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

[merryweather20]

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!

Again, read my post. I was specifically quoting another poster who said she would be happy to have showings from 7am-11pm.

 

[luvmy3]

Before we bought our house we rented a townhouse and while we were there the seller informed us that it would be put on the market. We had a month to month lease because we were new to the area and looking to purchase a home. The landlord told us we had first dibs After we decided not to purchase, he agreed to schedule showings with his realtor at least a day in advance so that I could make arrangements to not be there. I had a newborn and could not up and leave at a moments notice. It worked out pretty well, I usually scheduled home showings with my realtor when the landlord's realtor called to schedule one for the townhome.

 

[luvflorida]

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

From what we are hearing, it sounds like things are a bit better. There doesn't seem to be as many houses in our area that are for sale in our price range. My brother and his wife sold and bought another house a few towns over from us, and they were telling us that there didn't seem to be a big inventory of houses when they were looking. They just put a house under contract a few weeks ago.

Honestly, I hate knowing our house is rented out. It still seems like a part of us and our family. I know I would feel better to just sell it. Then I won't feel any attachment to it. Not sure if any of that makes sense. I also don't like knowing that something could happen to the house and we'd have to pay for repairs, replacement of appliances, etc. To me, it feels like something that is weighing us down and keeping us from moving forward with our lives. I'm just afraid that the longer we keep it, the more it may end up costing us.

We thought of keeping it for a summer home, someplace to go back to for holidays and vacations, but really it's bigger than we would need for something like that. Ideally, we would still return to Maine for part of every summer, but we'd rent a house/cottage on the ocean. Much less to worry about! I do want our grandson (and any future grandkids) to be able to spend part of every year in Maine so he/they get to spent time on the same beaches that their parents grew up on.

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.

True, didn't think of it that way.


Again, thanks so much for all your thoughts and suggestions. If anything, this thread has caused me to see things more clearly from the renters' point of view, and we'll try to be sensitive to what they might be going through.

I think the key is for everyone to try to be as reasonable as possible, renters and landlords. I do want to stress, though, that nothing has been sprung on the tenants, and that they were fully aware that we could make the decision to put the house on the market. And we certainly would not expect them to allow showings unannounced or at odd, inconvenient times. Someone else mentioned school-aged children and moving in and out of a school district. Our renters do not have any school-age children. No babies, either.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Have you thought about offering the house as a rent-to-own to your tenants?

 

[surfgirl]

Honestly, I hate knowing our house is rented out. It still seems like a part of us and our family. I know I would feel better to just sell it. Then I won't feel any attachment to it. Not sure if any of that makes sense. I also don't like knowing that something could happen to the house and we'd have to pay for repairs, replacement of appliances, etc. To me, it feels like something that is weighing us down and keeping us from moving forward with our lives. I'm just afraid that the longer we keep it, the more it may end up costing us.

This is exactly why we finally decided to sell instead of continue to rent. I am so incredibly thankful that we did sell.... and we still took a much lower price than we EVER expected.

However, one bonus is that... because it was rented and became a 'business', we were able to make the depreciation work for us and it became a tax benefit.

It began to feel like an albatross....

 

[momrek06]

Honestly, I hate knowing our house is rented out. It still seems like a part of us and our family. I know I would feel better to just sell it. Then I won't feel any attachment to it. Not sure if any of that makes sense. I also don't like knowing that something could happen to the house and we'd have to pay for repairs, replacement of appliances, etc. To me, it feels like something that is weighing us down and keeping us from moving forward with our lives. I'm just afraid that the longer we keep it, the more it may end up costing us.

Oh ... let me tell you, ITA w/you on this ... BUT at the same time we custom built our house and moved in 2005. We poured our heart and soul into this house and added all these upgrades ... then the economy hit and SoCal had a fabulous job opportunity for DH. We decided to go to SoCal and we are not going back. We love it here. DH's job is FAB. So, luv, we listed the house and we did have many lookers but no bites. We kept lowering the price. AND then I just looked at DH and said "I am not giving this 3yo house away" ... we took it off the market and put it in the hands of Property Managers. They had it all rented for our exact mortgage in 24 hours.
The tenants pay everything ... oil, elec, water, sewer, lawn maintenance, snow plowing, trash pickup!

We do have 2 buildable lots abutting our home and if some day, down the road, in the future, we could always build on them and return East BUT we do not miss their winters at all. It is very doubtful we will ever go back and live in New England ... visit, absolutely but not live.

 

[ZachnElli]

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?"

What if it was automated? Yes, I've sold my own home and it wasn't a realtor who called to set up a showing, but a machine, several times. What if they did tell the realtor and they came anyway? What if the "prearranged showing" wasn't so prearranged, as in, the phone call to set up the showing never happened. I've had that happen too. But since this an landlord selling thread all renters will be bad and the landlords will be perfect.

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

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.

I think it should have been told to the Realtor that a party had been planned (if that was the case) and then the showing could have easily been rescheduled. And in areas where many generations of family live close by, it wouldn't be hard to invite a bunch over when you know a home is being showed and you don't want to move. Fwiw, there were no decorations or activities, just a bunch of people sitting around with loud music playing. It wasn't like there was a big banner with "Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa" and party hats.

 

[Disney Doll]

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

I can't believe 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!

OK, first of all, I don't know of any realtor who would think they could show a house at 9 or 11 pm. What I said was that I told my landlord that he could pretty much show our apartment in his house anytime between 7am-11pm. We were buying a house, and I liked my landlord so wanted to try and help him get another nice renter in there ASAP. My husband is a rewaltor and I can assure that he's never shown a house at an odd hour of the day without the people who were living in the house giving him permission. He has also never shown a house if he called to schedule the appointment and was told "We'll have 30 people at our house that day for a party". What he has dealt with in terms of trying to sell a rented property is renters who wouldn't cooperate at all at any time with the showing of the house ever.

I guess you and pomlover just think differently than I do about this issue. Like I said, glad I'm not a landlord, just for that reason.

 

[luvflorida]

Have you thought about offering the house as a rent-to-own to your tenants?

Not really. For some reason, that just seems like it would be more of a hassle than renting it out or selling it. I'd still feel tied to the house and can envision things not working out with a rent-to-own.

Oh ... let me tell you, ITA w/you on this ... BUT at the same time we custom built our house and moved in 2005. We poured our heart and soul into this house and added all these upgrades ... then the economy hit and SoCal had a fabulous job opportunity for DH. We decided to go to SoCal and we are not going back. We love it here. DH's job is FAB. So, luv, we listed the house and we did have many lookers but no bites. We kept lowering the price. AND then I just looked at DH and said "I am not giving this 3yo house away" ... we took it off the market and put it in the hands of Property Managers. They had it all rented for our exact mortgage in 24 hours.
The tenants pay everything ... oil, elec, water, sewer, lawn maintenance, snow plowing, trash pickup!

We do have 2 buildable lots abutting our home and if some day, down the road, in the future, we could always build on them and return East BUT we do not miss their winters at all. It is very doubtful we will ever go back and live in New England ... visit, absolutely but not live.

Sounds like you have an awesome property management company! We are doing everything ourselves and, with the exception of the one pool incident, we've been lucky. We haven't had any other issues with the tenants or the property, so it hasn't been bad being a long-distance landlord. Even so, I'd rather not have to worry about what MIGHT happen or what COULD happen.

Renting our house doesn't cover all of our costs. We're averaging $300./$400. a month on yard care/landscaping, snowplow/removal, pool maintenance and the fact that we're charging $100.00 a month less for rent than our mortgage payment.

Like you, we do not plan on returning to live in New England. We will continue to visit frequently (in fact, we're heading back for a week toward the end of May). Maine will always be home to us, but mostly in our hearts. We love our new surroundings and have NO desire to live in a cold climate again! Give up all this sunshine?!?! No way!

But the biggest factor is family. Our three kids are close by and all I have to do is look at our grandson and I know I could never be far away from him. Yeah, I love our house in Maine, but nothing can compare to the hugs and kisses we get every week from that little guy!

But since this an landlord selling thread all renters will be bad and the landlords will be perfect.

I don't think anyone is saying this.

 

[Inigo]

Only you know your renters, so you would know if something like this would happen:

When we were looking at homes 25 years ago, we visited one house for sale that had renters in it. The house looked great. It was neat, in good shape, good neighborhood, everything. Well, if I'm going to buy a house, I look at everything, so I opened the closets to see the size and shelf configuration In one closet, there were several HUGE plants that were stuck there to hid them during home viewings. Each one of these pot plants were over 3 feet high!!!!

Needless to say, we left quickly after that, and told the realtor why we stopped looking at the house. I don't know if the realtor or owner did anything, such as evict, call the police, whatever.

Of course, now that I work in law enforcement, my first response would be to call the police.

 

[merryweather20]

OK, first of all, I don't know of any realtor who would think they could show a house at 9 or 11 pm. What I said was that I told my landlord that he could pretty much show our apartment in his house anytime between 7am-11pm. We were buying a house, and I liked my landlord so wanted to try and help him get another nice renter in there ASAP. My husband is a rewaltor and I can assure that he's never shown a house at an odd hour of the day without the people who were living in the house giving him permission. He has also never shown a house if he called to schedule the appointment and was told "We'll have 30 people at our house that day for a party". What he has dealt with in terms of trying to sell a rented property is renters who wouldn't cooperate at all at any time with the showing of the house ever.

I guess you and pomlover just think differently than I do about this issue. Like I said, glad I'm not a landlord, just for that reason.

I'm happy to help them out, but I expect them to have a basic consideration for me. I assure you it is not in the least unusual, to want to stay inside and relax at 9pm, its not "entitled" behaviour at all.

You are back pedalling. First you're happy anytime between 7-11 and now, everyone has to schedule appointments and give plenty of notice . Which is a heck of alot more than even I'm asking for