Lease and rent are almost similar but have significant contextual differences amongst them. For example, you can rent a home when you are out on a business trip for a few weeks or months, whereas leasing a home means that you will have to make payments periodically in regular intervals for a fixed period of time which will be pre-decided as per the contract. The duration of the lease will vary from one deal to another. Generally, the lease is taken for a more extended period but can extend to a range from anywhere between a few months to years.  Rent is usually taken when there is such a specific plan, and the lease is made when the owner is planning to do something with the property and plans to extend it in the time to come or at least wishes to know the benefits of owning the property. A lease allows you to have all the rights that an actual owner would have but only for a limited period, renting a property will not give you the rights of being an owner, you will not be able to make alterations, construct something new or be able to use the property for commercial benefits until included in the rental agreement which is highly unlikely.

Some major differences

There are different rules for renting and leasing in different states, but on an average, the minimum time duration for a rental agreement is of 30 days while the same for the lease is of 12 months.  For example, if you have a transferable job and you just moved to a new city, the situation demands you to stay for a tern of 3 years before you are transferred to another town. You might be stuck with the rent vs lease problem, the best way is having a good look at the house and approaching the owner with a 30-day rental agreement. After the term of 30 days, if you feel comfortable in the home, you can commit to it and move ahead with the plan to take the property on lease for the rest of the years. Some landlords allow a contract up to five years while some only let you have the property for six months. It is essential to go through the lease papers and all legal documents very carefully, make sure that you take the help of a registered broker who will save your time and resources, he/she will be able to provide all the legal aid and guide you through the whole process.

In a nutshell

Either renting or leasing, it is vital that you know all the legal know hows of the real estate business, thinks like the rent cannot be increased until there is written approval from the lease or its mentioned in the rental agreement. Get in touch with the previous tenants and ask them about what kinds of problems they faced while they were staying in the house, this will give you a better idea of how the property is.