Do you own an investment property in Raleigh NC that you’d like to sell? The selling process becomes much more complicated with tenants. In our latest post, learn more about how to sell your house with tenants in Raleigh NC!
As a landlord, you may want to sell your property either because you’re tired of being a “landlord”, or you want to cash out on your investment. Sometimes, you can simply tell your tenants that you are looking to sell, give them plenty of notice (60 – 90 days) and it may not be an issue. More often than not, tenants become upset when they hear their landlord is looking to sell.
Many times tenants are worried that the new landlord will come in and try and increase the rent. This can feel threatening if your tenant is on a tight budget. Also, if this is a family, they will be concerned with moving and pulling children out of school.
This fear can cause your tenant to “skip”, or move out with no notice. This is sometimes referred to as the midnight-move, which seems to come during the first week of the month when rent is due.
You don’t want to risk losing your tenants and be stuck with a vacant house and another set of problems.
That said, the tenants have rights, and you want to make sure you aren’t violating them. Below, we discuss common things that arise when you decide to sell your house with tenants in Raleigh NC.
How To Sell A Rental Property With A Lease In Place
If there is a WRITTEN lease in place and there are several months left before expiration, this means that the new owner will be buying the house subject to the terms of this lease. They simply cannot come in and kick anyone out or raise the rent. This protects the tenant. This gives you an advantage of marketing an income producing property. Meaning, you have a lease that is performing (on time hopefully) and the new investor will be buying a stream of cash flow.
Make sure you have a copy of the lease ready to go. Also, you may be asked for income and expense reports so the investor can evaluate the properties performance.
You’ll also be asked a lot of questions about the condition of the rental property: how old is the roof? How old is the HVAC system? Provide details on the HVAC system (gas/electric), are there any owner paid utilities, etc.
How To Sell A Rental Property Without A Lease
By North Carolina law, if there is no lease in place, it is considered to be a month to month tenancy. This means that changes to rent, or terms, or termination of the lease can be made with 30 days WRITTEN notice.
How do you show a house with tenants to a potential buyer?
This gets a little tricky, especially if you are trying to hide the sale from them. There are only so many stories you can come up with to bring people by and show them the house..whether it be: “I have an insurance guy coming by tomorrow, and inspector, contractor, whatever.
If you have a written lease agreement there should be a stipulation in there where the tenant agrees to cooperate with showings of potential buyers or potential renters (if the tenant has given notice).
If there is no lease agreement in place it can get tricky if the tenant feels threatened and become uncooperative.
Remember, the tenant has rights too under North Carolina Landlord Tenant Law, fair housing acts, and if you violate those rights, you could find yourself penalized.
By the way..have you thought of selling your house to your tenant?
If You Have Difficult Tenants
If your tenant has violated their lease, you should be able to evict them without an issue. Most landlords try to avoid dealing with evictions at all costs. You may be able to hire a local, and reputable, property manager to handle the eviction process for you.
By selling your house with tenants directly, you’ll be able to avoid the eviction process yourself and be able to move on from the property with cash in hand. Many direct buyers will simply take over the lease and business will go on as usual. If the tenants are in violation of the lease, the buyer will go through the eviction process as necessary. Plus, a direct sale will help you avoid having to list, market, and show the property, things would likely cause even more tension between you and your difficult tenants.
Selling Directly
There are many reasons why a direct sale is beneficial for people who need to sell their house with tenants in Raleigh NC. Some local investors are happy to buy a house with tenants in place, some are not. I would rule out the option of selling to one of the national, Internet-based, home buyers because they do not buy houses with tenants in them. Wake County Home Buyers buys houses for cash that have tenants in place. We have bought many houses in the Raleigh area with tenants in place.
Are we willing to buy your house with tenants, good or bad? There is only one way to find out..fill out the form for a no-obligation phone consultation.