As a promotion or deal, some landlords offer some months of a lease free. You'll see this advertised in listing headlines in terms such as “12 month lease, one month free!” That free month usually affects the first or last month of a lease agreement.
Net rent, or “net effective rent,” adds up the total amount of rent owed on every month in the lease, subtracts this free month from that total, and then divides this number by the number of months on the lease. This method reflects the discount as if it was subtracted from the rent of each month when this is not the reality of payment.
Gross rent is the amount of rent that is expected to be paid each month that the free month deal does not apply to.
To ensure transparency over the amount of rent expected to be paid each month, we ask our listers to enter the gross rent in the “Rent/Price” section of the listing rather than net rent. If there is a free month free deal, listers can advertise these details in the listing description and headline. This way, people interested in the space can give a better assessment of how this deal fits into their budget.