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The Downside to Selling Sacramento Rental Homes
Being tenants in a single-family home is no guarantee for the tenants that many Sacramento rental homes will remain a forever home for a family, especially if the tenancy is month-to-month. Often, when leases expire they are not renewed. If not renewed, the rental agreements then revert to month-to-month tenancy, and with that comes the possibility that the tenant could be booted out in the event of sale. Sure, the tenant gets 60 days notice by the owner but it doesn’t change the fact the tenant has to relocate. Most tenants, though, will move sooner.
Still, while I’m standing in these Sacramento rentals homes as the owner’s designated Sacramento Realtor, preparing my Agent Visual Inspection and getting ready to shoot photographs, I can sense the tenant’s trepidation. I try to reassure the tenant there is always the possibility that an investor will buy the home and allow the tenant to remain in tenancy, but they still fret. They worry that the new owner will raise their rent. It’s a disturbing place to be when you’re a tenant.
I don’t really know why some tenants rent instead of buying, especially in this particular market when generally the rental payments are higher than what it would cost to pay a mortgage, but everybody has their reasons. Some people are not cut out to buy a home. Some don’t possess the credit ratios. Others, I suppose, just don’t want the hassle of repairs / maintenance and their lives could be in flux, settling down for a long time is not always an option.
What my experience over the past four decades has taught me about selling Sacramento rental homes is there are no definetes and guesses can be wrong. For example, I recall a closing on a rental home in Natomas. When I toured it, I thought for certain an investor would probably buy it because the neighborhood was not conducive to owner occupants: most of the homes in that particular area were rentals. Yet, an owner occupant did buy the home, and the tenants were booted. They had lived there for about 4 years.
In another rental property in south Sacramento, I imagined a first-time home buyer would buy it because the price was so completely affordable, but that’s not what happened. Actually, an investor bought it. Then, when I had placed an investment property, a couple of homes in East Sacramento into escrow, that buyer is an investor buying in part for a family member. It’s often a mix of things. But one thing remains, and that is the tenant is affected, no matter how you look at it. The tenants in East Sacramento are moving out because they’re tired of disruptions and showing the property.
Every situation is different. I encountered tenants in a home in Lincoln a while back who were opposed to showing the home at all. Even with receiving 24-hours’ notice, they decided their right to quiet enjoyment was disrupted and they refused to show, so the owners had to evict them. After the eviction, the owners discovered the tenants had poured Castor Oil all over the carpeting and further damaged the interior. These guys were doctors who had bought a million-dollar home — profession and wealth is no measuring stick that you’ve got good tenants. I suggested the owners call their insurance company and put in a claim. As a result, the insurance company paid for the repairs and is pursuing those evil people for repayment.
Whatever the situation with tenants, I will help a seller to move that rental property and obtain the highest price. It’s just what I do. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
Dealing With Difficult Tenants When Selling a Home
Don’t let difficult tenants prevent you from selling a home.
Mostly all renters turn into difficult tenants when selling a home. It’s just a matter of degree. Why wouldn’t it be? Tenants do not want to move against their will and they worry the rent will go up if they stay. None of that makes them cooperative when selling Sacramento rental homes. In fact, difficult tenants can blow a sale or make it even harder to sell a home in the first place.
They are intimately intertwined with their living space. Sometimes, and you might find this hard to believe, they forget that they do not own the home. After all, if they’ve lived there a long time, it starts to feel like it’s their house. Not the owner’s. Especially if they have an axe to grind or something. Like, maybe they asked for certain items to be repaired or replaced and felt ignored. Perhaps they believe the landlord did not give their requests priority. Payback is a bitch. They don’t mean to sabotage the sale, oh my goodness, no, but they just can’t help themselves.
Difficult tenants have stories they tell themselves over and over. They rationalize why it’s OK to say horribly untrue things to buyers coming through the home. Tenants do it in the interest of full disclosure, as though they are the owner; they feel almost a duty to describe some of the most despicable things you can imagine. In full gory detail.
You can’t tape their mouths shut with duct tape. Although, I can see how some landlords would like that solution. They feel if they spout off enough crap, the home won’t sell. And maybe it won’t. Some seem to forget that a 60-day notice removes them from the premises. And in some cases, the owner might have other legal reasons to promptly evict them.
So . . . is it a good idea to let difficult tenants stay in the house when you’re trying to sell? My answer to that is maybe, maybe not. Perhaps the seller needs the income? The best way to ensure cooperation is to bribe them. Give them a break on the rent if they “assist and don’t resist” the sale. Perhaps add a move-out bonus when it closes escrow to make sure nothing sneaky goes on. You get a lot further with honey than vinegar in this business.
Just don’t let them fool you. They are not happy you are selling.
