In our area, we have a lot of investment properties, and for the most part, those properties have renters in place. As you might expect, when you sell one of these homes, these renters don’t tidy up the place in the same way you would because they don’t own it and don’t care as much.
What do you do in this situation? Do you have the home go vacant and carry the HOA and mortgage costs for however many months before it goes under contract and closes, or is there a way you can sell the home for top dollar with the tenants still in place?
Actually, there is.
Let’s start with the tenants. They don’t care about the home as much as you do, and they’ve just been told they have to vacate the home in about 60 days, so they’re probably none too excited. I recommend you make a deal with them. Show them that you care and that the process will be as easy for them as possible.
I myself let them know that their privacy and their schedule are paramount and that we’ll be very strict on the showing schedule so there aren’t any that take place that they weren’t expecting—that’s usually one of their biggest worries. For example, we usually set aside two or three nights a week where showings are pushed to a certain timeline—say, 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weeknights and 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on weekends. This works out great for everybody involved—it pushes all the traffic toward certain times and lets the tenants know we care.
“This process will bring you top dollar in the shortest amount of time.”
Now that you have the tenants on board, make the home look presentable. I usually schedule a cleaning the day of photography. Since the home will probably revert back to the way it looked before after the cleaning and photography are finished, I schedule another cleaning the day of a showing or open house.
Finally, you must price the home to sell. We usually list the home above asking price. This usually gets the home sold in less than 10 days so we don’t have to keep showing the home week after week. It’s very difficult to schedule multiple open houses when you have tenants in place.
This process will bring you top dollar in the shortest amount of time. All the while, your tenants are paying your mortgage and HOA fees until the home closes. It’s not easy and it takes a lot of experience, but that’s where an agent such as myself comes in.
If you have any more questions about selling a home with tenants or you have any other real estate needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help you.
