We rented our house to our niece, with the understanding that she would not have to pay us a damage deposite, nor would she have to pay first and last month rent, with the understanding that she would take the house "as is". Ever since then it has cost us more to get things fixed than we can afford, such as plumbing, garage door repair and now the house needs a new heater. This is eating up our savings and we want to get out of this mess, but our niece signed a 2 year lease. How do we legally get out of the lease so we can sell the house?

Hello weav:

You don't need to get out of the lease before you sell the house.

excon

Yes, you just have to sell the house, I will assume she pays monthy rent, if so whoever buys the house will have to assume the lease.

But you got into it ( and a two year lease on a dump?}

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Originally Posted by weavertj

We rented our house to our niece, with the understanding that she would not have to pay us a damage deposite, nor would she have to pay first and last month rent, with the understanding that she would take the house "as is". Ever since then it has cost us more to get things fixed than we can afford, such as plumbing, garage door repair and now the house needs a new heater. This is eating up our savings and we want to get out of this mess, but our niece signed a 2 year lease. How do we legally get out of the lease so we can sell the house?

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You are not breaking the lease if you sell the house. The new owner will inherit the lease until it ends. This sometimes makes it a little more difficult to sell the house. Buyers who want to live in the house themselves have potential problems. If this is a property that would be considered "a fixer upper" you may find a real estate investor that would think it was great. Put it on the market and see what happens.