Selling a Rental With Tenant

[John Feldhauser]

Hello,

I currently own a rental property in Littleton CO and at a point, I need to sell it in 2020 to access my equity to purchase more rental properties. Currently, tenant occupied till April 2021. Been rented out for the last 2.5 years and using a management company to take care of the middle man stuff as we are too busy with our full-time jobs. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to sell with a tenant? We looked at companies like Roofstock but are unsure of what to do. We have talked to a few larger companies but they want too much in fees to find investors. We have talked to the tenant about moving out and paying him to vacate early but he wants to stay so we are in a tight spot. Any suggestions or advice from investors with more experience in this area would be great.

Thanks

John

[Glen Mitchell]

I do both real estate sales and property management.  Hands down I think the seller gets the best deal selling a vacant property.  Owner-occupied is ok but still not the best as vacant almost always wins.  You might look for a similar type of real estate agent who has some property management experience too.  From what I have seen over the years I am able to better work with tenants than the typical realtor who does not have that experience and doesn't know how to coach and get tenants on their side.  I also am kind of an oddball and prefer after the first year of management to go month to month.  This is a perfect example of a situation where a seller may end up with a tenant costing them a lot more money and time than had they been able to give them notice.  Property management probably charged lease renewal fees too so another small cost but not in the owners best interest.