If you’re thinking about selling an investment property, and it has a tenant living there, what do you do? Should you sell a property with a tenant in place, or take the right steps to get the tenant out, and then sell?

Here is Realtor Erin McGinnis with advice. You can watch the video or read on.

Sell it Vacant

When we’re talking about single-family homes, our advice in general is to sell the house vacant, without a tenant.  But what about the rent you’ll be missing? Don’t worry, in our experience, you’ll more than make up for those few rent payments with a higher sale price.

Here are the 3 reasons NOT to sell a property with a tenant:

Number 1: Difficult to show.

Homes with tenants are the most difficult for agents to show, in general, and as a result, they don’t get shown as much. They require minimum 24-hour notice. And there’s usually less flexibility because many tenants find it inconvenient to accommodate showings that frankly don’t benefit them at all.

On the other hand, vacant homes are the easiest to show. Agents usually don’t have to make an appointment, they can just go directly and use their lockbox key. When agents go out with buyers to look at 4 or 5 properties, they have to schedule those showings, and keeping that schedule can be harder than it seems.

If a buyer really likes a house, they might linger for awhile, which can put you behind schedule. Or, if a buyer decides within 30 seconds that they don’t like the house, then you’re suddenly way ahead of schedule.

When a home is vacant, it’s the easiest for an agent to show, and for that reason, those homes tend to get shown more.

Number 2: The house won’t show well.

The second reason to sell your investment house without tenants is to have complete control over the way the house looks. In our experience, homes need to be prepped and staged in order to get the most money when they sell.

A tenant is not going to de-clutter the house or stage their living room to help you sell your house.

Number 3: Smaller buyer pool.

The final reason not to sell a property with a tenant is this: your home will have a much wider buyer pool without a tenant living there. Unless this is a multi-unit property where the buyer is certainly an investor, most buyers are end-users who will be living in the house. They don’t want to deal with the responsibility of getting a tenant out after they become the owners.

Talking to a real estate attorney is a wise move before giving notice to your tenants so you can be sure you are following the law and doing things correctly. This can save you time and money.

Are you thinking of selling your investment property? We have a lot of experience with this. Call us today!