Why tenant-occupied property is hard to sell retail
Owner-occupant buyers want to move in, which means they need the property empty. Getting it empty
in the City of Los Angeles is legally involved, potentially expensive, and entirely your liability
as the current owner. Meanwhile every showing requires coordinating access with a tenant who has
little reason to cooperate, and the house shows the way a tenant keeps it.
The result is that a perfectly good rental sits, or sells at a discount to an investor anyway —
after months of effort you did not need to spend.
We take it with the tenancy in place
We buy occupied. We do not need showings on a schedule that disrupts your tenant, and we do not
need you to serve anyone with anything. In most cases we can price the property from your rent roll,
leases, and one walkthrough of accessible areas.
Be careful here
If a buyer asks you to deliver the property vacant, understand that you would be the one taking on
the notice requirements, the relocation obligations that may apply, and the liability if any of it is
done wrong. Rules differ significantly depending on whether the property is in the City of Los
Angeles, in an unincorporated area, or in a separate city like San Fernando or Burbank, and state law
applies on top of that.
We are not your attorney and this is not legal advice. But as a matter of self-interest: do not
take on that risk to close somebody else's purchase.
What to have ready
- Current leases or rental agreements, and any written month-to-month arrangements
- Rent roll — what each unit actually pays now, and when it last changed
- Any registration or filings the property carries with the local housing authority
- Security deposit balances and where they are held
- Any open habitability complaints, repair requests, or code cases
If you do not have all of it, send it anyway. Incomplete records are the norm, not a disqualifier.
