Selling with Tenants – Having a House for Sale in Portsmouth VA
Putting up a house for sale in Portsmouth VA and selling it is not easy. It becomes all the more difficult if the property is occupied by tenants. There are several cases where the house has tenants. If you’re one of such homeowners, don’t worry, selling a property with tenants is not impossible. You only have to take some simple steps to make the process smooth.
Finding a buyer is easy if the property is lying vacant. However, this is not always possible. Your house for sale in Portsmouth VA may have people living on rent or you may have signed a long-term lease agreement with your tenants. In this case, you have to sell it with tenants if they are not ready to vacate before the expiry of their lease agreement. If their lease agreement is about to expire in a couple of weeks or months, it makes sense to wait until they vacate. Showing a property is easy when it is without any occupants. When it comes to selling a home, getting it ready for showings is very important. This may be difficult when you have tenants living in the property. Even if your tenants take good care of the property, chances are they will still have some clutter lying around and if potential buyers walk into a cluttered home, you can’t expect them to make an offer.
Understand tenancy laws
It is important to understand tenancy rules and laws before selling a house for sale in Portsmouth VA. It is also important to hire an agent experienced in selling properties with tenants.
If selling the home with the tenants is the only option you have, you and your agent should schedule a meeting with them. Inform the tenants that you are selling the property. Not informing them is a serious mistake because then you cannot expect a lot of cooperation from them.
Address their concerns
Tenants have concerns about the home getting sold. They are worried that they will become homeless the moment the ownership changes. It is important to assure them that this will not happen. Selling of property does not mean that their fixed term lease will terminate. However, you need to discuss things with the new owner and ensure that they will let the tenants stay comfortably until the lease is over.
Get their cooperation
It is also crucial to discuss the home selling process with the tenants living in your house for sale in Portsmouth VA. Tell them that they have to prepare for showings and inspections. Most people will have no issues with one or two showings. However, if the home remains on the market for a long time, there will be a number of showings too. Therefore, at the beginning, tell them that there will be showings until the home gets told. Again it is important to assure them that they will get sufficient notice.