Selling And Renting Your Home In Sarasota?
Should you have your mobile home rented when you’re trying to have it sold at the same time?
This question was posed to us this week when working with a home that our sales team has not yet sold.
Selling a mobile home in Sarasota County is a relatively competitive task, as, at any one time, there are several dozen homes for sale around the Gulf Coast of Florida.
It is also common practice in the mobile home space for each mobile home park to increase their lot rent at the start of each year as discussed in previous videos.
So, with raising lot rent in a home that is not being sold as fast as you like, should you go ahead and have the home rented while at the same time, trying to have it sold?
I mean, getting double your money is the best way to go about doing this, right?
As previously discussed, it is imperative in order to get your home sold fast to make it as easy as possible for the Buyer to buy your mobile home.
At no point in time do you ever want to make it a challenge or a headache for the closing to occur between you and your Buyer?
I have personally seen where a Seller made it so difficult for a Buyer to buy their home, it turned out to be a disaster.
Another thing to keep in mind is that potential buyers may be put off by the fact that the property has been previously rented out. They may be concerned about potential damage from past tenants or general wear and tear. If you’re not willing to make any repairs or cosmetic updates before selling, it’s probably best to avoid renting out your mobile home first.
In this situation, the contracts were all agreed to, the park approval was done and the money was about to exchange hands, only for the Seller to pull a rabbit out of their hat, and change the agreement at the last second. The pre-approved Buyer walked and the home sat for an additional month on the market with no further interest whatsoever.
What I hope this story illustrates is that the Buyer does not have to buy your home, but the Seller usually has to sell. Having your home rented should cover your lot rent payment at a minimum, which could bring down the stress of having a mobile home for sale within a mobile home park.
When looking at renting your home while it is for sale, I feel there is a right and a wrong way to go about doing this.
Let’s go ahead and cover both now so that you have a better idea of how to handle the question of whether should you decide to rent your mobile home while you’re trying to sell it.
The right way, in our opinion, is when renting the home, to make sure the renter knows the home is still for sale during their rental period.
In the rental lease that you have with the renter, make sure they know that there will be showings and that it is their responsibility to not only keep the place cleaned up but to also leave the property when a showing is scheduled to take place.
Colony Cove-Ellenton Florida
This will allow the potential Buyer to see a nicely presented home that is clean, safe, and ready to be moved into upon their closing.
In our opinion, the wrong way to do this is to have the home still on the market, but not require the renter to be available to clean up the home for a showing or leave the premises when a showing is scheduled. I have personally been involved in one of these in the past, and when I went to show the home, it looked like a bomb went off right before we walked into the property!
You guessed it, the home was not sold with this showing.
Maximizing your income potential is something we all strive to do, and when selling a mobile home, it is something you should look at doing as well.
However, we suggest that you be cautious of just how you do this and who you rent your home to, as the quick cash of having a renter could seriously backfire when you go to try and sell the home should the renter not be able to show the home.
Although renting your mobile home while in the process of selling can generate extra income that would covet its lot rent, there are also some disadvantages that you, as the owner/seller, must be careful with.
Assuming that there is a buyer, is the 30-day moving period enough for your tenant to prepare to move and look for another place to live?
Renting a mobile home for sale could also attract fewer renters than those that are not for sale because living in a house for sale means the renter may not have peace of mind knowing they could be asked to move out at a moment’s notice. This is the burden that every renter has to carry while living in a home that is on the market. Some renters don’t want to get disturbed so finding someone to rent in a “for sale” mobile home could be a challenge.
Remember guys, always make it easy for the Buyer to buy your home, not difficult!
The Mobile Home Dealer are licensed mobile home brokers in Sarasota Florida and the surrounding areas. We provide professional buy and/or sell assistance to our clients. If you have any questions, please contact us by clicking this link. You may also visit our Facebook Page and send us a message.
This is Mark Kaiser with The Mobile Home Dealer, and we help mobile home Buyers and Sellers get to a better place in life.
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