Selling condo w/ tenants. Sell to investors or wait until vacant?

[Peter J.]

Looking to get BP members' feedback on selling a small, tenant-occupied condo unit .

- The lease has 2.5 months remaining, but I'd like to list and sell ASAP.

- Condo is fairly small (550 sq. ft) and has two tenants and a newborn baby.

- Property ownership in the area is:  30% rentals (11% above national average), 65% owner occupied, 5% vacant.

- I'm impartial as to which group I sell to: investors or residential owner occupants

Options:

1) Since the lease ends June 30th, I could list it with a July 1st availability. If it's an owner-occupant buyer, the closing would be long but not terrible (under 90 days). If it's an investor, they could close and carry the lease with the existing tenant.

2) Use a "cash for keys" approach to avoid any issues when showing the condo while the tenants and baby are there.  I could create a written agreement to offer the tenants $500 to leave early (i.e. $500 for every 30 days early relative to the end of the lease).

3) Wait until lease expires. 

[Russell Brazil]

Properties that are tenant occupied sell for less than vacant units. So if you are willing to take less, sell with them there. If you want top dollar, then wait til its vacant or pay them to leave.