The broker wants me to sign a 2-year lease because he says the condominium is more likely to approve it, b/c they prefer long-term tenants.

He says there will be a termination clause where I can get out of the lease without penalty with 60 days' notice.

He wants to increase the rent by 4% for the second year, because he says that costs go up by about that much each year.

Is this normal? Should I agree to this?

you mean co-op?? 2 year for condo is unheard of unless I am missing something. Condo buildings usually allow rental as short as six months.

Sorry, yes, it must be a co-op. The documents say minimum rental term is 12 months.

By "rental", I mean sublet.

It's pretty normal. The thing you want to check for is what the owner's rights to show the apartment are, because if they decide to sell it they're going to want access towards the end of your lease for open houses and such.

While you of course want to be a reasonable tenant you don't want to have people parading through the apartment for the last six months of your tenancy either.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

The other important thing that you need to look for is, if you have a 60 day termination right, does the landlord as well? Last thing you want is to be served with a 60 day termination notice 2 months into your tenancy.

Thanks. Good catch, joepa, although luckily there is no such provision in there about the landlord being able to terminate it. They are allowed to show the unit 60 days prior which seems reasonable.