Selling Trustee sale property with owner occupant renting

[Darish D.]

Just bought a 200K home at the court steps (I'm sole owner and a real estate broker). Made a mistake as the area is not good to leave a home vacant. I told the owner her options (cash for keys 15 days, eviction or rent until Jan 15 then leave) and she said she was interested in renting the unit longer term. She seems like a really nice person just in a bad family situation. She has a steady job. My goal is to get out of this asap as a better deal has come up and I don't want to invest several months to have her leave, rehab and sell . What do you think of pre qualifying her at $1500 a month, place it on the MLS as a rental sale and do a quick sale to cash investors? Is that a bad idea? I should be able to get enough to get funds back, pay the buyer's agent and closing costs.

[Scott McMahan]

Does her lease end Jan 15?

I would qualify her as any other good landlord in the area would. Run a background and credit check. If she's a tenant any landlord would want and she can afford the rent long-term, then your buyer will be getting a good deal and you'll get out of the property with minimal damage.

If she's a problem tenant, however, then you're selling a problem to someone that they're locked into for the duration of the lease. Any investor would rather have a soon to be vacant property than one with a problem tenant and a new lease.