Selling a House With a Tenant Living There: What Are Your Options?

Determine the Best Way to Sell Your Rental Property

When selling a house with tenants, there are varying factors you must consider. Below are the options you can take advantage of. 

Wait for the Lease to Expire

If you are on a month-to-month basis or if your lease is set to expire in two or three months, your best bet may be to wait until the lease expires. Although this puts you on the tenant’s schedule, you won’t have to worry about coordinating showings around the tenant or whether the property will be in good condition. Simply provide proper notice to the tenant 30 days prior to the move. You should also make any reasonable accommodations or incentives available to the tenant, such as returning the security deposit sooner or in full.

Sell the House with the Tenant Living There

You’ll need the tenant’s cooperation to sell the house to a we buy houses in Tacoma company if the lease is fixed for another 60 or 90 days. Make sure they keep the property looking presentable and agree to leave within 24 hours of showings, so they aren’t in the way of potential buyers. You can offer the tenant an incentive, such as a refund of the security deposit. You should also inform the tenant that he must be somewhere else during the home appraisal and inspection appointments. 

Taking over an existing lease, on the other hand, is a difficult situation. Buying an investment property with existing tenants means you’ll have instant cash flow. On the other hand, cash home buyers in Tacoma may be wary of relying on the previous landlord’s screening process and the terms of the current lease. If the previous landlords did not raise the rent every year or did not conduct regular seasonal inspections, your new tenants may object to the steps you must make to protect your rental property. 

Discuss with your real estate agent what to include as a “condition of sale,” such as refunding the full deposit to the tenant when the lease expires.

Ask Your Tenant to Buy the Property 

Instead of selling your home to a, we buy houses Tacoma company; you can ask your tenant if he’s interested in buying it. If your tenant has lived in your rental for years without any problems, he or she may be a good buyer. After all, they are familiar with the house and have already moved in. Offering a tenant the opportunity to purchase your property saves you the time and expense of listing, staging, and showing it. 

You should consider hiring a home inspector to identify any unknown issues. A real estate agent is still required to draft the purchase agreement and close the sale, but the agent isn’t as involved as in a regular sale.

Consider a Special Arrangement with the Tenant

As long as a tenant is dependable and does not violate any lease terms, he or she will most likely be able to live on the property until the lease expires. However, if your tenant has been unsatisfactory and has violated the lease terms, you may be able to terminate the lease early. Some common reasons include failing to pay rent (or paying late regularly), damaging the property, becoming a nuisance to neighbors, or engaging in illegal activity on the property.

If your lease does not have a clause that allows you to terminate it, you can still offer a clean slate to potential buyers by incentivizing your tenants to leave early. 

As a landlord, you can offer a sum of money in exchange for the apartment being vacated within a certain time frame. However, if you and your tenants have been friendly, there is no need to frame it in this manner. You can offer a rent reduction, assistance with moving costs, or cover their next security deposit in exchange for leaving a little earlier, keeping the house clean, and accommodating showings.

Endnote

Selling your home with a tenant living there can be a complex process because you must consider the lease terms. For instance, you must provide a notice a month before the moving date. However, there are different ways you can still sell your home with a tenant living in it. For instance, you can wait until the lease expires to sell it or offer an opportunity to your tenant to buy it. 

All the other alternatives you can utilize are highlighted above, and you can pick one depending on your specific situation. 

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