How do I sell my rental property if I still have tenants?

Question: “I’d like to have you handle the sale of my rental house.  We told the tenant there would be no lockbox and the home would be shown with 24 hour notice during business hours…” Answer: Let me stop you right there before you cost yourself any more time and money. In theory we’d like
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Can a tenant give a 30-day notice before their lease ends?

Question: “If a tenant has a lease, they can still give a 30 day notice to end the lease, can’t they?” Answer: No, they can’t. A lease agreement binds a landlord and tenant for a certain time period. Neither has the right to unilaterally end the lease early. If a tenant breaks a lease, my
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How to Handle Showings with Tenants

Question: “I’d like you to handle the sale of my duplex in Clairemont. How do you handle the showings with the tenants?” Answer: Most duplexes are marketed as “show with offer.” So buyers make offers without going inside, contingent on approving the interior. If they don’t like it, they can cancel their offer, even if
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Be Careful When Offering Incentives to Tenants

Question: “Due to the crazy laws in California, I have to give my tenant a 60-day notice to move. But I’d like to get her out sooner by letting her skip the last month’s rent. Good idea?” Answer: No and yes. Offering an incentive is a good idea, but never give a tenant an incentive
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Should You Sell Your Rental to Your Tenant?

Question: “Hi Gary. I want to sell my rental and my tenant is interested in buying. Can you handle that for me?” Answer: Yes, I’d be happy to. But first, excuse me if I’m a Negative Nancy or, if you’re a Saturday Night Live fan, Debbie Downer. In my 30 years selling homes for clients,
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How to Screen Potential Tenants

Question: “We’re in escrow buying a couple of condos as investments. We want to make sure we get good tenants. Can you suggest any tips for screening potential tenants?” Answer: I used to put on a seminar called, “Purchasing Duplex, Triplexes, & Fourplexes as a Home or Investment.” Here are some of the tenant-screening strategies
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Showings with Tenants in Multi-Unit Properties

Question: “Hi Gary. I want to sell my triplex and was wondering how you handle showings with the tenants?” Answer: Typically, once you move from single family to multiple units, the showings are handled as “show with offer.” This is done for two reasons: Out of fear that if the tenant knew the property was
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Do You Give Tenants 30- or 60-Day Notice?

Question: “Hey Gary. I’ll be selling my rental house and the place is a mess so I plan to evict the tenants and fix the place up. Do you know any good contractors? Also, I heard there’s some law that you have to give the tenant 60-days notice to move out. Is that true?” Answer:
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Selling Your San Diego Home With Tenant or Without

Question: “Hi Gary, We have been on your mailing list for quite some time and we have always enjoyed reading what you have to say. The time has come where we would like to sell one of our rental properties. It is currently tenant occupied and we must give the tenant notice. Once it is
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Do You Need Tenant Permission to Repair Your San Diego Home?

Question: [From a client whose rental house I listed] “Can you get me bids to make some repairs the flooring?  My property manager says I need to get the tenants’ permission to repair it.  Is that correct?” Answer: As the owner, you have the right to make repairs and you only need to give the
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