Putting a house on the market when you have renters in it

[Disney Doll]

I'm amazed at the attitude of some tenants posting here. Wow! Now I know why I have never wanted to be a landlord! Talk about entitlement!

When we rented and were moving to our new house, I kept our apartment clean and allowed my landlord to show it to any prospective tenants bascially whenever he wanted withiin reason...I probably would have said no to a 2am showing, but essentially any time between 7am-11pm was OK with us. I would just step outside for the few minutes it took for the prospective tenants to look at the place.

 

[BellvilleDad]

**Respectfully snipped**
So, anyone with experience in this kind of situation? Suggestions? Criticisms?

Of this you can certain on the DIS.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

I have no experience, so take this free advice for what it is worth...nada.


Dave Ramsey who dabbles in real estate has offered the suggestion of offering a rental discount for a renter who will help keep the house neat and show-ready. This suggestion is usually offered when you already have a tenant. So for example, if there rent is $1000, offer than a rent of $700 (or whatever) if they keep the house ready for viewings.

The other option instead of renting--pay to have it staged and see if that helps.

But what happens if you drop the rent, and the tenants still do not keep the property up to your standards for selling? And who decides that, anyway? I'm sure you won't get the rest of the money later!
As for staging a home with tenants...what are they supposed to do with their own stuff? I'm confused about this advise

 

[luvflorida]

We are debating about doing the same thing. We have been renting out our old house for almost 4 years and we have great renters but it would just be one less thing for us to deal with. If we go this route we will probably hire someone to come in and clean, at least dust, sweep and do bathrooms once/week or so just to make sure it is presentable.

I totally agree with you about having one less thing to deal with. For the most part, our renters have been good tenants. There was an incident not long after they first moved in that really soured me on renting our house. We had expressly stated in the lease that WE would be responsible for opening and closing our pool and that we would have PROFESSIONALS from our pool company do the work. We also stated that we would NOT be opening the pool until spring. The pool was winterized and closed before the tenants moved in in August. We just didn't want to deal with any pool issues for one month.

Well, we found out that the tenants went ahead on their own and opened the pool shortly after they moved in. My husband was talking on the phone to our lawncare service and the guy mentioned something about mowing near the pool's fence with the pool open. We were a bit shocked, to say the least. However, it was already done, so we just reinforced to them the importance of closing the pool properly when the time came. They assured us they had experience with inground pools and that they knew what they were doing.

Well, they didn't know what they were doing. When they closed the pool for the season, they didn't do it properly and water ended up leaking from the pool. Long story short, WE ended up paying almost $800. to repair the problem.

However, I digress. Yes, we just know in our hearts that we will never go back to Maine to live (visit, yes, but live, no) so why keep the house.

Thanks for the cleaning suggestion. Didn't think of that!

It's only been a year since you took it off the market, after having been on for a year with no offers? Unless the housing market has done a 180 in your area in the past year (it hasn't here), I would give it some more time.

I know what you're saying. We've been in contact with several real estate agencies in the area, and things are looking better than a year ago. There aren't a lot of houses on the market in the range of our listing price, so that's a good thing. We're also willing to price the house quite a bit lower than what we originally had it listed for, just to be done with it. Who knows, though. It just might not sell.

 

[momrek06]

luv, has the market rebounded enough in your area in Maine to put the house back on the market? Just curious.

We had our Boston home on the market and like you mentioned the "time frame" in New England for selling is so darn short. After no takers on our home, we gave it to a Property Management Firm. BEST DECISION WE EVER MADE. We have been THRILLED with going the renting route while we wait out this horrific real estate market. And thrilled with our PM's. They do everything for us. Being sooooo far away, it was imperative to have PM's watching over our abode. We now have our 2nd renters moving in May 15th and our PM actually UPPED the rent!! The PM's will completely oversee the move out of the first renters!!
Such peace of mind for us.

Now about showing the house while the renters are there ... seems absolutely fine to me. My DS lives 40 minutes south of us in Pacific Beach. The 3 bedroom condo he rents is on the market. The landlord was completely upfront with him/buddies before they moved in. They show the condo allot and landlord always informs them prior to coming over. DS has a kitty, and the landlord always tells the people looking to please be aware when they go in that the kitty does not get out. Everyone works together. It has been no problems at all.

 

[DisneyDizzy]

I should point out that I really have no ill-will to the landlords. I understand their financial position and realize they are probably embarrassed knowing we know the house is in foreclosure.

We sold our own house at a loss 2 years ago and wiped out our savings and retirement to make up the difference. We moved across country for a better job and to get back on our feet. We are now doing really great financially. It's been a struggle and I miss owning our own home but in the end it's been worth it. So, I UNDERSTAND.

I was really just hurt they didn't tell us the house was going up for sale. When we discovered the foreclosure we contacted a real estate lawyer and he told us we would be able to stay 90 days after the lease was up (per law) which would allow us to have our baby and let her get a few months on her before moving. They knew our situation with the baby and I just thought a little notice would be good. Especially since we don't know anyone and have to hire help to move.

OP, you sound wonderful! I would have LOVED to have been given any kind of cash incentive. It would be so helpful to use to move on!!!!!

 

[castleview]

It's sounds like you are being thoughtful. I think if you work with the tenants and they are good people, it will work out. As a buyer, I looked at two or three houses that were occupied by renters. They were all easy to deal with. Two were home at the time and they stayed out of our way and they kept the home tidy.

 

[merryweather20]

I'm amazed at the attitude of some tenants posting here. Wow! Now I know why I have never wanted to be a landlord! Talk about entitlement!
When we rented and were moving to our new house, I kept our apartment clean and allowed my landlord to show it to any prospective tenants bascially whenever he wanted withiin reason...I probably would have said no to a 2am showing, but essentially any time between 7am-11pm was OK with us. I would just step outside for the few minutes it took for the prospective tenants to look at the place.

Yep, darn right I'm entitled. Entitled to quite enjoyment of the property I'm paying to rent.

I can't beleive all the posters that are shocked about tenants not wanting to leave at the drop of a hat for showings. If the realtor comes over at 9pm after I've had a long day at work, I'm not going to be excited about tossing out the food I'm cooking and huddling in the dark and the snow for 20 minutes. Nevermind climbing out of bed at 11 at night!

 

[Pomlover2586]

As a renter YES I AM ENTITLED.....entitled to ENJOY my living area [home] for the duration that I am paying rent.....

Leaving the home for 20 minutes for a showing may not seem like an inconvenience to many here.....but I'm assuming you all own your homes.

As tenants we're kinda in a pinch and at the landlords whim.....he does with the property as he pleases [which is his right] but don't expect tenant to bend over backwards to make it convenient for YOU........we pay rent.......making things convenient isn't our problem.

 

[RadioFanatic]

As a renter, I WOULD NOT be leaving during a showing.......you want to show the place? Fine.......but I'm gonna be in the house doing whatever I need to be doing- whether thats sitting on the couch in my pjs...vacuming whatever......

If you agreed to wait until 2 months before the lease is up then you should wait until the lease is FULLY up to put the house on the market.....

And no as a renter, I would not resign with you..... JMO

ETA: It is NOT my job to make selling your home easier........especially not when I currently reside in it.

For 2K, I would do it!

 

[ZachnElli]

We saw several houses with renters in it and it's the bad attitude that turned us off of those houses. Renters refused to get out of bathrooms, one house had about 30 people over for a party (during a prearranged showing), one just happened to begin mopping the kitchen when we came in and yelled at us not to go any further. As a buyer, I just felt like I wanted to get out of those homes as soon as possible, even overlooking the homes potential because of the current occupants. How can you completely check out a home you want to buy if people are blocking your way?

Our Realtor said she hates showing homes with bad renters because many renters do everything in their power to stop a sale. They don't want to be out of a home. She said what we saw was typical and that she even had some renters who just so happened to begin cooking foul smelling fish, at 8:30 in the morning!

Your potential buyers will also have to look past the renters decor, their stuff, and the messes. One we looked at was so cluttered it was awful. These people had hundreds of picture frames on the walls, floor to ceiling. That was just weird and distracting.

If you have to put you home on the market a couple of months before your renter's lease is up, good luck and I hope you have considerate tenants. If not, wait until they are out, clean up the home, and stage it to it's potential.

Don 't you think a party with 30 people was probably arranged before your "prearranged" showing? I mean 30 people don't just show up unannounced! Moving is expensive and can take several days and with kids in school trying to stay in a certain school district can be difficult. I think some of you need to give the renters a break, especially ones who've paid on time every month and treated it as their home.

 

[mumom95]

We have never rented our house, but when we were looking for our current house 10 years ago we did look at a few houses that had renters living in them.

Like another poster said, I was really turned off by a couple of them. They were an absolute mess. I never ran into a situation where someone was there, but a couple of the houses sure weren't in "showing" shape.

I remember one house we went through in the master bathroom they had 9 different types of deodorant sitting out on the counter (along with lots of other toilletries). Made me wonder how many people were sharing that bathroom. I mean, I could see a person having a couple of different kinds of deodorant, but nine

So, the biggest thing I would worry about would be the shape the house will be in. You may have good renters and not have to worry at all about that, but let me tell you, there are some messy people out there.

Good luck!! You sound like you are being very fair as far as landlords go, offering the $2000, so don't worry about that. Hope it all works out for you.

 

[marcyinPA]

We sold a house with renters in it. They were fully cooperative with us, but I think mainly because they had entered an agreement of sale with us to buy the house, and then flaked out on it 2 weeks before closing (and we had already closed on another house), but continued to rent from us. We could have taken action on them, which our attorney (who happens to be my BIL) quickly pointed out.

If I remember correctly, we arranged things with our Realtor that the tenants did not have to leave during showings, and all showings needed to coincide with the tenants schedule. This was never an issue with our tenants, who were basically good and clean people, aside from backing out on the sale transaction.

I do like your $2K incentive, but what if they DO keep the house clean, cooperate for showings, and the house still doesn't sell? You may want to consider giving them something for their trouble.

 

[marcyinPA]

We have never rented our house, but when we were looking for our current house 10 years ago we did look at a few houses that had renters living in them.

Like another poster said, I was really turned off by a couple of them. They were an absolute mess. I never ran into a situation where someone was there, but a couple of the houses sure weren't in "showing" shape.

I remember one house we went through in the master bathroom they had 9 different types of deodorant sitting out on the counter (along with lots of other toilletries). Made me wonder how many people were sharing that bathroom. I mean, I could see a person having a couple of different kinds of deodorant, but nine

So, the biggest thing I would worry about would be the shape the house will be in. You may have good renters and not have to worry at all about that, but let me tell you, there are some messy people out there.

Good luck!! You sound like you are being very fair as far as landlords go, offering the $2000, so don't worry about that. Hope it all works out for you.

When we were house hunting, we looked at some owner-occupied homes that were completely disgusting! It just goes to show that it really doesn't matter sometimes, who is living in the house!

 

[bumbershoot]

If we go this route we will probably hire someone to come in and clean, at least dust, sweep and do bathrooms once/week or so just to make sure it is presentable.

I can't believe the attitude of some renters. Showings take about 15 minutes, what's so hard about stepping out to the back yard or walking around the block for that time? Trust me, you won't feel comfortable sitting in the house while it is being shown.

Can you please get in touch with our landlady to mention that (the cleaner idea), just in case she decides to sell the condo?

I can't believe the attitude either! And yes, it's uncomfortable to be in a place while it's being shown. We've known our landlady since '03...she's the property manager of our old apartment complex, then we rented a townhouse from her. Moved away from her for a year, then she called to ask if the price she was asking on a condo across the street from our apartment at the time, and we went back to renting from her (it was a fair price). We adore her.

When we let her know we didn't like the townhouse (never got warm in the winter, was stifling in the summer, the owners of the tiny developement were about to sue the builder for various reasons including cracked foundations, there were spiders EVERYWHERE, it went on and on), she asked if she could show it to potential renters. Of course she could!

We would be moving anyway, so the clutter was being put away in boxes (or gotten rid of) anyway. We wanted to help her succeed, so we kept it neater than usual.

She rented it to the first person who visited...and we were there while she showed it...it wasn't fun to be there! We wished we'd been out of the house (but for some reason we didn't think we needed to). Not comfy.

 

[golfgal]

Yep, darn right I'm entitled. Entitled to quite enjoyment of the property I'm paying to rent.

I can't beleive all the posters that are shocked about tenants not wanting to leave at the drop of a hat for showings. If the realtor comes over at 9pm after I've had a long day at work, I'm not going to be excited about tossing out the food I'm cooking and huddling in the dark and the snow for 20 minutes. Nevermind climbing out of bed at 11 at night!

First, no one is going to be looking at the house at 9PM or 11PM, period. they will be looking at the house during daylight hours and you will have notice. They can put in the contract that you need 24 hour notice of showings, it is very common.

Don 't you think a party with 30 people was probably arranged before your "prearranged" showing? I mean 30 people don't just show up unannounced! Moving is expensive and can take several days and with kids in school trying to stay in a certain school district can be difficult. I think some of you need to give the renters a break, especially ones who've paid on time every month and treated it as their home.

Probably but wouldn't and intelligent person say to the realtor that called to schedule a showing at 4:00 on Saturday say, "we are having a party then, can we find another time?"

 

[marcyinPA]

Yep, darn right I'm entitled. Entitled to quite enjoyment of the property I'm paying to rent.

I'm not going to be excited about tossing out the food I'm cooking and huddling in the dark and the snow for 20 minutes. Nevermind climbing out of bed at 11 at night!

I sold real estate for almost five years, and I never showed a house past 9 pm. Nobody should ever show up without an appointment anyway, so you would have the right to say "NO" to a showing at a time that wasn't convenient to you. Most Realtors I worked with didn't show homes past 9pm either...I usually cut the time off at 8pm!

 

[surfgirl]

We went through this exact scenario.

I decided we didn't want to deal with a showing with tenants there. I fully admit that I can be anal about how I want my house to show... and I was uncomfortable with the way it would show with a tenant. Our lease required 24 hours notice, but they had a college kid who slept until about noon every day - and they wouldn't wake him. How weird would that have been ?!?

I even live about 20 minutes away, so I could have gone down and made sure it was clean before showings, but how weird is that ? And while most showings were made with 24 hours, I'd say about 1/3 of them were shorter than 24 hrs. We would have eliminated them right away.

We talked about a bonus like you are talking and decided we could just be throwing away money.

Instead, we gave them notice that we would not be going to month to month after the first year and their lease would terminate. And we gave them an incentive to move out early - I would prorate rent and give them $200 extra if they moved out 2 weeks or more earlier. (they were scheduled to be out July 1). They ended up moving out June 10th, I took about a week to do maintenance and staging and got it on the market the 3rd week of June.

We did sell... in November of all times!

Feel free to send me a pm... it was stressful dealing with security deposits and what constitutes repair vs. wear and tear. They threatened to take us to court, but I had *fabulous* photos and could prove everything.

 

[Aristomommy]

DH and I were tenants years ago and the owner asked to show the place before we moved out. We ended up negotiating a lower rent during those months as it is hard to move and keep a place in showing conditions. Looking at houses for us, I was amazed that people live a certain way, didn't matter if they owned or rented. I cleaned each and every time a showing was scheduled. We agreed for 24 hour noticed on pre-arranged times (two weeknights and one weekend time) and 72 hours any other time provided we were available. When the showings were quite often, it became an inconvenience and I felt a bit taken advantage of.

Just understand that even the most clean and agreeable tenants will be inconvenienced by showings and it can create stress if they have not found a new place. I am glad I don't rent any more for this very reason.

 

[merryweather20]

First, no one is going to be looking at the house at 9PM or 11PM, period. they will be looking at the house during daylight hours and you will have notice. They can put in the contract that you need 24 hour notice of showings, it is very common.



Probably but wouldn't and intelligent person say to the realtor that called to schedule a showing at 4:00 on Saturday say, "we are having a party then, can we find another time?"

I was quoting a previous poster who said she'd be happy to have showings from 7am-11pm. But, at 9pm? Happened to me, the realtor knocked on the door, and you can bet I didn't feel obligated to toss my dinner and leave during the showing. I, as the tenant, of course didn't have a contract with the realtor, this would be something the landlord would have to do themselves

As to the second poster, it likely wouldn't matter if they told the realtor. Read further up in the thread when one insisted on bringing by clients during her baby shower.