Re: Selling Rental - Landlord Forum thread

Re: Selling Rental by OK-LL on August 8, 2011 @00:33

If you need the rent income to maintain the mortgage, then lease the property on a normal annual lease. You do not have to advise the tenants that the property is for sale until you have a buyer who wants to do a walk-through, but you may wish to so you can be certain the tenant will keep the property tidy and showable. Or you can wait until you have an interested buyer, then advise the tenant and schedule the walk-through. You can assure the tenant that a buyer will not interfere with their quiet enjoyment of the rental -- with a lease, the tenant's position is safe since a buyer will be required by law to honor the existing lease. And if you've done your job as a LL/seller, you'll have a great tenant in place which the buyer will want to keep, and you'll have all the paperwork to back that up (credit report, civ/crim report, reference checks, etc.) That's the best of both worlds, LL and seller. You might decide to (but with a good tenant, you won't have to) offer a discount on rent to keep the property showable.

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Re: Selling Rental by Katiekate (New York) on August 8, 2011 @00:40	[ Reply ]

Every property I have sold, I was required to deliver the place empty on the day of closing. It was such a hassle. I finally just waited till the lease was up and the tenant moved. Then I put the place on the market. If you are upside down on your mortgage...how will you sell? Are you planning on paying off the difference at closing? I know of a great many people trying to do a short sale on their property...I know of none who have gotten the bank to agree. One friend has had 4 offers on the place (short sale)...bank has played games till the buyers have given up. After 2 years, he still hasn't been able to sell or get the bank to put anything in writing.

Re: Selling Rental by OK-LL on August 8, 2011 @13:38	[ Reply ]

I figure since OP specifically asked about selling to an investor-owner, the property actually has more value to a buyer with an existing tenant. If OP is selling to owner-occupied, then it would likely need to be vacant.

Re: Selling Rental by Katiekate (New York) on August 8, 2011 @15:20	[ Reply ]

OP states clearly that they are upside down on the mortgage.

Re: Selling Rental

Re: Selling Rental by Indiana on August 8, 2011 @21:32	[ Reply ]

I bought the property for 51k about 6 years ago and lived in it. In the process of that time I married and had a child. We wanted to grow our family but the property was too small to do so and the economy shifted. We found a great property for a great deal so we opted to buy it and put the old property on the market. At this point the house (despite all the improvements I put into it) is probably worth around $35k due to the change and the comps selling in the area. It's frustrating because it's actually a really nice property. I owe about 45k on it. It's a very small 2 bedroom 1 bathroom house with a fenced in yard and a 1 car garage.