Tips for avoiding having to turn over tenants during winter/fall?

[Noureen A S.]

I just read through a BP blog post about how to avoid potentially long vacancies for tenant leases that end in the fall/winter.

I'm closing on the rental property at the end of this week, in December. One amazing tip for owners closing on rental properties in the fall/winter was to have the first tenant's term end/renew in June, so I can take advantage of the peak moving season.

Therefore, it looks like I'll need to...

1. Modify the first tenant's lease agreement to state that the lease would end on May 31st (or 6 mths from the date of the agreement if, for instance, I find the tenant in the middle of January)...
2. ... and also inform all prospective tenants, in advance, that the first lease will be 6 mths long but every successive lease term would be 1 yr long.

Sound about right? Am I missing anything? I don't see any prospects taking issue with this as long as they have the option to renew their lease (provided we have a good landlord-tenant relationship during the first shortened term).

Thank you in advance!