Most owners treat lease renewals like something that kicks off 60-90 days before expiration. By the time that conversation starts, you’re already negotiating from a weaker position than you probably think – the tenant has had months to quietly explore other options, and you’re finding out how they feel about staying at the same moment you need an answer.

We’ve found the real work happens a lot earlier than that.

A few things that have made a difference for us:

• Check in informally, well over a year out – not “are you renewing,” just “how’s the space working for you.” You learn a lot from an offhand comment about needed more storage or wanting a different floor plan
• Treat it as an ongoing relationship, not a transaction that starts on a countdown clock. If the first time a tenant hears from you in two years is a renewal letter, you’ve already lost some goodwill
• Use that lead time to actually solve problems – a build-out issue, a parking complaint, whatever’s been nagging – before it becomes a reason to leave

Curious how others here handle this – how early do you need to start thinking about renewal, and has starting earlier (or later) ever changed how the conversation went?