buying a home with little money in savings

Things To Discuss With Your Tenants When Selling Their Home

by Fernando Moore

When you own an investment property occupied by tenants, you might eventually wish to sell the home. In some cases, the tenants will need to leave the property when you sell it; in other cases, you'll find a buyer who will also use the property as an investment, which means that the tenants will stay. Regardless of the eventual outcome, you need to remember that selling the home should necessitate regular communication with the tenants. Here are some important things that you should discuss as the listing gets ready to hit the market.

Importance Of Cleanliness

You might not care how tidily the tenants live on a day-by-day basis, but you should take an active interest in this topic when you list the home for sale. You'll eventually be dealing with open houses and visitations, and you can't afford to have the residence look messy. This could discourage any interested buyers. Come up with a plan for cleaning the home. Perhaps you'll hire a professional cleaning service to deep clean the house from top to bottom, for example. You must also get the residents to commit to keeping the house clean while it is on the market.

Advance Notice Of Viewings

You need to communicate how much notice you'll give your tenants when an interested buyer wishes to schedule a viewing. When you're selling a home that you currently live in, you might be able to accommodate people quickly — maybe even vacating the home with a few hours' notice. It's courteous, however, to make a pact with your tenants that you'll give them a specific amount of notice. For example, you might settle on 24 hours or 48 hours. Make sure that your real estate agent knows this detail so that he or she can convey the message to the buying agent.

Closing Date

If it's probable that the tenants will be moving out upon you selling the home, you need to come up with a closing date that will suit both parties. Given that a home can sell in a couple days or several months, this can be an uncertain time for the tenants, who won't want to feel as though they're being evicted upon the sale with little notice. A closing date two months after the sale is finalized, for example, will give the tenants an opportunity to find new accommodations, while you'll have a chance to fix up any issues with the house for the new owner.

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