Don’t let tenants scare off your buyers
A tenant can often be an impediment for landlords and prospective home buyers. How should this be handled?
“Unfair it may be, but tenants generally have a reputation for not keeping homes in the best condition, and many potential buyers seeking a home for themselves will thus be reluctant to look at a property where a tenant is still resident.”
In many cases, even other buy-to-let investors who might be interested in adding the property to their portfolio would prefer to find their own tenants.
In addition, he says, incumbent tenants who really don’t want to move can deliberately put obstacles in the way of a sale. “They can be difficult about giving an agent access to the property to show it to prospective buyers, for example, or perhaps deliberately leave the home in a mess when they know the agent is coming round with potential buyers”.
“Tenants have also been known to try to block a sale by regaling potential buyers with every real or perceived fault in the property or problem in the local area.”
Kotzé says property owners who have not made regular inspections may also be in for a nasty shock when they decide it is time to sell, because they may well find that there is much more maintenance to catch up than they realised, or even that some expensive repairs are necessary before the property can be put on the market.
