’re going to be moving out. According to Georgia law, if you have a month-to-month lease, you will need to give your landlord 30 days notice. If you do not have a month-to-month lease and you are in a lease term, you will need to refer to your lease agreement to find out how many days' notice you need to give. You should give notice in writing and make sure that your landlord confirms receipt.

We recommend waiting until you successfully conclude the Due Diligence Period before giving notice to your landlord. In the event that something goes awry with the inspection or you want to exercise your right to terminate the contract during the Due Diligence Period for any other reason, you want to ensure that you aren't under any undue pressure while you continue your home search. To read more about what the Due Diligence Period means, click here. 

What if you are in a standard (not month-to-month) lease, but it doesn’t end for quite a few months? Then you have a couple of options:

1. We can try to push closing back to the end of your lease date. If that is of interest to you, you will likely need to let us know before we write your contract.
2. You can choose to keep both places for the remainder of your lease so you have plenty of time to leisurely move from your rental to your new home.

The second option may sound expensive, as it does mean paying the monthly rental payment plus your mortgage payment for the remainder of your lease. However, one thing to keep in mind is this: you pay rent in advance but you pay your mortgage in arrears. What does that mean? Let us illustrate:

Let's say that you have a lease through November 30, which means your last rent payment will be November 1. If you make an offer on a home in mid-August and ask for an October closing date (and if the seller agrees), your first mortgage payment would not be until December 1, so you would not have a month with double payment. Even better, if you make an offer in September and ask for a November closing date, you would make your last rent payment on November 1 but not have your first mortgage payment until January 1, so in essence, you would get a full month with no rent or mortgage payments! We can help you to plan your purchase with your lease ending, in order for it to make the most financial sense for you.

Have questions? Call us at 404-994-2181 or email at Maura(at)BuySellLiveAtlanta(dot)com