Property 101: Selling rental property – how to keep the tenant on side?

Property 101: Selling rental property – how to keep the tenant on side?
Property ObserverDecember 7, 2020

Vendors considering selling their rental property have been advised to consider how a tenant views the whole process - little more than inconvenience followed by a possible eviction, according to vendor advocacy website vendormarketing.com.au.

According to the guide, vendors need to be honest and upfront with tenants throughout the whole process. If the rental property is going to sell to an owner-occupier (being someone who will live in the place themselves), they need to understand this and have the opportunity to get prepared.

"You should explain the period of time they will have after the sale to move, and tell them that you will provide a reference attesting their cooperation. However, if it is a normal rental property chances are quite high that another investor will buy it. In this case it is in their interest to present the property well and it is likely they could stay. Promise to keep them informed during the sale process. This helps to reduce their anxiety," the guide said.

"Set some parameters around inspections. This includes when the real estate agent can bring buyers through and the extent of the campaign. Inspections should mostly be open house to minimise inconvenience, and the times agreed in advance. Other inspections should be strictly by prior agreement with at least 24 hours notice.

"You must state that no one will go through except as agreed and always accompanied by the real estate agent. The marketing campaign should have a reasonable time limit for instance, 4 weeks, after which you would come back to the tenants if necessary.

"Of course sometimes a tenant is uncooperative or irredeemably messy, or has horrible furniture and you have to make a judgement call whether to sell with them in possession. If it is unavoidable you simply have to do the best you can. Remember that a really difficult tenant can make it almost impossible to sell at a good price, and tenancy laws do very little to help. Fortunately this is rare. Most of the problems are caused by the tenant being taken for granted.
Don’t forget to ask them if they would like to buy. You just never know."

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