Key Takeaways
One vacant month on a $3,000 rental equals what a 3% renewal increase earns over nearly three years.
Divide your total turnover cost by 12 to see the monthly rent premium a new tenant must pay to break even in year one.
Renew when payment history is clean, the unit shows normal wear, and market rent doesn't clear your break-even number.
Re-rent when documented problems, planned renovations, or a large market gap justify the cost of a new lease.
Renewing the current tenant or renting to a new tenant looks like a leasing question, but it is really a cash question. In Morristown, where median rent was roughly $2,985 in Q1 2026, one empty month is a lot of rent to give up.
PMI Prime Property reviews lease expirations for Morris County owners every year, and the best decisions come from running the numbers early. Here is a cost comparison, a break-even formula, and a checklist.
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What Turnover Costs a Northern New Jersey Landlord
Vacancy Loss
Every vacant day is rent you don't collect, while the mortgage, taxes, and insurance keep coming. Timing matters too. Peak leasing runs late spring through early fall, so a November turnover can sit longer than the same unit would in June.
Make-Ready Work
Move-outs bring cleaning, paint, and repairs that only show once the furniture is gone. New Jersey caps security deposits at 1.5 months of rent and requires return within 30 days, and normal wear generally isn't chargeable against it. Expect to absorb some of the work yourself.
Marketing and Screening
A new tenant means photos, listings, showings, and applications, with background and credit checks applied the same way to every applicant under Fair Housing rules and NJLAD.
That takes your hours or a leasing charge. A current tenant already has a payment record sitting in your ledger.
The Case for Renewing the Current Tenant
A renewal skips the vacancy, most of the make-ready, and the marketing. It also swaps an unknown for a known.
Our renewal process starts 90 days out with a payment performance review, a condition assessment, and a market rent analysis, so the increase comes from data. Keep it modest, and check whether your town has a rent control ordinance, since those vary town by town.
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A Worked Example of the Break-Even Math
These figures are assumptions for illustration. Say a Morristown condo rents for $3,000.
Vacancy, 30 days: $3,000.
Make-ready: $1,200.
Marketing, screening, and leasing: $1,000.
Total turnover cost: $5,200.
A 3% renewal raises rent to $3,090, or $1,080 more over the year. To beat that, a new tenant must cover the $5,200.
Divide by 12 and the new lease needs to bring in $433 more per month than the renewal, so it must start near $3,523, about 17% above current rent. If the new tenant stays two years, the gap drops to about $217 a month, or $3,307.
Checklist for Renewing or Re-Renting
New Jersey's Anti-Eviction Act generally requires good cause to decline a renewal in covered rentals, so an expiring lease isn't always a clean exit. Get legal advice first.
Renew When
Rent arrives on time.
The inspection shows normal wear only.
No lease violations are documented.
Market rent falls short of your break-even number.
The lease would otherwise end in winter.
Re-Rent When
Late payments or violations are documented.
Damage or unapproved occupants turn up.
Market rent clears your break-even number.
Planned renovations need an empty unit.
The tenant chooses not to renew.
Bottom Line
A good tenant at a fair, modest increase usually beats a vacancy, because turnover costs arrive all at once while a rent increase arrives in small monthly amounts.
The exceptions are documented problems, renovation plans, and markets where rent has moved well past your break-even number. PMI Prime Property can run that comparison for your Morristown rental. Get a free, no obligation rental analysis today, or call 973.658.7500.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When Should I Start the Renewal Conversation?
About 90 days before the lease ends. That is when our renewal process begins, with a payment review, a condition assessment, and a market rent analysis.
Starting early gives you time to adjust if the tenant declines, and it lets you steer an expiration away from the slow winter months, when vacancies cost more to carry. Check your lease and any municipal rules for notice periods, since those can set the real deadline.
Can I Decline to Renew in New Jersey?
Often not without a recognized reason. The Anti-Eviction Act lists the grounds, and most covered rentals require one, such as nonpayment or repeated lease violations. Some small owner-occupied buildings fall outside the law, and the details matter.
A lease reaching its end date doesn't by itself end the tenancy in a covered rental. Talk with a New Jersey landlord-tenant attorney before sending any nonrenewal notice. This is general information, not legal advice.
How Much Can I Raise Rent at Renewal?
It depends on the town. New Jersey rent control is set municipality by municipality, so some properties face limits and others don't. Confirm whether your property's town has an ordinance before you send a renewal offer, and read the rent terms in your lease.
Within those limits, a smaller increase is easier to defend when you compare it to turnover cost, which is why running the break-even number first helps you set a figure you can stand behind.
How Do I Know What Market Rent Is?
Compare current listings for similar properties in your own town and in similar condition, not asking rents from the wider county. Our free, no obligation rental analysis produces a personalized report with a suggested rent range and market data.
Put that figure next to your break-even number. If market rent sits close to what your tenant pays, renewing is usually the lower-cost route. If it sits well above, re-renting deserves a closer look.
Should I Renovate Before or After a Renewal?
Regular in-person inspections show what the unit needs, and some upgrades can be scheduled during a renewal without an empty month. Larger work, such as a kitchen remodel or new flooring, may need the unit vacant, which tips the math toward letting the lease end.
Price the lost rent into the project budget first. Whichever way you go, a documented condition report tells you what the unit needs before you commit.
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