Owning rental property can be a powerful investment opportunity, but what do you need to consider when it comes to buying or selling a rental property? And how do you handle the tenants that may live in the renter-occupied home? In this video, Rentec Direct’s Kaycee Miller offers tips and tricks for buying or selling a rental property that is currently occupied with a tenant.
My parents are currently thinking of selling their rental property, and they asked what they should do about the current resident. I told them I think having a long-term rent-paying tenant is extremely valuable, and the right investor will be excited to purchase the renter-occupied home. However, there are some important factors they should consider in terms of communicating and collaborating with their tenant during the sale process.
In this video, I share some of my tips and best practices for handling a renter-occupied home when it comes to buying or selling a rental property.
Buying or Selling Rental Property: How to Manage a Renter-Occupied Home – Video Transcript
Are you thinking about buying a renter-occupied home?
Perhaps you actually have a renter-occupied home, and you’re wondering what it takes to sell it. Is it better to keep the tenant to try and get them to vacate the premises? What’s going to be more attractive to a buyer or a real estate investor?
I’m Kaycee with Rentec Direct property management software. I’m also a landlord, a real estate investor, and I’ve been writing about property management and rental advice for over 10 years.
Today we’re going to talk about what it takes to sell a renter-occupied home. What’s going to be the most attractive to buyers, and what’s the best way to handle your residence who are currently living in that property?
Selling a Renter-Occupied Home
Now, when I think about selling a renter-occupied home, there’s two things that you want to think about. You wanna think about the tenant’s perspective and also the seller and buyer’s perspective.
Renter-Occupied Homes are Valuable to Real Estate Investors
Now, as a buyer and a real estate investor, if I’m looking to purchase a rental property, buying a property that already has a tenant in it sounds great to me.
Benefits to Real Estate Investors
That sounds like immediate cash flow! And I’m not going to have to spend the time finding a new tenant.
Risks to Real Estate Investors
However, there are risks involved. I don’t know anything about this tenant. I don’t know their rental history, I don’t know their rent payment history. So I’m really going to be relying on the seller to give me some insight on what that tenant is like.
Also, we have to consider the lease term. A tenant is going to be contractually obligated to stay in that property for the entirety of their lease. If it’s a term lease and a purchaser is coming in six months into that lease, they still have to honor that lease. Just because you’re buying a property doesn’t mean that the occupants have to leave.
But if it’s a month-to-month lease, you might have a little bit more flexibility on whether or not that tenant is going to be able to stay there once you purchase the property. It all depends on your state laws.
Managing your Tenants when Selling a Rental Property
Remember now, when it comes to actually selling your renter-occupied home, what’s the best way to handle the tenants that are in it?
You might have a tenant who is really cooperative with this situation, or you might have a tenant who isn’t working out so well and doesn’t want to let people into the house to handle maintenance or showings.
Tenant Communication
The best course of action is to communicate and reassure that tenant. Having the knowledge that the property is going up for sale might be really scary for someone because that leads to housing uncertainty. I think it’s always good to reassure the tenant that just because the house is going up for sale doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to have to find new housing.
I found that to be really common, most tenants have the assumption they will need to move out of the property during a house sale. Even when I’m buying a property that has a renter in it, that’s always the first concern of the tenants when I meet them. Renters will express, “Oh my gosh, am I gonna have to move?”
And we always try and reassure them, “not necessarily but let’s keep talking about it.”
It’s so interesting that tenants have that perception that a new owner means that they’re going to have to find new housing.
Working with your Tenant to Find a Buyer
So let’s get back to that renter that’s living in a property that’s about to be sold. What’s the best way to work with them? Now, as a seller, I’m going to want to make sure that house looks really good. So that might mean new maintenance, some fresh coats of paint, and making sure the curb of feel is top notch. And of course, making sure that everything looks good on the inside.
That might mean maintenance personnel coming in and a lot of real estate agents coming in to show the house. You will want to make that renter feel as comfortable as possible with all the activity happening in their home.
Some ideas to help your renter feel better may include:
- Hiring a house cleaner
- Getting the carpets cleaned
You can give these as gifts to your tenants as a thank you for the inconvenience of keeping the house in order and accommodating all the traffic. These can all be benefits to the renters, especially if you present it in a really attractive way to those tenants.
Something else that we really like to do, it’s kind of our secret little way to really reward our tenants, is if we’re planning showings for like a weekend is offered to put them up in a hotel or get them movie tickets, or a restaurant gift certificate to get them out of the house for the day. These might sound like unnecessary expenses on the seller’s part, but if that means that your house gets sold faster, I think it’s totally worth that return on the investment.
Now, hopefully, you have renters that are cooperative, and they don’t mind the showings, but sometimes you might not have renters who are not cooperative. They might want to be present at every single showing, every single time a maintenance personnel comes. And really, it’s the right to be present. In order to handle this type of tenant, I found it’s best to really focus on communication.
Notice and Rights to Entry for Rental Property Maintenance
Always make sure you’re following your state’s rights or your state laws regarding notices to your tenants, including notices for entering the premises.
When preparing a home for a real estate sale, when it comes to entering the house, you might be able to provide a notice that states you will be performing maintenance during a specific time frame and to expect personnel entering the home.
I advise you to try and do it all at once. You don’t want to have someone come every other Monday for a couple of months or randomly for a couple of weeks. That could be so inconvenient for your tenant and might cause them to start becoming uncooperative.
If you can keep all the maintenance and showings as close together as possible, you will cause less strain on your tenants. These are just ways you can be as accommodating as possible to your tenant and hopefully get that house sold faster.
Buying a Renter-Occupied Rental Property
When it comes to buying a renter-occupied property, there are some things you will want to consider before making an offer.
Speak with the seller or seller’s agent to find out any information about the occupant’s rental history. You need to find out what kind of lease agreement is in place with the current tenant.
Tenant Screening
Ideally, when you take on the property, you will want to conduct your own tenant screenings. When you complete your own tenant screening you can find out about their credit history and criminal background.
Sign a New Lease Agreement
New owners will also want to consider having the tenant sign a new lease agreement with you. This allows you to have your own lease agreement, under your terms, without just assuming the lease agreement of the previous owner.
Consider an Estoppel Agreement
Some other advice for purchasing a renter-occupied home is to get an estoppel agreement, which really outlines the monies that will be transferred to you, including the security deposit.
Is the security deposit getting transferred from a previous owner to the buyer, or does the security deposit go from the previous owner back to the tenant and then the tenant is paying it to you.
These estoppel agreements can outline not only security deposits, but details any appliances that are in the property that might belong to a tenant.
Estoppel agreements are particularly valuable when the tenant is moving out and they are debating over lease terms and property. You don’t want to get into an argument with your tenant over who might own the washer and dryer. Is it the tenants or did it come with the house? An estoppel agreement can really be helpful.
Final Thoughts
These are just some tips about what it takes when you’re either buying a renter-occupied home or when you’re selling a renter-occupied home.
- Communicate with your tenants
- Communicate with your real estate agent who’s helping you sell it
- Communicate with the buyer’s agent about what type of tenant lives in the property
- And if you’re buying that renter-occupied home, think about what you need to do in order to get the best return on that rental investment.
- Consider an estoppel agreement that can help outline what money is owed, what appliances are part of the property versus what belong to the tenant.
- Transfer a lease agreement to you as soon as possible or move forward with getting a tenant to vacate the premises in the form of cash for keys, or other incentives that might make it attractive for someone that you don’t want living there to move out because it might not be a good fit for both of you.
Hopefully, that will help with some fun information about dealing with renter-occupied homes when it comes to selling or buying a property. My name is Kaycee with Rentec Direct. I am always happy to give you tips and advice when it comes to landlording, rental properties, and property management.
You can find all this and more on the Rentec Direct Blog, come check me out there and I’ll talk to you soon.
