Hi mcdeyess
There have probably always been as many ‘For Lease’ signs but now that you have seen one you will notice them all!
I always instruct the property manager to get a board up as soon as a tenant gives notice. Most properties are still let ‘from the board’, and we get a better quality of enquiry from the board than from the internet. People have already seen the property and the conversion rate (enquiry to letting) is much higher for that reason.
Actually,’ For Lease’ does not specifically mean the same as ‘For Rent’, although a property ‘for lease’ will also require rent to be paid.
A Leasehold (holding the property by way of instrument of lease) is second only to Freehold (holding the property in Fee Simple, ie freehold) however these are subordinate to the interests of the Crown (Sovereign State) which holds dominion (ownership) absolutely over the land.
You may own the improvements on the land, and have certain rights to the land, but the Crown owns the land.
Old titles used to specify how much of the land you had a right to: From memory, it used to be 15 metres above the natural surface of the land and 5 metres below.
This effectively gave you enough ‘space’ to construct a building with the usual footings, but did not give you mining rights or the right to shoot at anything flying overhead.
So a lease gives you certain rights to the land, but not the right to, for example, sell it.
A lease is also for a period of time, the term of the lease. The term can be any length of time, and usually a lease commences on a fixed term, maybe six months or twelve months, at the effluxion of the term the tenancy may then continue indefinitely on a periodic basis, usually month to month. There is no legal requirement to enter into another lease unless both parties agree to do so.
The Rent is technically called ‘Some Valuable Consideration’, and is not necessarily money. No doubt you have heard the phrase ‘peppercorn rent’, and this stems from the very old practice of paying ‘one peppercorn per annum’ rent – a peppercorn representing valuable consideration.
You could literally rent a property (as landlord or as tenant) for $1 per annum, or whatever was agreed between the parties and the arrangement is legal and can be upheld by the courts.
There is a modern trend to interchange legal terms, ‘For Sale’ is correct, whereas ‘For Buying’ would not be correct, as it is the owner who is putting the property to the market and an ‘Invitation to Treat’ comes into existence as soon as that decision is made and the property advertised as such.
To use stickers across boards such as “Bought’ is very vague, and ‘Gone’ is not technically correct, as the property has not ‘gone’ anywhere.
A common misdescription is the incorrect use of the words ‘Client’ and ‘Customer’. The vendor & landlord are the clients of the Agent as they have engaged and instructed the Agent, whereas the buyer and the tenant have no real legal connection with the Agent, but could probably be described as ‘Customers’ although that is not strictly true either.
So “For Lease’ implies an opportunity within a formal legal agreement , for a period of time, and which will require rent to be paid, whereas ‘For Rent’ may not mean that the property is actually for lease, but simply that the property could be rented without the owner giving up their rights such as eg holiday accommodation, bed & breakfast or similar.
Cheers
Kristine
