Selling a Rental House with Tenants
When you decide to sell a rental house, it will either have occupants or it will be vacant. If there are people living in the property and they are tenants with a lease, then you will also be selling those tenants and the rental income they provide. Tenants with a lease in good standing have a right to stay in the property until their lease expires.
Most buyers looking for a single-family home want a vacant house so it’s available for them to occupy after closing. They don’t want to buy people along with their house. They want to live in their house. Finding the perfect new home but having to accept the tenants along with it and having to wait until the lease expires and tenants move out can discourage qualified buyers from making an offer.
Tenants who pay their rent on time and show respect for your property are an asset to the right buyer. The trick is finding the right buyer, meaning a real estate investor who wants to keep the house as a rental and has no plans to live in it.
Tenants Stay with the House, or Not
You could ask your tenants to move if there are many months or even more than a year left on their lease. While they may understand your desire to sell it may not translate into their own desire to move. But, if they are looking for a way to get out of their lease and you are willing to let them vacate in order to sell an unoccupied home, all parties to the lease can sign a mutual lease termination agreement to end it.
Talking to your tenants and asking them if they wish to stay or would consider moving out is the first conversation to have when you’re selling a rental house with tenants. If they prefer to move and you prefer to sell a vacant house, then you have far more options after they move out. For example, you can list your house with an agent who will put it on the multiple listing service and all the agents in the area will know it’s for sale.
Selling a Rental House
But if your tenants and happy and don’t want to move, you are stuck with them. And so is the new buyer. Sometimes a new buyer will budget enough cash to buy the tenants out of their lease so they will move out sooner. But that is rare. It’s generally done only for commercial purposes or by people with enough cash to spend it to motivate others.
Sell Your House and Tenants to a Professional Buyer
One place to look for your ideal buyer when you’re selling a house with tenants is WePayFast.com Our professional buyers have interest and experience in buying houses occupied by tenants. The value of the lease to real estate investors can be a plus to you.
Call 405-521-1807 or email info@wepayfast.com for more information.