5 Tips for selling an investment property

Decided it’s time to sell an investment property? In this article I’ll discuss helpful tips and tricks that I have discovered at our company over our many years of selling rental properties. These tips will help you sell your rental or investment property fast and easy. 

Consider getting some offers from cash house buyers

First, because of the added complexity of selling an investment, especially with tenants, you may consider getting some cash offers from a cash house buyer to buy your investment property quicker and easier. It’s true you’ll receive a lower sales price than what you would get listing your house with an agent on the market. But you should at least consider selling to a cash house buyer because it does provide several, which include: 

• Ability to sell your investment property fast (weeks vs. months)
• being able to sell it with no repairs (as is) 
• being able to sell it with tenants (even bad ones) 
• you will be able to get cash and not have to deal with a buyer’s mortgage application or contingencies
• you won't have to pay realtor commissions, fees, closing costs, or repairs

As a side advantage the discounted price that you receive will reduce your capital gains tax if you are not exchanging your property.  

Selling your investment property for cash is not the right option for everyone. In turn, if you’d rather sell with an agent or by yourself on the market you can use our tried and true tips below to sell your rent your investment property faster. 

Tips for selling your investment property with an agent or by yourself on the market

As a first step you will need to determine if you want to sell your investment property vacant or with tenants in place. 

If you have tenants in leases you do still have options. You need to decide if you want to wait for the lease(s) to end or if you want to try to get the tenants out. If you want to try to get them out you can use cash for keys, etc.

If you have tenants on month-to-month leases then you can easily give notice, and hope they vacate (like they’re supposed to).

Tips for selling an investment property whether its vacant or has tenants

1. Make sure you price your investment property correctly

Overpricing your investment property will result in its sitting on the market for too long and buyers trying to take advantage of you when that happens.

In order to price it correctly make sure you are doing in-depth market analysis. You need to look at comparable homes within a half mile radius with comparable size, features, and condition that have sold in the last 3 to 6 months.

Again, pricing the property too high will not result in a sale. Instead you will get plenty of low-ball offers, and the house will sit on the market for a long time. 

2. Have your records and documents in order

Investors will always look for and ask for proper documentation. Have clear, presentable financial records. Having things like consistent rent receipts, incurred expenses, and clearly organized financials will portray an attractive investment property to investors. The due diligence will be easier for them, and the process should move smoother.

3. Get buyers in the door using professional photographs

Pictures tell a thousand words. Trying to do pictures yourself or having a realtor do them will never work out in the end. For a small investment professional photography is a great selling weapon.

You should take professional photographs whether the unit is vacant or if there are tenants living in it. If there are tenants you should have them clean and organize the unit as much as possible before taking the pictures. If the unit is vacant you should also clean and organize. In addition, you should stage the unit before taking the photographs. 

4. Market the house everywhere you can

You want to use every channel you possibly can to market the house. This includes social media, free listing sites, and word-of-mouth.

You want to make sure that everyone knows that you have an investment property for sale. You can also try going to local real estate investing clubs to see if any investors are interested. 

5. Hold an open house to reduce showings and sell more efficiently

Not only will this bring in a lot of interested investors in the property, but it will also simplify scheduling multiple individual showings.

Scheduling showings with tenants is one of the biggest problems with selling an investment property. An open house or maybe two open houses will allow many buyers access at one time. This maximizes the number of buyers that get to see the house without scheduling multiple showings (one for each potential buyer).

This will save you hassle as well as make it much more convenient on your tenants. They will thank you for it, and you will thank yourself. 

Conclusion

You can use these tips whether you want to sell your investment property for cash, with a realtor on the market or by yourself. Yes, it is more difficult to sell an investment property, especially with tenants, but these tricks should help make it easier.