How To Sell A Tenant-Occupied Property!

You own the property, but tenants have rights too.

Scenario: You’re ready to give up on the landlord business, or maybe you just want to unload one of your investment properties. You own the apartment in Boston, MA, so you can sell it and move on, right?

It’s not always that easy.

Deciding to sell a house that someone else calls home — a tenant-occupied property — is much different from selling your old guitar online. Although you do own the place, as long as the tenant has paid rent, they have a right to live there.

Some tenants are terrific. They keep the home neat and clean and allow you to show it whenever you like. But others can be problematic, especially if they refuse to let you…

Don’t sabotage your home purchase by frustrating the seller with minor repairs.

Buying a home can be a precarious business. When money and emotions are involved, things can get dicey (and ugly). So when issues pop up during a home inspection or initial walk-through, it’s important to request some repairs — especially if they’re related to safety concerns or would cost a mint to fix once the property is yours. But when you’re bidding on a prime piece of real estate in a competitive market where multiple offers are the norm, choosing what repairs to ask for can become even more strategic. After all, requesting too many fix-ups could potentially tank the sale if there are less-high-maintenance offers waiting in the wings.

“There is no magic…

You’ve probably budgeted for your new rent payment, but have you considered these other potential costs as well?

You’re poised to move into your first apartment for rent in San Diego, CA — lucky you! Now that you’ve budgeted for the monthly rent payment, you’re primed to spend the summer kicking back by the community pool and enjoying all that your new place has to offer. But other than your rent, what not-so-obvious changes will your budget need to bear? Use these budgeting tips as a guideline to anticipate how your monthly expenses could change after you move into your new pad.

1. Utilities

Moving into your own place means you’ll be ponying up all the cash for every volt of electricity, blast of air conditioning, and dribble…

If your walls could talk, they might say, “Don’t paint me lime green.”

If you’ve ever wondered what went on behind closed doors in your city, a look through local real estate listings might give you the answer: unfortunate paint color choices, rooms with enough clutter to supply a yard sale every weekend, and an almost universal obsession with granite countertops. And those are just the homes on the market, which should at least be trying to make their best impression.

Our homes may be a reflection of ourselves, but this philosophy can backfire when you’re putting a property up for sale. “What a seller likes may be too personal for a buyer,” says Jennifer Kjellgren, broker and owner of Intown Expert, an Atlanta, GA, real estate firm. If…

Want Your Security Deposit Back?

Every penny counts when you’re moving, so it’s important to do everything you can to get back 100% of your security deposit.

When you’ve just landed a new apartment in Boston, MA, a security deposit is similar to the pile of work on your desk at the end of a Friday. You could push it aside for now, but you’ll still have to deal with it on Monday (or when it’s time to move out).

It’s important to be proactive so you can help ensure you’ll get back every penny you deserve — and you can’t just assume the security deposit will let you “live out the last month” either. That concept exists only in tenants’ minds and isn’t really a thing (ever) … unless your landlord has agreed to it (in writing).

Here are six…