A slip lease renewal checklist.

Three months before a lease ends

• Decide the new rate. If prices are going up, decide by how much, whether some slip types change more than others, and who you’ll leave alone, like your longest tenants.
• Check your lease. Update dates, rates and any rule changes, like guest parking, liveaboards or pets on the dock.
• Look at your waitlist. Know who’s waiting for which slip size, so a slip that opens can be filled the same week.
• Clean up contact details. Old email addresses are the main reason renewal notices go unanswered.

Two months out

• Send the renewal notice. Say plainly when the lease ends, what the new rate is, how to renew and how to pay, and the date you need an answer by.
• Make it easy to say yes. The fewer steps between the notice and the payment, the more tenants renew on time. A link that lets them renew and pay from their phone beats a form, a stamp and a check.
• Ask for updated insurance. Renewal is the natural time to collect a current certificate.

One month out

• Remind anyone who hasn’t answered, politely and with the date.
• Mark renewals as they come in, so you’re only chasing the people who are actually outstanding.
• Note who isn’t coming back. Each one is a slip you can offer from the waitlist now, not months later.

The last two weeks

• Send two final reminders, one at two weeks and one at a week.
• Call the few who still haven’t answered. By now it should be a short list.

After the lease ends

• Follow up on anyone overdue on a schedule you decide in advance, so it never feels personal.
• Offer open slips to the next boater on your waitlist whose boat fits.
• Write down what slowed you down this year, and fix it before next year.

A short renewal notice you can adapt

Hi {first name},

Your lease for slip {slip} ends on {date}. We’d love to have you back for another year. Your new rate is {price}. You can renew and pay here: {link}. Please let us know by {date} either way, so we can offer your slip to the next boater on our waitlist if you’re moving on.

Thanks for being with us,
{your name}, {marina}