House Proud Realty can sell your property even if the tenant is still there on a fixed term lease or a periodic lease. You don't need to wait till the tenant moves out to sell your property. It is your right as the property owner to sell your property if you need to. We have made many sales of investment properties in this circumstance.
Whilst there are some legal rights that need to be adhered to, the best results come from treating the tenant respectfully and acknowledging that this is their home and they are entitled to privacy and enjoyment of the property, without undue disturbance, during the term of the lease.
Section 46 The Residential Tenancy Act (1987) allows for the lessor, or his agent, to access the property for the purposes of showing prospective purchasers "at any reasonable time and on a reasonable number of occasions, after giving the tenant reasonable notice in writing". Reasonableness must prevail, for both the tenant and the seller. An agreement should be struck with the tenant to allow home opens and for example, the tenant and the seller could agree that 1 30-minute open each Saturday could be reasonable. It does not overburden the tenant's right to privacy and it still allows the seller the opportunity to show the home to buyers. For home opens, the tenant is not required to clean and tidy the house especially for home opens. So the home may not be shown in the best light when buyers come to view.
When selling an investment property, it is sometimes best to sell it as a vacant property, unencumbered by a lease. Then the agent can show buyers on any number of occasions, untethered by constraints associated with the tenants' rights to privacy. An empty property also gives the owner the opportunity to clean and present the property to the standard desired, rather than rely on the tenant to keep the property to a certain level of tidiness.
Each situation is different though. If you have a great tenant in place, this could appeal to investors who can secure a great tenant for their property and have an uninterrupted flow of rent income from settlement day. Also, you as seller, continue to receive rent income right up to settlement day, so there is no interruption to your income. Happy buyer, happy tenant, happy seller.
Another thing to bear in mind is the current status of the LEASE affecting the property.
If you are selling with a FIXED-TERM lease in place, the buyer is legally obliged to honour that lease term. The Tenant cannot be asked to leave just because the property is sold. This could limit your sale to investors only, as the circumstances may not suit owner-occupier buyers who are looking to move in at settlement day.
If the lease is PERIODIC, i.e. month-to-month, this is an ideal opportunity to sell because the tenant can be given notice to leave during the period leading up to settlement. The new buyers then have Vacant Possession at settlement day.
In the difficult situation where you have an uncooperative tenant who is going to make the sales campaign pure hell for the agent and the owner, consider whether it could be advantageous to give the tenant the required notice to leave the property and then commence the sales campaign when it is vacant. Respect and reasonableness go a long way, but if the tenant is not going to reciprocate, then better to get them out. Talk to House Proud Realty about professional property management if you need to.
