Expert: Lisa Webber - 2/9/2010

Question
Hello, I have an occupied rental and we are now on a month to month after lease agreement. I would like to sell the home. I informed the current renter, that the agent would be contacting them so she can come take some pics. Needless to say my renter has gone over the edge, making threats with her dog, and saying that no one may enter the house without her being present. I am ok with that, but I feel like she is going to do everything in her power to make the sell difficult. any advice would be appreciated. thanks

Answer
You have a problem.  You will never sell that house with that type of renter inside.  Since you are on a month-to-month lease, all you are required to give her is 30 day notice.  Let her know that you will give her a good reference so she will be able to move out easily and if she finds a place within 30 days, you may even tell her you'll write the security deposit out to her and the new landlord.  The reason I recommend this is because if you don't, she may either not have the money for the security deposit for the next place and if she decides to be very difficult, she may stop paying rent and then you'd have to evict her which can take months and you'll miss the spring selling season.  If you don't hit the sweet spot of the market, you'll make less on the sale as well so it will most likely cost you less in the long run if you can be nice as possible to her and "help" her get into her next rental.  Believe me, she can make your sale difficult or impossible if she stays there.  She will not keep the house in show condition if she does not want to move and once you miss that first 30 days, word will get around that the place doesn't show well and is hard to get in to, so agents will stop showing if they feel it is a waste of time.  I've seen this time and time again and can't stress enough that you need to get her out and if necessary, bribe a little.

Good luck - let me know if you have any other questions!