🚪 How much would it cost to break your apartment lease early?

You finally closed on a house, but your current landlord is playing hardball. In a recent r/personalfinance story, a San Diego renter faced 9 months of remaining lease liability with a strict landlord.

When your contract lacks an early termination clause, walking away means you are legally on the hook for rent until a new tenant moves in. This calculator compares the open-ended risk of an empty apartment against the certainty of negotiating a clean buyout.

If you move out and leave the landlord to find a replacement, every empty month drains your savings. The Reddit renter noted their landlord had strict income and credit requirements, which can easily stretch a vacancy to 3 or 4 months.

You may also be charged a re-letting or marketing fee to cover their effort in finding a replacement. Enter your realistic estimates below.

Instead of hoping the landlord quickly finds a qualified applicant, you can offer a lump-sum buyout for a clean break. A standard starting offer is 2 months of rent, plus allowing them to keep your security deposit.

This gives the landlord guaranteed cash today and frees you from the nightmare of paying a mortgage and rent simultaneously.

To read more about the original renter's situation and the community's advice, check out the source thread.

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For further related reading, check out:

• Reddit