realtor assualt

Back in the day when things used to be civil, you could sell a home that was occupied by a tenant.

But in today’s environment, it is better to wait until they vacate, and then put the house on the market.  Here’s why:

  1.  The elevated urgency of today’s market causes a whirlwind of activity during the first week.  A rash of showing requests and realtors stopping by without appointments shuts down any tenant cooperation quickly.
  2.  Then the tenants start looking around for a replacement home, and realize how hard and how expensive the next move will be. They are mad, and want to blame the sellers.
  3.  By the time they leave, the condition of the home isn’t what it could have been either, if they had left happily.

Staging is a critical component too, and unhappy tenants aren’t going to leave the home in great condition for the few showings that do take place.

Fewer or lower-quality showings means fewer offers, which isn’t good for the seller.

Our policy today is to vacate the property first, make it look spectacular, and then put it on the open market.

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Jim the Realtor
Jim is a long-time local realtor who comments daily here on his blog, bubbleinfo.com which began in September, 2005. Stick around!

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